And eating is something this chef and food writer knows something about. As the host of Bizarre Foods, Zimmern travels to locations around the globe, both industrialized and less-so, on a quest to document the varied colors of the edible rainbow. These culinary escapades have included sampling all manner of unusual delicacies, from maggot-infested cheese in Nicaragua, to rotting shark meat in Iceland, to deer penis stew in Singapore (which for the record tastes “woody” and “chewy”). Cuisine that, to the average American, could really only be described as, well, bizarre.

The show takes the concept of the off-the-beaten-path travelogue to dazzling, occasionally gag-worthy new heights. And, to be sure, Bizarre has a freak show element (a.k.a. great TV), but it’s much more than a mere Jackass for foodies. The intrepid host is just as interested in the cultures and people he visits as he is in the alien foods they eat.

As a rule, Zimmern will sample any kind of food that he comes across. Long-time viewers of the show understand that if he genuinely enjoys some exotic form of chow, he generously rains praise upon the local chef utilizing all his food-critic powers of laser detail. Of course, there are also the other times. When Zimmern is less enthusiastic about what he just put in his mouth, he politely smiles to the local merchant and says something along the lines of “well that is really interesting.”

The only foods Zimmern won’t try out of hand are human flesh or dog (and walnuts, he does not like walnuts). In the course of filming the show, he rarely declines to dine on camera. One rare pass took place in front of a spare chicken parts vendor in a Philippine street market.

“That’s a different issue,” he explains. “I’ve eaten eight-week old rotted fish, I’ve eaten six-month old rotten seal fat. You know, rotting and fermenting foods are some of the best in the world: think sauerkraut, pickles, and cheese. Cheese is just exercising controlled spoilage. However, as a food expert I can tell you that a blood- and feces-filled lower intestinal tract of old roosters left to dry in the sun and then handed to you by someone who has sketchy ideas about hygiene - that’s a trip to the hospital in waiting. Even the folks in that country who already have the local flora and fauna in their bellies would be well advised not to eat it.”

Aside from visiting restaurants and food markets, the show makes a point to venture away from tourist centers to dine with local families and sample some genuine regional fare. The food is usually prepared completely from scratch, often entirely by the hands of a family matriarch. Some of the families profiled live in extreme poverty, the depths of which are rarely found in the U.S. (all families featured on the show are, of course, compensated for their time and work). It might seem somewhat detached to emphasize cuisine in circumstances like this, where the goal is just as often sustenance as it is flavor. But these are also the moments when the show turns from a mysterious food circus into a window on culture.

“I’m proud that we’ve never ginned up a situation. We’ve never gone to a family that has the right-looking grass hut and brought them some oddball food and said ‘can you cook this?’ We’re about representing culture as we find it on the ground and interpreting it thorough food.” Zimmern explains what separates Bizarre Foods from other shows’ attempts at Reality TV, where the emphasis is too often placed on the latter than the former. “When we went to Belize, for example, we met with a family who lived in the most despair-ridden conditions than any other family we’ve ever shared a meal with. There were about 10 adults and 18 kids in this family, and they were sleeping eight people to a room. There was no electricity, no running water. All they owned were two pigs and 10 chickens, but they insisted on making this dish with chicken and some pork tamales. So they killed two of their chickens and one of their hogs for us. Now I will tell you, meeting these people whose net worth was smaller than some items of clothes the crew and I were wearing was a very humbling experience. And when they take half of their net worth and put it on a table for you, it almost brings tears to your eyes just to think of that kind of generosity. Those are the moments that I remember and it’s those experiences that are so fantastic.”

Meanwhile, on the polar opposite side of the socioeconomic spectrum from rural Belize lies the cosmopolitan beacon of Manhattan’s posh Upper East Side. It’s here where Zimmern claims his roots as a self-described “private school elitist.” He attended Dalton, one of the country’s premiere prep schools, and began his culinary education at the age of 14 working at top area restaurants. “I begged my parents to let me work in restaurants over the summer,” he says of his early embarking on a career in food. “At first I worked nights washing dishes and peeling vegetables in local restaurants out in East Hampton. Eventually, I started working in the winters one night a week back in NYC just to learn about the business.”

On the surface, what was a smooth path also included some of the pitfalls of privileged life. Growing up in 1970s New York, Zimmern was exposed to the excesses of that indulgent era. “I was at all the opening nights for all the big nightclubs like Studio 54 and Xenon - all of that stuff,” he explains of his formative years. “Sometimes I’d bump into my teachers and my parents’ friends - oftentimes in the bathroom. And it was just a different time and place. Everything was treated with a very cavalier attitude. Way too cavalier for my taste now.”

After graduating from Vassar College, Zimmern continued working at various restaurants, but also started getting heavier into drugs. By the age of 30 he ended up “cratering his life” and spent a year living on the streets and supporting his out-of-control habit by snatching purses from outdoor cafes. Finally, he ended up leaving NYC to enter rehab in the less temptation-laden land of Minnesota for his “umpteenth attempt at sobriety.” But this time, he was able to maintain a substance-free life and start the process of rebuilding.

After getting clean, Zimmern got back into the restaurant business as well as becoming a food writer and critic for several local and national publications (next time you’re on a Delta flight, check out the masthead on the in-flight Sky magazine where you will find Zimmern listed as a contributing editor). His media and culinary background eventually led to his successful bid on Bizarre Foods which garnered him a prestigious James Beard Award for “Outstanding Food Personality” this past year.