Andrew Zimmern has traveled all over the world, and he's learned a few things along the way - what to do, what not to do and what to definitely eat while traveling to these countries and cities. Dig in!
Ecuador
Rule No. 655 - (Please write this one down, folks.) When you're in the Amazonian rainforest and you're eating lemon ants, you have to be very careful that the conga ants (otherwise known as bullet ants) aren't crawling all over you, because that would totally blow your game. It's a very important rule."
Gulf Coast
Rule No. 1 - If it looks good, eat it!
Rule No. 15 - If you can bake it, broil it or steam it, you're probably better off deep-fat frying it. At Wintzell's, the legendary oyster house in Mobile, Ala., their feeling is, if you can't shuck it or fry it, why bother eating it?
Rule No. 42 - If a backyard is littered with shotgun shells and an old rusted smoker - well, you know the food's gotta be pretty good.
Rule No. 136 - Never trust the shop owners to tell you where all the good stuff is. You've got to sniff it out yourself."
Morocco
Rule No. 1 - Camels are much, much taller than you ever thought they were.
Rule No. 107 - Never breathe through the nose deeply in an open-air fish market.
Rule No. 156 - If you want to eat something funky, head down to the seashore.
Rule No. 505 - You gotta eat it twice before you say no thank-you to the rest of the plate.
New York City
Rule No. 361 - When you are ordering a lot of deep-fried stuff, don't waste space on the garnish. Garnish is garnish."
Rule No. 375 - I would subtitle this one the 'Bizarre Foods Counterintuitive Rule': There's no food on Earth that bacon doesn't make better. (In the case of the food featured on this episode, we did want to taste all the maggots, so I defer to your judgment.)
Rule No. 378 - The enjoyment of the meal is in direct proportion to the size of the line you have to wait on to get it.
Rule No. 647 - The more disgusting the food, the greater the chance whoever is hawking it, selling it or pushing a bowl of it on you will say that "it's good for what ails you."
Rule No. 724 - You know you've had a good meal when you have a pile of teeny shells, feet and connective tissue lying around on your plate.
Rule No. 937 ('Bizarre Foods' Rule No. 937, for those of you keeping score at home) - The QRA (Quick, Reliable and Accurate) method of dispatching animals is very important when it comes to eating things that have just been living and have now sadly given themselves for our pleasure.
Philippines
Rule No. 75 - aka Zimmer's Law No. 75: The more disgusting the food looks, the more neutral it tastes."Spain
Rule No. 107 - Any place with suckling baby pigs in the window is top-notch.
Taiwan
Rule No. 1 - Never talk too much about a food before eating it (e.g. like on this episode, when Andrew and his companions were discussing what part of a goose they are about to eat).
Rule No. 379 - The more innocent a food looks, the more dangerous it is. It's like those teeny little snakes crawling in the rainforest; they're always the deadliest ones.
Trinidad
Rule No. 281 - Scan the booths, and look for the one with the biggest line. It's got to be the best ... right?
Rule No. 311 - If you're looking for interesting stuff in an outdoor market, just follow your nose to one of the stinkier spots in the market. Usually that means there's fish and meat, and usually that means there are going to be some more interesting things going on.
Rule No. 364 - Food always tastes better when you catch it yourself.
Rule No. 747 - You don't need to have a bite the size of a jumbo jet to absolutely freak you right out of your seat.
United Kingdom
Rule No. 235 - Food surrounded by a jello made from its own juices is always better than food not surrounded by a jello made from its own juices. Eel jello is one of the best.
Rule No. 439 Pigeons that poop on the host of a T.V. program usually wind up as dinner in a restaurant.
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