“Bizarre Foods” host Andrew Zimmern has been axed from prime time on the Travel Channel amid the controversy over his assertion that Chinese food in the Midwest is being served in “horses - - t restaurants.”
The celebrity chef’s “Bizarre Foods” juggernaut franchise and sister show, “The Zimmern List,” have been bumped by network owner Discovery, Inc. into a graveyard rotation slot on Saturday mornings to run their course, Page Six has confirmed.
Filming has stopped on both shows midseason, sources tell us, and is not expected to continue further.
The move comes after the James Beard Award-winning chef offended the Asian- American community in comments to promote his Midwestern Chinese restaurant chain by saying: “I think I’m saving the souls of all the people from having to dine at these horses - - t restaurants masquerading as Chinese food that are in the Midwest.”
His comments sparked outrage, with Ruth Tam writing in the Washington Post, “[He] has the noble cause of ‘saving’ white people from eating bad Chinese food. When Chinese people make Americanized Chinese food for white people, Zimmern calls it ‘horses - - t.’ But when he does it, it’s ‘unique.’ ”
Eater also fumed, “Zimmern simultaneously denigrates Philip Chiang . . . and elevates himself to the position of being the person capable of opening middle America’s eyes to the myriad regional cuisines of a vast, diverse culture.”
Eating humble pie, Zimmern responded, “I am completely responsible for what I said and I want to apologize to anyone who was offended.”
A Travel Channel rep insisted Zimmern wasn’t given the chop because of his insensitive comments, but admitted his remaining episodes have been relegated, saying, “The shows, along with other food content on Travel, will no longer air on prime time, but on Saturday mornings in rotation. This decision came before Andrew’s comments were made.”
It is believed Zimmern’s shows on the Cooking Channel and the Food Network will continue as scheduled.
His rep didn’t get back to us.
Poster Comment:
He's right! Chinese restaurants in America generally hide their glutinous offerings with heavy doses of MSG and salt. They microwave and defrost dishes to save time and it ends up as shit on a plate.
#1: misterwhite To: IbJensen (#0)
Lots of Chinese/Asian restaurants to choose from.
misterwhite posted on 2018-12-29 11:36:31 Reply Private Reply
#2: IbJensen To: misterwhite (#1)
Au contraire, mon ami.
(A little French lingo there to show my regard for little froggies.)
American Chinese restaurants are, alas, as alike in quality as are hamburger chains.
IbJensen posted on 2018-12-29 16:56:04 Reply Private Reply
#3: misterwhite To: IbJensen (#2)
That has not been my experience. But, hey.
misterwhite posted on 2018-12-29 18:22:29 Reply Private Reply
#4: IbJensen To: misterwhite (#3)
IbJensen posted on 2018-12-29 18:31:51 Reply Private Reply
#5: misterwhite To: IbJensen (#4)
No. Get your own.
misterwhite posted on 2018-12-29 18:40:04 Reply Private Reply
#6: IbJensen To: misterwhite (#5)
IbJensen posted on 2018-12-30 08:31:03 Reply Private Reply
#7: Hank Rearden To: IbJensen (#0)
So I bought a 65,000 Btu gas burner and a big carbon steel wok then learned to make the real thing myself.
Thank God for Amazon to deliver the weird ingredients to my door.
This is a good book to start learning the process: Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge. Also "The Breath of a Wok" by the same author. Then watch a lot of YouTube videos of real Chinese chefs at work to pick up technique.
The key is a well-seasoned, blistering-hot mild steel wok (no cast iron, no stainless steel and for God's sake no "non-stick" crap); you can't do it for real without that and almost no indoor home ranges have enough power (15,000 Btu is about their max output on a good day). And you need to do it outdoors or with a VERY good indoor exhaust hood - it's a smoky process to do correctly.
Hank Rearden posted on 2018-12-30 10:18:32 Reply Private Reply
#8: misterwhite To: IbJensen (#6)
Compared to what? A restaurant in China you ate at 25 years ago and you remember it being very good?
misterwhite posted on 2018-12-30 10:37:39 Reply Private Reply
#9: IbJensen To: misterwhite (#8)
IbJensen posted on 2018-12-30 15:32:19 Reply Private Reply
#10: IbJensen To: Hank Rearden (#7)
IbJensen posted on 2018-12-30 15:33:20 Reply Private Reply
#11: misterwhite To: IbJensen (#9)
Ah. And you've been looking for the same food ever since and you just can't find it in the faux-Chinese restaurants in the U.S.
The word "pretentious" comes to mind.
misterwhite posted on 2018-12-31 10:10:42 Reply Private Reply