Minnesota State University Reporter

Issue date: 10/30/08 Section: Food

Andrew Zimmern prepares to eat one of his bizzare foods.

Some people think ghosts and goblins are scary, but what about eating tarantulas and guinea pigs?

Andrew Zimmern, a New York native and dining columnist for Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine, is the co-creator, host and contributing producer of the Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern."

Zimmern travels the world in search of bizarre foods, which is something most people stay away from. Zimmern always tries to get the most authentic experience in any culture he visits.

Minnesota is one of the many places Zimmern has found bizarre foods. He went to Ingebretsen's and tried the salted pig toe, dried mutton and blood sausage. Zimmern also went to the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul to dig into porcupine meatballs, ostrich on a stick and a wild rice corndog. One other interesting place he visited was Heartland, where he tried wild boar tongue, liver, brains and testicles.

One place that offered more bizarre foods even for the country's standards was Beijing. Zimmern went to Beijing Qun Sheng Shi Jia Can Yin, a restaurant that specializes in donkey. He also went to Guo-li-zhuang Restaurant with a friend for some snake, deer and yak penis.

Zimmern's stop in Paris proved to be another bizarre experience. He went to a butcher shop on Isle Saint Louis and sampled cow's head cheese, which is 100 percent pork fat, and chopped organs from barnyard animals. Other foods on the menu in Paris include pigeon meat, rabbit liver and raw sea urchin.

The Travel Channel had one show called the "Bizarre Foods Halloween Special." In this episode, Zimmern hosted a party with his creepiest fans. He let them try some of his favorite bizarre foods. These included tarantulas, grub worms, guinea pigs, blood and cockroaches.

For people who can't handle the thought of throwing tuna sperm in their mouth, there are still options to play creepy food tricks on friends. One can play on people's phobias, for example, by blind-folding them and making them put their hands into food that feels like something else.

Cook wide egg noodles and pour them into and oiled round bowl. They will take the shape of a brain. Peeled grapes make good eyeballs. Peeled orange sections sprayed with oil feel like kidneys. Use small carrots with olive oil to simulate fingers. Add pumpkin seeds at the top for fingernails. Any of these will surely frighten your friends.


Ashley Marks is a Reporter staff writer

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