Spanish Percebes and Criadillas Qualify as Bizarre Foods?!

The other night we watched the show "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" on the Travel Channel. If you have not seen the show, Mr. Zimmern travels around the world eating bizarre foods. In this episode he was eating his way around Spain, trying such Spanish delicacies as percebes - gooseneck barnacles, morcilla - blood sausage, criadillas - bull's testicles and tasty angulas with garlic - baby eel. Having eaten plenty a fabulous meal in Spain, these foods do not seem bizarre to us, but rather flavorful dishes we look forward to eating again soon!

It was truly fun to watch as Mr. Zimmern ate in local taverns and restaurants, and to see him wander around public markets in Madrid and Barcelona, checking out the wonderfully fresh food. What a treat to go "behind the scenes" and actually see the chefs preparing dishes in the kitchen of the ancient "Casa Botin", said to be the oldest restaurant in the world, est. in 1730. It is a famous restaurant in the center of Madrid, visited by thousands of tourists each year and serves traditional Spanish dishes. Andrew Zimmern also visited with famous chefs like Ferran Adria in Cataluna, who is on the cutting edge of modern cuisine.

Whether or not you've ever visited Spain, if you are interested in Spanish food, this episode is worth watching when it airs again.