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Andrew Zimmern shows a puffed up pufferfish, the second most poisonous creature on the planet, just pulled from the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Okinawa.
Andrew Zimmern shows off one of the three last specially smoked poisonous sea snake eggs in the world at Kana restaurant in Okinawa.
A traditional Shanghai breakfast includes a bowl of savory soy milk, dressed with soy, vinegar, pickled radishes, dried shrimp and cilantro.
Andrew Zimmern and guide Jenny Gao explore an 18-course feast cooked by Sister Wang, one of Shanghai's best and least known cooks.
Pickled duck tongues are a delicacy in Shanghai's First Food Hall, a treasure trove of fresh and prepackaged foods in the heart of downtown.
Andrew Zimmern and guide Jenny Gao dig into a feast of locally sourced delights in the ancient water town of Zhujiajiao on the outskirts of Shanghai.
Whole freshwater lake fish, wok fried at extreme temperatures to create a perfect crunch, are a staple of Zhujiajiao.
Andrew Zimmern and his guide, Chef Mame Hughes, walk the streets just outside Dakar, Senegal, in the shadow of the 160-foot tall bronze African Rennaissance Monument.
Dakar, Senegal, on the Cap-Vert peninsula, the westernmost region of mainland Africa, is believed to have been settled as early as the 15th Century.
Andrew Zimmern and Oumy Diaw await the haul of harvester Jean Preira, who spends up to seven hours a day pulling salt from the bottom of Lake Retba, Senegal.
Andrew Zimmern and Chef Mame Hughes buy fresh thioff, or grouper, for the classic Senegalese fish and rice dish Thieboudieune at Soumbedioune Fish Market in Dakar.
Maggots are a natural part of the process of turning salted and sundried sardinella fish into kethiakh, a main export to neighboring West African countries around Joal, Senegal.
As in many parts of Africa, meals like the classic fish and rice dish thieboudieune are served in communal plates in Senegal.
Revered as a Spanish delicacy for centuries, tiny eels, or angulas, are now fashioned from fish like haddock as a result of overfishing.
Percebes, otherwise known as gooseneck barnacles, are a Spanish delicacy harvested from the rocks in the north of the country.
Andrew Zimmern samples Chef Javier Bonet's Yakuza Bonbon, a mindblowing combination of seared steak, beetroot "blood," green tea and black garlic.
Diverxo Chef David Munoz's carbanara "pasta" of Spanish angula eels is cooked in tandoori yogurt and topped with trout roe, coffee, rice paper and basil.
Pilar Apariciocalle shows Andrew Zimmern the proper technique for boiling morcilla, spanish blood sausage, to ensure it doesn't explode.
In the heart of the Amazon jungle in Peru, locals harvest coconut tree grubs and sell them in the market skewered and charred over an open flame. These protein-rich grubs taste like crisp rolls of charred chicken skin if they are cooked properly. If not. they taste like pus bags filled with rotted digested wood.
Really, the worst tasting foods are the fermented, spoiled ones like Hákarl. Made from the Greenland shark, the meat is poisonous when fresh, so in order to eat it, Icelanders let it spoil in the ground for months and then out in the elements for a few more to dry. It’s a revolting dish to many first timers; eating it without gagging is what separates the men from the boys. While the smell of the putrefied shark itself could make the faint-hearted ill, the taste is ultimately sweet, nutty and faintly fishy … if you like ammoniated wax.
Andrew Zimmern
Palolo are tiny, little worms that live in the coral reefs deep off the coast of Samoa in the trenches of the Pacific. They come out of the coral every few years when the atmospheric conditions are right and the locals scoop them off the surface and eat them plain, sautéed or as a spread on bread. It tastes like liver fermented in salt water, but that doesn’t do the bright blue color very much justice.
Andrew Zimmern
Both adored and despised in South Korea, fermented skate, or hongeo, has the distinct odor of hospital-floor cleaner mixed with glue solvent. Mostly served “raw,” the pungent fish is seeing a resurgence in popularity. Be prepared to smell like an outhouse after leaving a restaurant that serves the delicacy -- it’s the price you pay, but it’s worth it.
Andrew Zimmern
Found off the coast of Chile, these giant sea squirts called pyura are the size of basketballs. They're sliced open with a serrated sword to reveal the little throbbing corpuscles that live inside the spongy, rock-like carapace. They taste of pure iodine dipped in fish oil, but with a squirt of lemon they are transformed into deliciousness. Culinary alchemy at its finest.
Andrew Zimmern
People in Kazakhstan eat every conceivable part of the horse, from the fat cap under the mane to the rectum. They don’t waste any part of the animal. One of the best things I tried at Almaty’s Green Bazaar was kazy, a horse sausage made from whole pieces of rib meat seasoned with garlic and salt, torn from the bone and stuffed into natural casings from the horse’s lowermost end, dried to cure and then smoked, resulting in a beautiful mix of meat and melt-in-your-mouth fat. Strange for some I guess, but delicious and very normal in Central Asia.
Tito_Herrera
The waters off of Sitka, AK, are ripe with exotic sea creatures such as octopus, sea cucumbers and abalone. Sea cucumber, when cooked correctly, is extraordinary. All it needs is a few minutes in a wok with a little soy sauce seasoning. The squishy creatures taste like lettuce-y sea vegetables with a bit of crunch, but mostly yielding a buttery texture. The trick is splitting them open, scraping the innards out, and then using a spatula to peel the “meat” off the rock-hard exoskeleton.
Andrew Zimmern
We are pre-conditioned in this country to think of tarantulas as scary and poisonous, belonging on Halloween decorations not dinner plates. But they taste great, reminding me of sweet and delicate crabs when they’re fresh. After digging them out of the ground, the tarantulas need to be defanged, washed and then scorched to remove the hair. In Cambodia, they’re deep fried, then wok sautéed with sugar, salt, chilies and garlic. They are superb when they're treated like lobster or crab, taken from their lair to the dinner table as quickly as possible.
Andrew Zimmern
Try these bugs blindfolded and you’d never know you were eating a beetle that looks like a Dr. Seuss creature. Sautéed in a bit of salty water and butter, they are tender morsels that taste like shrimp. This is the kind of bizarre food that would stop you in your tracks if placed in your hand. And they only live in this one place in the world.
Andrew Zimmern
Ensete is 1 of 2 species of vinifera in a special part of the “false banana” family. It’s also the name of the bread made with the pounded root ball of the same plant although it’s properly called kocho. The bread is made with a fermented paste of the root ball that’s buried underground for months to get its groove on. It’s treasured in Ethiopia as a super food, but it’s an acquired taste to say the least.
Andrew and the Highlandettes of Lake Highlands High School in front of San Antonio's iconic Alamo, a former Roman Catholic mission and fortress.
The Bizarre Foods film crew shoots a scene in front of the Alamo, the iconic site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.
Andrew makes a pit stop at Bill Miller Bar-B-Que, a popular establishment in San Antonio for brisket.
Andrew visits the home of chef Johnny Hernandez for some fresh grilled cecina tacos. Cecina is traditionally prepared with salt and dried by air, sun or smoking.
Andrew looks on as chef Michael Sohocki prepares ingredients for beef brain foie gras at Restaurant Gwendolyn.
Chicken and goat skewered over an open fire at San Antonio's El Machito.
I love this stuff. When I think of Alabama, I think of piles of smoky BBQ chicken with deep bowls of Alabama white for dipping.
David Lang
Keep your caribou, your moose, your seal and your salmon, for my money the best food on earth is king crab -- in season, pulled live from the icy waters of Alaska and eaten immediately. And don’t let any of it go to waste: steam the knuckles in egg white and rice wine and season with soy sauce; make crab rice with the head and body; fry the legs with ginger and chilies.
Chili meat sandwiches made with local fry bread are as good as eating gets. I have one and then use that as fuel as I drive to Nogales, my favorite Sonoran hotdog stand.
From Dungeness crab in the north to Grunion (a fish similar to sardines) in the south, it’s Cali’s coastline that lures me in. No sea urchin is better in the world than the huge, black-spike globes taken off the San Diego coast in season. None.
Every spring, Colorado baby lamb (eaten just as it’s transitioning from being fed milk to grass) might be my favorite food in the state … wait, what about those mountain peaches? Hmm … tie game!
Rich Freeda
New Haven “apizza” -- pronounced A-BEET-ZA -- period, end of discussion. I like to crush my Neopolitan-style pies at Frank Pepe’s or Sally’s.
Sure, they’re junky and not the bespoke dogs so popular elsewhere, but with loads of raw onion they seriously can't be beat.
By Josh Thompson CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Sure, the Carolinas claim fish stew known as muddle as their own, but the best version I ever had was on the beach in Delaware served with saltines and piles of corn pudding and cracked crabs.
Sure, I’ll take your peach pie, your ham and biscuits, your boiled peanuts and fried green tomatoes … but for me, Georgia’s pecan pie is the best. They even call it Karo pie after the corn syrup in the recipe. Love.
Don’t feel bad Idaho, your baked potato comes loaded and stuffed from the fixin’s bar. Oh, and served alongside some of your world-class grilled elk there is no finer food on earth.
Considering that I am a New Yorker, Chicago pizza is off the table. Luckily, my favorite food is the hot dog and no state on earth has more hot dog eateries per capita than Illinois. I love a great Chicago Dog: Wolfy’s or Superdawg or Franks ‘n Dawgs for the win.
It might seem like an unlikely choice for Iowa, but did you know the Eskimo Pie was invented by Christian Nelson in Onawa, Iowa who franchised his idea in the Roaring ‘20s after the encouragement of candy god Russell Stover?
Kansas City was the home of great stockyards once, and much of the northern migration of Black America passed through here, so the BBQ scene is like the greatest hits of what the south has to offer. Q39, LC’s, Jacks Stack, Joe’s, BB’s Lawnside -- and that’s just one day of eating for me in Kansas City alone!
Nothing reflects the history of our country better than gumbo. Nothing. And here in Louisiana it’s cooked better than anywhere else.
Lobster Rolls are in my all-time top 10 foods. I eat 2 a day when I visit my dad every month. From Reds in Wiscasset to Five Islands Lobster Company to Eventide to the shack nearest you, the lobstah’ roll is without peer.
I wanted to go so many places with this one, but at end of the day the Chowdah capital of the world is Massachusetts. Runner up goes to NECCO wafers, my favorite candy and a Mass original for 150 years.
The New York Times finally got something wrong with the grape salad debacle, but the Jucy Lucy (a burger with molten cheese in the middle of the patty as well as on top) is all ours.
Natchez-style grits, baked and loaded with cheese and served with some real Mississippi barbecue are where it’s at.
Fried Ravioli was invented here, and local river fish are superb, but Ooey Gooey Butter Cake is the crack cocaine of desserts.
One night in Montana, I ate a pitchfork bison steak fried in a kettle of lard over an open fire and it blew my mind, but the fresh huckleberry pie afterwards still haunts me at night.
If you have an adventurous palate and want to give Rocky Mountain oysters, aka bull testicles, a try, Nebraska is the place to go. Round the Bend Steakhouse in Ashland has hosted an annual Testicle Festival since 1993 where they serve up Rocky Mountain oysters and call them "bull fries."
Rhett Muller / Red Thread
Nothing says Las Vegas like eating sushi before hitting the gaming tables. Famed Japanese chef Masa Takayama creates a $240 appetizer that some consider a work of art at BarMasa, if that tells you anything about what to expect at this restaurant. Toro, also known as the belly of wild bluefin tuna, is a must.
Ethan Miller
The seafood in New Hampshire is amazing, but their real food heritage lies inland in the traditional Yankee food category. Puritan settlers from England brought their own cooking traditions, like baked beans, baked turkey, and apple pie, and stole some classics from the Native Americans, who used corn meal in skillet cake, all kinds of fish in chowders and clam bakes and boiled maple sap. So let’s give New Hampshire the “Sunday turkey dinner while watching the football game.”
Adam Rose
Some of the best seafood, tomatoes and corn on the planet comes from the Garden State, but it’s Taylor Ham, the original Jersey pork roll, that I love most.
Hatch Green Chiles roasted and chopped on anything or turned into green chile salsa.
By vxla CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
This is my list, and for me, NYC is the greatest food town on earth. Smoked fish piled on bagels ranks up there with the classic NYC burger, Chinese food or a slice of pizza on any list of mine. I love you, "New Yawkh."
Sorry North Dakota, but lets be honest, your sugar beets are without a peer. We will give you White Bread with Sour Cream-Green Onion salad as a runner up, because I love it every time I see it on the menu.
Cincinnati chili is cinnamon spiked. Pierogies and Friday fish fries are also superb here, but the Polish Boy at Seti’s is all yours; own that thing!!
The easy answer here would be oysters, or salmon, or any of a hundred foods that Oregon is famous for such as Prince Puckler’s hot fudge sauce or Voodoo Donuts … but I’m making a list for a new generation and I’m going with Andy Ricker’s fish-sauce wings at Pok Pok.
Cheesesteaks, sure, but I prefer the roast-pork version at John’s in Philly, the greatest sandwich town on earth.
Coffee Milk, even better in a cabinet (or milkshake). Gaggers (weenies) are pretty awesome in Little Rhody, and of course so are all things clam … but I gotta go with my coffee milk.
Sure, Rodney Scott makes BBQ here, and boiled peanuts and sweet muscadine grapes are without equal, but this land is Shrimp-and-Grits territory for me. Plain and simple. Oh, and Martha Lou’s beans.
Chislic is weird, but delicious. This meaty stunner is made by deep-frying cubed red meat, dipping it in garlic salt and serving it with saltines.
Tara Donne
Utah, you make this so hard, your official State Snack is Jell-O. But you love to gather at potlucks and funeral potatoes -- a traditional Mormon casserole consisting of hash browns, cheese, onions, cream soup, sour cream and butter, topped with crushed potato chips -- seem like a natural pick here.
Maple syrup would be an easy answer, but I think Canada owns that one. I’m going with Ben & Jerry’s, the state’s most popular export besides Phish.
All the hunting and fishing I do in my FAVORITE state makes me want to offer up a hundred of my campfire favorites, from chicken-fried squirrel to whole-roasted venison, but pepperoni and tomato rolled in store-bought bread or croissant dough is the thing here. If someone makes you them homemade. even better.
The best steak I ever ate was on a dude ranch in Wyoming. It was grass fed, aged 4 months and grilled over dying embers to become a charred, rare piece of beefy intensity. Thank you, Wyoming.
50 States, 50 Plates 51 Photos
Who said fairs only do food that’s crummy for you? Leave it to the Californians to give us some healthy fair foods, such as grilled Caesar salads and peaches with cottage cheese. That being said, news of the Big Beef Rib (24-ounce steak on a 17-inch cow’s rib) has traveled all the way to me in Minnesota. Gotta try that next time!
It's said that the original cream puffs are the essential food at Wisconsin's state celebration. How can you argue with a mountain of sweet cream sandwiched in a puff shell? You can’t. I implore you to also eat a brat or 2, along with some cheese curds. ’Cause hey, you're in Wisconsin!
The State Fair of Texas is the largest state fair in the US when measured by annual attendance. And when it comes to foods, it’s all about the deep fryer. There’s deep-fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fried cookie dough, fried peach cobbler on a stick, zesty fried guacamole bites, deep-fried lattes, fried chili Frito burritos, fried hot dogs, chicken fried bacon, fried banana splits, fried grilled-cheese sandwiches ... I could list about 100 more, but I am getting queasy just writing this down.
I think I remember Martha telling me that they make a million cookies every day of the fair. This is a fair must and one of those food experiences that cannot be accurately replicated at home, even if the dough is available for purchase in your grocer's freezer. Few things can beat piping-hot, messy chocolate-chip cookies served with an enormous glass of milk. Martha (yes, Sweet Martha is a real person), I adore you!
I am a self-proclaimed BBQ snob and was pleasantly surprised at the caliber of 'cue at the Arizona State Fair. From drummies and ribs to sliders and pizza (that only kind of counts), I'm a fan.
Shaiith
There are a lot of great dairy items at the great Minnesota Get-Together. (Hello, we carve our fair princesses out of butter!) My favorite is the little stand run by the Kiwanis ladies adjacent to the Fine Arts Center. I have a hard time picking among chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, so I like to go with friends and order all 3. I’m not sure if this is actually the very best malt at the fair, but it’s been around since 1969, and I think some of the original folks are still employed. It's just a warm, fuzzy kind of place.
All curds are not created equal. Trust me, I have tried them all. My go-to Minnesota State Fair cheese curd purveyor has got to be the Original. Look for the bright yellow sign with the long, fast-moving line.
Think of this as a culinary lesson in cultural hybrids — traditional Navajo fry bread smothered in taco stuff, including ground beef, lettuce, cheese, beans and tomatoes. It's fantastic, and you can't really find it anywhere else.
If I could pick only 1 state fair food, this would be it: ground beef and Italian sausage smothered in a secret sauce and seasonings, covered with melted mozzarella cheese and served on a delicious toasted Italian roll. It's like an Italian sandwich torpedo. I'm lucky enough that these guys hit both the Iowa and Minnesota state fairs, so sometimes I get to eat it twice a year.
Jaimie Duplass
I love the classics, and it just doesn't get better than this one. I think this stand has been at the fair since the Stone Age, and simply put, it does a hot dog better than anyone else.
Henrik Freek
Andrew Zimmern is dusting off his passport to crisscross the globe in search of the world's most bizarre foods.
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