P. J. Tucker Quotes

I think that curiosity happened on these reviews where I was just a guest of the reviewer, because it introduced me to new cuisines and to the idea of cooking as a mechanism for studying other cultures and understanding other parts of the world.

For 'Around the World in 80 Plates' we got to travel all over, having what was like a cross between a culinary competition and races. And in each country we had a chef Ambassador. We went to London, Barcelona, Bologna, Hong Kong, Thailand, Morocco... It was amazing.

When I travel, there are no rules with my diet. I eat whatever looks good, but in small portions. Food is such a rich part of the travel experience. There is no way I would cut that out!

Going to Europe as a budding cook opened my eyes to food in a different way. When I got to Italy, the first thing I did was put my little basil plants in the ground and watch them turn into big, healthy bushes.

I am not a stickler for Indian food, but by the third day or so I start looking for something familiar to eat. I have travelled a lot, and I always try out local food.

I take a cooking class everywhere I travel. I find it's the best way to get to know a culture.

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 have a restaurant in Sri Lanka, and I feel keen to open up something here in Mumbai and bring Sri Lankan food here in India. I feel we have so much in common, but we have a different cuisine, and I am sure people will enjoy here.

As a chef and avid traveler, meeting new people and sharing a meal with the intent to learn more about their culture is important to me.

It's just exciting to be able to see what someone around the world is eating in Sicily or Tokyo.

New York gives us a wide colour palette to cook from. We have cuisines from around the world, and that lets us pick and choose.

I will say that the food in both Japan and Italy was immaculate. I don't remember having bad food in either country.

I always had a lot of fun in America, with much more freedom than if I had tried to cook in France. I wouldn't have the same motivation or inspiration, and I wouldn't have cooked for the same kind of people in France, so it wouldn't have given me this edge I had in America.

The thing about all my food is that everything is a remembered flavor. Maybe it's something I had as a child or maybe it's something I had in Milan, but I want it to taste better than you ever thought.

I've been a foodie most of my life. I started when I lived for a year in Germany in my early 20s, and here was this new food environment, and I decided I needed to make sense of it. And I found it was the rules of economics that do the best job. Food is a capitalist product of supply and demand.

I had a long-lasting love affair with the flavors from Japan and the hustling New York street vendors. And, of course, a life-changing return to Ethiopia has made huge impacts on my life in food.

A workday lunch that lasts as long as a transcontinental flight is an impossibility for all but the most pliant and footloose of food tourists. To get in the game, you need a thick wallet, an adventurous palate, and a whole lot of time.

I'm a firm believer that the world should be your oyster when you're cooking. People should open themselves to other cuisines - there are a lot of hidden secrets all over the world.

Cooking is like fashion. Always, I like to try to change. If I'm traveling in a different country - to Australia, the Bahamas, Budapest, Moscow - and I see a new ingredient, I like to try it in a new dish.

What makes Harlem special is that at any given time, food seekers can not only find food deeply rooted in Southern, Latin and African traditions, but also can taste the newer Senegalese, Chinese, and Italian influences as well.

I'm not a fussy eater, but when I'm travelling, I try to stick to the same regime and just have my chicken and my mash and broccoli. Otherwise, you start eating all these funny delicacies, and it makes your tummy turn upside down.

In 2012, I launched Andrew Zimmern's Canteen. Inspired by visits to street stalls and markets around the world, Andrew Zimmern's Canteen reflects the intersection of food and travel.

My learning from my travels is that taste is objective. If a thing is tasty, it's universally tasty. Or, just not.

I like cookery programmes: Anthony Bourdain going around the world eating stuff; Rick Stein - he's another favourite.

I ate better in Liberia than I did in Ohio.