Breaking Bread and Barriers with Andrew Zimmern

Mick Unplugged

Realm

Education, Self-improvement, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Andrew Zimmern is an Emmy-winning TV host, James Beard Award–winning chef, and one of the most influential food personalities in the world. Renowned for his adventurous spirit and groundbreaking show “Bizarre Foods,” Andrew has dedicated his life to exploring global cultures through their cuisines. Beyond being a culinary trailblazer, he is a passionate advocate for food as a connector and healer, working to address hunger and sustainability both locally and globally. Andrew’s curiosity, honesty, and genuine drive to make the world a better (and tastier) place set him apart, whether he’s sharing a meal with reindeer herders in Lapland or with friends at home.

Takeaways:

Food as a Universal Language: Andrew believes food has the power to heal, connect, and break down barriers – sharing a meal brings out the shared humanity between people regardless of background.
Purpose-Driven Passion: Despite monumental success, Andrew’s “because” is rooted in giving back, making amends, and never ceasing to be curious about the world—a relentless pursuit to make a difference through storytelling and action.
Eating for the Future: Through his new “Blue Food Cookbook,” Andrew advocates for sustainable, ocean-derived foods, arguing that diversifying and responsibly sourcing our diets is paramount to solving global issues from hunger to climate change.

Sound Bites:

“If we diversify our diets, we can save this planet. We can save families.” (Andrew Zimmern)
“Co-regulating with human beings before operationalizing with them is the most crucial thing that you can do.” (Andrew Zimmern)
“We are universally humanized by that experience... sharing food is a neutral ground over which we can communicate with each other, and it has immense value.” (Andrew Zimmern)

Connect & Discover Andrew:

Website: andrewzimmern.com

Instagram: @chefaz

Facebook: @AndrewZimmern

YouTube: @andrewzimmerndotcom

Book: The Blue Food Cookbook

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Ladies and gentlemen, one of the coolest episodes I've ever done is this episode that you're about to listen to with Emmy winning TV hosts, James Beard nominated and winning chef, Andrew Zimmer.
0:12.8	We're going to talk through a lot of things and maybe not all the things that you actually think of when we talk about a chef.
0:18.1	We're going to talk about life.
0:19.6	We're going to talk about food as a
0:21.2	healer. Absolutely. Make sure you listen to this entire episode because we're going to give you the
0:26.3	goods. If you're into food, if you're into life, if you're into wanting to be healed, this episode is for you.
0:31.8	Ladies and gentlemen, I present Mr. Andrew Zimmer. Andrew, how are you?
0:37.5	Good, Nick. How are you?
0:39.4	I am awesome, man. I have been a huge fan of you for a long time. You know, I called it
0:45.9	bizarre foods in the intro, but just, you know, foods that the everyday person like me wouldn't
0:51.4	think that, oh yeah, I'm going to go eat that. I'm going to go prepare that. When did you know that was a thing for you? The day magically that they told me that
1:01.6	my travel food idea that I had finally gotten into the boardroom to pitch at Travel Channel in 2004
1:10.2	was a PBS show and not a commercial television show.
1:16.3	And I had this idea called The Wandering Spoon, worst name for a food travel TV show of all time.
1:24.4	And what I did was I wanted to teach you know, teach the world about diving into other
1:29.2	cultures through food. There was at the time, unbeknownst to me, because you have to remember,
1:35.9	we're pushing our show, 2002, three, four, five. Tony had yet to Anthony Bourdain, had yet to
1:44.0	make Cook's tour, which was on Food Network that got bought by Travel Channel, and they basically re-aired what didn't work on Food Network and renamed the show No Reservations and move forward with that show that became so legendary. There was a huge part of my life where looking in the
2:16.1	rearview mirror, I was eating whatever it was that was in that place.
2:20.5	When I was seven years old in Spain with my dad, I ate Angoulas baby eels, and we ate whole
2:26.6	roasted partridge, red-legged partridge in Asturias together in little restaurants, and they were
2:33.9	shot by a hunter.
	...

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