RUSSIAN BEAR BURGERS, Caribbean cow-skin soup and Filipino worms are among the wild, sometimes wiggly dishes Andrew Zimmern devours on the Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods" (Tues., 10 p.m.). The well-traveled, will-eat-anything chef-writer talks about culinary journeys March 29 at 1 p.m. during the Adventures in Travel Expo at the Washington Convention Center (Adventureexpo.com).

» EXPRESS: Where are you now, and what's the last thing you ate?
» ZIMMERN: I'm in Samoa. Last night, we took a harrowing ride on a pontoon boat that was probably made when Grant was president. We went to a deserted island and shot fruit bats there. We roasted them whole over an open fire.

» EXPRESS: What did the bats taste like?
» ZIMMERN: Delicious. It's like duck, but with a sour gaminess. The first time you eat bat, all you can think of is Halloween and vampires. But, really, it's just the psych-up factor.

» EXPRESS: Were a picky eater as a kid?
» ZIMMERN: No. I grew up in a family where, if we were on a ski trip somewhere, my dad would drive us five hours away in a snowstorm to a great restaurant he'd heard about. Most parents were looking for burger bars.

» EXPRESS: That sounds like your mission on the show — to go off the beaten path in search of food.
» ZIMMERN: I want to go to the last subway stop and dive into culture mouth-first.

» EXPRESS: You eat some things that look awful. How much of it tastes bad?
» ZIMMERN: About 90 percent is delicious. Ten percent, I don't get it, but I'm glad I tried it. Some things that look great aren't. In Ecuador, I saw people drinking what looked like tea with jelly in it. Turns out, it had strands of aloe in it so long they could choke you, and it tasted like bitter medicine.

» EXPRESS: Which dish sounds gross but isn't?
» ZIMMERN: Coconut grubs. We found some last night and roasted them like marshmallows. They tasted like crispy chicken skin.

» EXPRESS: What's something Americans eat that foreigners might find bizarre?
» ZIMMERN: Try explaining Kraft American Cheese singles to a desert nomad! I had that experience, and the guy looked at me like I was crazy. Like, "Why would you let cheese dry and rot, then put it in little plastic sheets?"

» EXPRESS: What food do you crave when you get home from these exotic spots?
» ZIMMERN: My wife makes a tater tot hot dish that is second to none. It's got layers of tater tots and ground beef. It's spectacular when I come home from a week of eating seal guts and whale blubber.

» EXPRESS: Have you picked up any cooking techniques in your travels?
» ZIMMERN: Dropping things into a wood-burning fire — many cultures do that. And I love making seafood salads. The other day I was in a boat, and we caught a tuna that we chopped up. The captain mixed it with coconut milk, salt and lime. Amazing.

» EXPRESS: After logging all these miles, do you have any travel tips?
» ZIMMERN: Pack light, yet bring everything. And when you most miss home, it's great to have an extra book or some DVDs — the stuff that provides creature comforts.

Photo courtesy of the Travel Channel

Posted by Jennifer Barger at 12:00 AM on March 28, 2008
Tagged in Lifestyles , People , Top Stories