Quotes from Andrew Zimmern

Everyone knows about hot dogs and the Big Apple. But for me, New York City street food is all about the Biryani Cart.

I can't tell you how many times I get into a taxicab in New York or Los Angeles, and I'm talking to somebody who is a recent immigrant who was a doctor or lawyer or engineer or professor in the country they just came from. They're starting over again in life, and I think the majority of people out there can relate to that.

My parents divorced when I was six but stayed close.

When I go into a steakhouse and order a steak, I'll order the cut of my choice, and I'll order it black and blue. And I'll ask them to bring it with my first course, and I'll just let it sit there.

I'm a 'bright, shiny objects' guy. I'm always looking for what's next.

In everything I do, I want people to get the message of acceptance, to learn not to practice contempt without investigation. I have an obligation to do it.

Copper is a superb cooking metal, conducting heat so evenly it has unparalleled control, especially at low temperatures.

For wok cooking, use oils with a high smoke point and low polyunsaturated-fat content: grapeseed oil, peanut oil, etc. Sesame oil and olive oil will burn and taste bitter. Oils with high polyunsaturated-fat contents like soybean oil will also make your food texturally unpleasant.

I was just thrown out of the barista parlor. Came to close to the Slayer. Amazing place!

Good vinegars come in all shapes, sizes, strengths, and viscosities and are probably my most often used seasoning agent in the kitchen after the other major acids we use in solid form: sugar and salt.

I think Yelp is neither good nor bad for the food industry. I find it useless.

I consider a perfect hot dog on the street to be as valid a food experience as dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

I lost an apartment. l became homeless for 11 months and squatted in a building on Sullivan Street in lower Manhattan.

I'm obsessed with Chinese food and culture. It's food that I adore above all others.

The greatest food city in the world is New York City, just in terms of depth and breadth, variety, size, infrastructure.

Wok cooking is intimidating, but it's the most versatile and handy tool in your kitchen.

I log 250 days a year on the road. I need pants that are versatile, easy to clean, and dry in my hotel room if necessary.

I use vinegars to deglaze saute pans for sublime sauces.

I get asked to speak to a lot of different groups, one of the best parts of my job hosting a show on the Travel Channel, 'Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.' I take viewers to the far corners of the globe and introduce them to other cultures by exploring the foods they eat - at times, pretty strange stuff.

I've never been a mainstream kind of guy.

Please be a traveler, not a tourist. Try new things, meet new people, and look beyond what's right in front of you. Those are the keys to understanding this amazing world we live in.