Birmingham That Was Bizarre!

Last night I watched, with my mouth wide open most of the time,  the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods America episode that was filmed in Birmingham.  I would probably not watch this show for many reasons.  Mostly due to the fact I am a somewhat conservative eater.  However since I am a life long resident of Birmingham I felt obligated to watch.

I was very impressed with Andrew Zimmern's show.  He is very poetic the way he describes the foods he eats.   I was also pleasantly surprised on how Andrew Zimmern viewed Birmingham.   I think it was a very positive show for Birmingham.  I think in many ways the program showed that Birmingham is a different city.  Those of us that have been around here for awhile sometimes do not see that.  But when you have someone like Andrew visit our city and he gives his perspective, it sometimes changes your perspective.

As for the food they showed I have been to most of the restaurants they went to.  I have been to Nikki's, Hot and Hot, The Fish Market, Jim and Nicks and Miss Myra's BBQ.  All of which I have to agree are great restaurants.  I don't go to them as often as I should and I am very conservative with what I order.  For some reason I always end up at some cookie cutter restaurant.  Plus eating out continues to get more expensive and we have had to cut back.  After watching the show I plan on making an extra effort to eat at locally owned restaurants.

I also like how the show featured a segment from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).  I did not know you could eat sea urchins and that there was a high demand for them and especially there would be a need to have then farm raised.  Who knew that UAB was researching this?

Kudos to Travel Channel and Bizarre Foods America for spotlighting Birmingham.  If you get a chance I would recommend watching this episode.  It was a little uncomfortable to watch and there was a lot of TMI on the uses of pig, goat and cow parts.  But, those segments were worth sitting through to see and hear about Birmingham's amazing culinary experiences.

Bonus:  Check out this link to see some additional places he went to Birmingham.  He also went to Shindigs Food Truck and The Peanut Depot.

Bizarre Foods Website