Plot Synopsis

Andrew Zimmern -- dining columnist at Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine -- takes his iron stomach and his viewers around the world to taste unimaginable local cuisine, such as live worms in the Philippines, guinea pigs in Ecuador, and lamb's head in Morocco. Doesn't matter where he finds it. Whether he visits restaurants, roadside food stands or jungle markets, Andrew searches for the most exotic delicacies and shows what happens behind the scenes. From early 2012 through mid-2014 Andrew ditched his passport and explored the bizarre foods and cultures in the United States in a spinoff series called BIZARRE FOODS AMERICA. After six seasons of BIZARRE FOODS AMERICA, Zimmern dusted off his passport once again to crisscross the globe in search of the world's most bizarre foods in the seventh season of BIZARRE FOODS, which premiered on Monday, October 27, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT. In the season opener, "Mexico City: Corn Smut & Ant Eggs," Zimmern travels to Mexico City to indulge in stewed pig knuckles in one of the city's most notorious barrios. Andrew also feasts on worms and ant eggs in the desert outside the metropolis, and travels though ancient canals to taste fish egg tamales. On Monday, April 13, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT, Travel Channel premiered Season 8 of BIZARRE FOODS, immediately following an all-day marathon (Noon-9pm) of encore episodes. In the season opener, "Kazakhstan: Hunting With Eagles & Milking Mares," Andrew heads to Kazakhstan in the heart of central Asia. He hunts for rabbits with a golden eagle, suffers a blow while milking a horse and feasts on everything from sheep brains to smoked horse sausage. On Monday, September 28, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT, Travel Channel premiered the ninth season of BIZARRE FOODS, immediately following a nine-hour marathon (Noon-9pm) of encore episodes. In the Season 9 opener, "Guatemala: Balls, Brains & Bull's Eyes," Andrew visits Guatemala, where ancient flavors are still alive in the food today. From fresh bull testicle ceviche at the market to a Sunday dinner with possum as the main dish, Andrew tastes rich heritage in every bite. In the rest of the eight-episode season, Andrew procures, cooks and breaks bread with locals, helping to prove that sharing food bridges cultures, while touching the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, cruising the canals in Amsterdam, and hitting the barbecue trail in Kansas City. Season 10 of BIZARRE FOODS premiered on Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT on Travel Channel. Throughout this season, Zimmern continues his worldwide quest to taste unique foods in every corner of the globe. Whether it's braving the Atlantic seas in an African fishing canoe, deboning poisonous sea snakes or stuffing a pig's appendix, Zimmern knows the best way to explore other cultures is by sharing food. In the season premiere, Zimmern travels to Madrid and ventures off the beaten path to discover some new spins on some old classics -- snail soup, whole baby pig head, rabbit paella and beef fat bonbon. Madrid is just the first stop on Zimmern's culinary adventure that features a wide range of ethnic cuisine in locations around the world. From sheep's brain in Senegal, smoked herring sperm in Sweden to coconut stew with opossum meat in the Bronx, New York, Zimmern is always game to try what the locals eat. Travel Channel premiered a new season of BIZARRE FOODS WITH ANDREW ZIMMERN on Tuesday, January 31, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT. Each of the six hour-long episodes follows Zimmern along a historic route as he experiences America's multi-faceted history through the nation's diverse cuisines and flavors, including the Lewis and Clark trail, the Great Lakes coastline communities, the Southern barbeque belt, the Civil War antebellum trail, Route 66 and the Pacific Coast Highway. In the season opener, "Lewis and Clark Trail," Andrew experiences the bountiful cuisine of the Pacific Northwest while retracing the footsteps of Lewis and Clark. He samples Pacific lampreys, forages for edible barnacles and harvests sea salt on this culinary adventure. Travel Channel premiered a new season of BIZARRE FOODS on Tuesday, July 25, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT. Whether it's trekking down Daniel Boone's Wilderness Trail in Kentucky, searching for the modern cowboy in Texas, retracing Paul Revere's revolutionary ride in Boston or cruising down the Mississippi River with a modern-day Mark Twain, this season offers an unforgettable glimpse into our nation's food and culture. In the season opener, "Cowboy Life in Texas," Andrew Zimmern saddles up for life as a Texas cowboy. Zimmern delves deep into the history of cowboy culture. He starts by chatting with a modern vaquero from the Coahuiltecan Nation who teaches him about the centuries old tradition of barbacoa, where an entire cow's head is slow roasted to tender perfection. After a stop for typical Texan fare at the San Antonio Rodeo, Zimmern meets a modern-day cowgirl who takes him shooting and shares stories over bacon-wrapped quail and prime rib. The Texas road trip concludes with old-fashioned chuckwagon grub eaten out on the range -- where they don't waste a thing and indulge in "Son of a Bitch Stew" made of calf heart, tongue, stomach, liver and marrow gut. A new, seven-episode season of BIZARRE FOODS premiered on Tuesday, January 23, 2018 at 9pm ET/PT on Travel Channel. This season is a celebration of Zimmern's boundless appetite for culinary history and its cultural impact on a location. From episode to episode, he plunges into the history of the Aztecs in Mexico; traces Napoleon's march through Poland; and examines the folklore behind North America's most storied personalities including Don Juan De Onate, Jesse James and Paul Bunyan. In the season opener, "The Paul Bunyan Trail," Zimmern explores his adopted home state of Minnesota by following along the Paul Bunyan Trail. As he discovers more about the larger-than-life logger, he samples the beloved food of Bunyan's northern Minnesota -- including muskrat with gravy, duck stew and bear pastrami. Zimmern also partakes in a horseradish harvest, a traditional crockpot-filled potluck party that celebrates Minnesotan culture and a crayfish boil that proves to be a delicious solution to the state's crustacean invasion. A new seven-episode season of BIZARRE FOODS premiered on Tuesday, July 3, 2018 at 9pm ET/PT, as Andrew Zimmern continues his epicurean exploration of the food that celebrates cultures and connects communities around the world. The new season brings bold new adventures in Zimmern's global culinary quest along some of history's most iconic routes, revealing the food and cultural impact on each region. On this leg, he samples deer haggis while traveling in the footsteps of William Wallace in Scotland, chows down on squirrel and pond frogs along the escape route of the Underground Railroad in northern Kentucky and dines on authentic World War II rations on the Battle of the Bulge site in Belgium. In the season premiere, "The Pony Express," Zimmern rides the last 200 miles of the Pony Express Trail to its terminus at Sacramento, California, exploring the thrilling mail delivery service that had a short (just 18 months) but profound impact on America. He rides the very same path and enjoys foods that the young riders would have eaten, like son-of-a-gun-stew, fire-roasted duck hearts, boiled elk tongue and pine nut soup. He also discovers fresh foods created by this land's new generation, including sturgeon skin chicharron and cowboy sushi (wagyu beef filet over vinegar-seasoned rice).
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On Tuesday, August 14, 2018 at 9pm ET/PT, Travel Channel premiered "The Underground Railroad," the season finale of BIZARRE FOODS. Andrew explores the historic, invisible network known as the Underground Railroad. Along the way he eats meals typical of the slaves who escaped on the route, from roadkill stew and fire-roasted bullfrog to deer jerky and chitterlings.