Andrew Zimmern

I'm no saint, and I don't want to come across like one, but there is not a day that goes by that I'm not doing something for someone else with a very large chunk of my time. ”

Even as a kid, I ventured out to ethnic restaurants all the time. ”

I grew up in a time when we didn't have the Internet, and we didn't have smartphones and things like that. ”

I've spent time in the coastal Carolinas and have seen what small business development has done to maintain the wetlands and reestablish the fisheries and secure jobs for the people that make their living off the water. ”

Too many Americans are getting sick on our over-commercialized food system. ”

The corner of the 'food media' that I think is troublesome to me is the shows on TV that don't really have a point or don't have a lesson to be learned. If you don't have a point, or if there's not some part of it that is meaningful and can change someone's life, in my old age, I'm just not into it. ”

Sometimes I have to shake my head at how much work it can take to track down a handful of food. Perfect example: I spent a whole day in the Amazon rainforest, in Ecuador, scouring the trunks of dead palm trees for grubs. ”

I can tell everything about a restaurant through their mussels. You have to work so hard to keep them perfect. ”

In the frequently-asked-question category, the question I get asked almost as much as 'What's the worst thing you've ever eaten?' is 'What's the best pair of pants to travel in, work in, trek in, and use on the road for the most activities possible?' ”

Remember for stir-frying not to use a wok bigger than 16 inches. Once it has food in it, you won't be able to work very efficiently. ”