June 18, 2013

Politics

Travel Channel serves up snakehead in quest for D.C.'s 'bizarre' eats

BY: ALICIA M. COHN FEBRUARY 11, 2013 | 6:03 PM | MODIFIED: FEBRUARY 11, 2013 AT 6:05 PM
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"Bizarre Foods" host Andrew Zimmern is turning the spotlight on a "very scary fish" that Metro-area restaurants serve up on brioche buns with sides such as pickled onions, dill guacamole or chipotle slaw.

The District hosted the Travel Channel last June for Monday night's season premiere, which features Zimmern noshing on the snakehead, a toothy and invasive fish that has prowled the Potomac illegally since 2002.

The quest to eradicate the snakehead prompted creativity in Maryland chefs such as Chad Wells, who gave Zimmern the full snakehead experience on a bow-hunting expedition -- he observes that alive, the slimy fish is coated in something "like Vaseline." He served it blackened. Chef Wolfgang Puck's Asian fusion restaurant the Source served it smoked with oolong tea, marinated in chilis and batter-fried.

Zimmern also sampled D.C.'s food trucks and stopped at Jaleo, La Chiquita, Common Good City Farm, and Florida Avenue Grill.

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Author:

Alicia M. Cohn

Examiner Staff Writer
The Washington Examiner

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