Article: Jeff Corwin gives a taste of "Extreme Cuisine"

**texasmesquite** · 09-27-2009, 10:29 PM

Jeff Corwin gives a taste of "Extreme Cuisine"
By GREG MORAGO
Source: Houston Chronicle

The world is hardly bereft of intrepid culinary adventurers traveling to far-flung corners of the world to eat spiders, chomp on innards and ingest lethal peppers for the amusement of armchair foodies.
But conservationist Jeff Corwin says his new Food Network show, which has him crisscrossing the globe to snack on poisonous fish stews, bug larvae and grilled cow eyeballs, is different. Yes, Extreme Cuisine With Jeff Corwin will feature some pretty extreme cuisine (as least by the average American's standards), but he also promises to explore human culture in his culinary adventures, which begin Thursday at 8 p.m.
The Emmy-winning wildlife biologist and anthropologist says his posts celebrate the culture and history of the communities he visits. With an eye toward conservation and sustainability, Corwin sets out to show regional foods and their connection to the land and the people. Sure, he's eating ants, but he aims to show why ant eating came to be.
We talked to Corwin recently about his travels and his new show. His comments have been edited:
Q: There are several shows already on cable about guys going to faraway places to eat unusual stuff. Why did you want to do this show and how is it different?
A: This show stands on its own in that I'm not a professional chef, but I am a foodie. What I offer is that I approach the experience not just as a person who's curious and epicurious, but as a biologist and anthropologist. I don't want to shock you. I have no interest in that. What I want to do is to get people to explore their relationship with food, the journey to harvest the food, and how that meal connects them to the land and the natural resources. For me, it's a story about a journey and a meal.
Q: Some travel shows display the Ugly American. Was it important to you in visiting these cultures with their own foodways to be respectful and show it's not gross, it's simply how they live?
A: I hope that resonates loudly throughout the show. What's also unique about our show is that we just don't show up for a meal. We are out there doing it. I go out with them when they harvest. I help prep the meal. I get to be the sous chef or assistant. I get the ultimate blend with this community's cultural specialty when it comes to food.
Q: As the world shrinks and we pride ourselves in knowing so much about global cuisine, what's really left to discover?
A: There's so much. Today we have this cultural fusion that we've experienced it all and eaten it all. But we didn't do it first, and that's what's incredible. Food is constantly changing. Food evolves. We didn't invent it. People have been doing this forever.
Q: What is the weirdest thing you've eaten so far?
A: I've tried not to use the word weird, which is really a cultural prejudice. I try to look at every meal as a new experience. We've eaten some incredibly interesting things. The one thing that kinda got me — not nervous — but when we rolled over a log and saw giant wood larvae, I thought, how the hell do we eat this? I can't eat this, that's what I'm thinking in my brain. But you know what? It's good. Is it like George Washington cake that my mom made for me every birthday? No, it's not. But very rarely have I been put off. And it's not flavors, it's texture.
greg.morago@chron.com