I have a couple of incontrovertible truths about TV chefs.
One is that their “real personalities” are different from their “TV personalities.” A great example is Emeril himself, he of the counter-thumping, food-bamming, viewer-assaulting energy on the small screen. But if Emeril’s larger than life on TV, he’s smaller than life in person. I’ve spent time with Emeril, who is an awfully nice man…and a quiet one! He seems humble, soft, a little shy in person. It’s an amazing transformation, but TV chefs always have a story like this.
Another “truth” is that their efforts on TV live or die with what gets generated on the small screen. If I dig what’s going on during that chef’s 30 minutes on the tube (or 60 minutes), nothing else matters. I have never met a TV chef that, in person, made me change my mind about his or her work on the screen. It’s like what the New Critics of the 1930s thought about an author—only what’s inside the covers of the book matters.
A week-and-a-half ago, at the thoroughly delightful Chefs and Champagne event, annually staged in the Hamptons by the James Beard Foundation on a mid-summer Saturday night, I had the opportunity to chat with the JBF’s honoree for the evening, bizzaro-foods guy Andrew Zimmern.
And Andrew proceeded to break both of my TV-chef rules.
I’m sure you know him from TV…he came out of nowhere, a few years ago, to become one of TV’s most popular food guys. People debate whether his rise was fueled by his focus on “bizarre foods,” or by his natural on-screen chemistry.
So here’s my deal…
Andrew—who is every bit as scrubbed and sparkly in person as he is on TV, breaking my first rule—was always a bit of a confusion to me. This is the guy whose titles, graphics, and choice of subject matter are obviously designed to emphasize the “gross-out” nature of what he’s doing. I find him very watchable, but I’ve always wondered…what is he really saying about the unusual foods that other people of the world eat? Though he rarely makes pre-vomit noises…what is his real relationship to the food he eats?
First of all, I must point out that, in person, I found him tremendously appealing in a person-to-person way. He was articulate, engaged…and not in a manner that significantly differed from the TV persona. My reaction was on the order of…”Wow! This slightly goofy (a good thing by me), super-bouncy TV person…is actually a real person!”
Then came the discussion with Andrew…which held a lot more good stuff in it!
“When I first proposed a show like this to producers,” Andrew told me, “I was talking about 80% education, 20% entertainment. Unfortunately, the TV gods got to it…and it ultimately became 20% education and 80% entertainment.”
“But my priorities were not deflected,” he told me. “In fact,” he said, “I became obsessed with a higher purpose.”
And what would that be in a TV package that includes the consumption of grubs, and giant fruit bats, and a million other “weird” things?
“I want Americans to understand the rest of the world better,” he told me. “Next time you’re confronted with something ‘out there’ that you don’t understand…I hope you think of my show, and you realize that we all have the same basic needs (including nutrition), and we all like to socialize over food. Watching a Jew from New York socializing in the desert with the Syrians over goat urine…that drives the point home!”
After meeting with Andrew, I started catching up on some “Bizarre Foods” shows, including “Bizarre Foods America,” his current opus. And I could see, in a way I couldn’t before…that Andrew is right! This really is a show all about tolerance and understanding…”weird” is only the first step.
“I also want to be the best guest in the world, a model for guests,” Andrew said. “I want to show that even when you’re being served unusual stuff, like rotten fish in Goa…you should be grateful to your hosts, and you should be kind.”
Then we turned to the walk-around-tasting of our James Beard hosts—which included…
- Smoked Veal Brisket with Heirloom Carrots, Salsa Verde and Chicken Cracklings, from James Merker of Mile End Delicatessen in Brooklyn
- Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Wild Striped Bass Ceviche, from Dean James Max and Ali Goss of Parallel Post in Trumbull, Connecticut
- Salmon Tartare with Swedish Anchovies with Kalix Caviar, Potato Cream, Onion Emulsion, and Crispy Cheese from Stefan Karlsson of Fond, in Gothenburg, Sweden
…Absolutely delicious dishes…easily provoking kindness and gratitude from me and Andrew both! Weird or not weird…eating with this guy is something ya gotta love!
I would love you to have the opportunity to do so. But here’s the best I can do right now…a collection of photos from that delicious summer night put on by the James Beard Foundation…
