Andrew Zimmern, the host of the Travel Channel series “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern” and “Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre World,” will be a featured guest at this weekend’s Great Arizona Picnic, the two-day culmination of the week-long Scottsdale Culinary Festival.
Zimmern – who’s traveled the world eating everything from a frog’s beating heart to a goat’s raw kidneys to a bull’s rectum – will speak at 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.
(He’ll appear with Adam Richman, host of the Travel Channel’s equally popular “Man v. Food,” who will speak at 1 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.)
Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the festival, both of which include entrance into the Picnic.
Zimmern, who’s also an award-winning writer and chef, talked to me about this weekend’s show and the food scene in general from his office in Minneapolis:
What are people going to see this weekend? Is your show a lecture, a cooking demo, clips from the TV show…?
I always like to show clips from the show, especially things that people haven’t seen before. Of course, I leave plenty of time for Q&A, although it’s less a Q&A and more a conversation. I like to hear how people are thinking and talking about food.
I always like to do some demos. It’s a lot of fun to cook some unusual dishes there, not only ones I’ve learned to do from the road and from my experiences with some off-beat ingredients. But also some things, maybe some techniques, that have inspired me in some of my home cooking.
Your show, Adam’s show, “No Reservations,” “Top Chef,” the Food Network, Yelp – why has eating become so popular in recent years?
It’s been around since the beginning of time. We do it every day. It’s always been a part of our culture, and it’s always been a part of our pop culture. I think the difference today is the value that we place on it now as part of our cultural conversation is extremely high.
I think that because in a world that’s topsy-turvy all the time, people that are in touch the pleasure-seeking side of themselves, food is a very, very reliable thing. You can have faith in good food. You can find it, you can cook it, you can talk about it.
And it’s something you can participate in every day, as a hobbyist or as someone who likes to watch from the sidelines. So I think, consequently, chefs have become rock stars, for want of a better phrase.
Is that a good thing?
To me, I see it as all positive because I don’t think it’s going to last forever. I think food will always remain as popular, but I think anyone would say we’ve gone quite a ways over the line. I think that will run its course. I think it will settle back down.
I think half the people that are given air time and are in the food space will disappear. I think that’s a good thing because I think a lot of them are just derivative of other good shows.
So much publicity is given today to those who can serve the biggest burger or brew the strongest beer. Have food and drink become more about setting new  extremes, and less about the food and drink themselves?
I agree it’s ridiculous. The reason I think it’s absolutely meaningless is the number of people actually consuming triple or quadruple IPAs, the number of people racing to eat the more extreme foods or eating the larger portions are always going to be there and doing that.
Quite frankly, it’s such an infinitesimal portion of our food- and beverage-loving world. Yes, it gets a little bit of noise because it’s a better new story, but that then is a media issue. It’s the same deal as when one tunes in to hear Nancy Grace go on and on about one of hundreds of crimes committed every day. And yet she seizes upon some of the most fantastical.
I don’t see Adam’s show, my show, Tony’s show as prostituting a certain type of food. I think people are going to interpret it for what they will, and some are going to run a little more wild with that than others.
But the vast – and I mean by a huge percentage – the vast percentage of the public that appreciates what I do couldn’t care less about any of that. They like to watch me on TV, exploring food in its own terroir, telling stories about the culture through food.
But don’t your shows also cater to a certain extreme?
My show’s not “Fear Factor.” I like to eat all kinds of food. I like to add to the library of flavors I have in my Rolodex inside my brain.
I enjoy learning about culture through food so I love spending time with people, eating the foods they eat, and I think it makes for great storytelling on television. That’s what I do.
Are there any foods you just won’t eat?
Walnuts. They taste soapy. I don’t like them, I never eat them – I avoid them like crazy.
Do you have any specific Valley restaurants you plan to visit while you’re here?
There are a couple of my favorites, and out of fairness to some other people who I wouldn’t put on that list, I’m not going to tell them to you. I think anyone who watches my show or reads anything I’ve written knows I love Chris Bianco’s pizza and they know what Sonoran hot dog stand I love.
You’ve spent time with Adam Richman. Tell me something about him that would surprise “Man v. Food” fans.
“Probably one of the greatest repositories of information about modern American theater that I know of. He sees everything, and is a brilliant, brilliant student of theater.”
