I find that most home cooks don't get vinegars. They're misunderstood, mostly due to the factory-made red wine vinegar that everyone commonly cooks with... that, and the giant gallon of white distilled vinegar that we all use, mostly to clean and disinfect things!
I log 250 days a year on the road. I need pants that are versatile, easy to clean, and dry in my hotel room if necessary.
The restaurant industry in New York in the '80s was a good place to hide out if you had issues.
Be aware of what you cook tomatoes with. The high acid content of the tomato slows down the cooking process of some other foods. Dried beans cooked with tomatoes added to the pot can take up to 20 percent more cooking time than beans without tomatoes added.
I was born and raised in New York. My family has been in New York City since the Civil War. I have a ton of N.Y.C. in my DNA, from both sides of my family. I had a wonderful childhood in the city.
It might seem strange to feast on Guinea pig, but Ecuadorians love to eat cuy. Personally, I think it's a phenomenal alternative to pork or chicken. High in protein, low in fat, cheap and easy to raise. Oh, and cuy tastes great, much like roast pig. You might call it a pet, but I prefer to call it dinner.
Any decision that I make, anything that I do, every single consideration of my day goes through the prism of what my former experience has been.
There's fresh fish, and then there's fresh fish. Samoa is ranked as one of the best places for game fishing in all the world, and runs thick in the waters off the island chain. In fact, it's used as an edible currency in local markets. The day I fished there, we caught loads of yellowfin.
I've spent time in the coastal Carolinas and have seen what small business development has done to maintain the wetlands and reestablish the fisheries and secure jobs for the people that make their living off the water.
We will, as Americans, inhale another culture on a fork before we try their music or their art or even, God forbid, hang out with the actual people.
Eating well is a class issue.
I can't tell you how many times I get into a taxicab in New York or Los Angeles, and I'm talking to somebody who is a recent immigrant who was a doctor or lawyer or engineer or professor in the country they just came from. They're starting over again in life, and I think the majority of people out there can relate to that.
My phone is my favorite travel gadget because it has my translator.
The greatest food city in the world is New York City, just in terms of depth and breadth, variety, size, infrastructure.
I love eating in San Francisco, Chiang Dao, China, Tokyo, Hanoi.
I think that Manila is underrated in terms of food in the Philippines.
Too many children and adults go hungry every day.
Too many Americans are getting sick on our over-commercialized food system.
I love bugs. And as the first person to popularize their eating in America, I take special pride in seeing their appreciation soar.
I get asked to speak to a lot of different groups, one of the best parts of my job hosting a show on the Travel Channel, 'Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.' I take viewers to the far corners of the globe and introduce them to other cultures by exploring the foods they eat - at times, pretty strange stuff.
