Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Viva Italia: ‘Bizarre Foods’ heads back to northern Italy
You’d think that Andrew Zimmern would have run out of truly bizarre culinary experiences by now. With the seasons of Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods” and its spinoffs — “Bizarre Foods America” and “Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations” — now numbering in the 20s, the James Beard Award-winning chef with the iron palate is still finding incredible and exotic new dishes to chow down on.
In “Delicious Destinations” — unlike its parent series, “Bizarre Foods” — Zimmern checks out the classic dishes that a location has to offer, whether stomach-twistingly bizarre or all together more ordinary.
These dishes all have a story, though, and he explores their history and checks out some local joints that may be doing something a bit less conventional with the classics.
Take the next pair of back-to-back episodes, airing Tuesday, April 25, for example. Zimmern pays a visit to Italy, stopping by Venice in the first episode. He’s been here before in a previous season, but the world-famous canal city still has so many culinary treats to explore. Venice is the birthplace of carpaccio, and Zimmern finds some of the raw beef dish that’s been pounded so thin that it’s practically paper. He also checks out cuttlefish that has been stewed in its own ink and a classic Italian dessert: espressosoaked tiramisu.
In the second of the back-to-back episodes, our host heads west to Milan, where a steaming bowl of minestrone soup waits for him. The city is a culinary giant, and the saffron-tinted risotto that Zimmern sinks his teeth into is pretty indicative as to why.
Of course, no culinary visit to Milan would be complete without having a taste of the city’s most famous dessert. Panettone is a fluffy, delicious cake that has found popularity throughout Europe and Latin America, especially around Christmastime; but as any food junkie knows, the most authentic version of a dish is always found in its birthplace.
There may not be many truly bizarre foods left for Andrew Zimmern to sink his teeth into, but that doesn’t make his international culinary adventures any less entertaining. A new episode of “Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations” airs Tuesday, April 25, on Travel Channel.