Today's Entertainment

Probably one of the most misunderstood traditional dishes is haggis. Originating in Scotland around 500 years ago, it's made from ground sheep heart, lungs and liver, mixed with oats, suet, onions and various spices and cooked in the animal's stomach. The description of it makes many Americans recoil in horror but the taste is quite similar to meatloaf. And probably a whole lot better for you than hot dogs, another comestible made from animal byproduct. One of the stops for Andrew Zimmern in Season 12 of his Tuesday Travel Channel series "Bizarre Foods" takes him to Stirling, Scotland, to try haggis made from deer, which he found more to his liking than the mutton version. "It's got a milder flavor," he says. "Mutton haggis has a very distinct barnyard-y flavor that some people absolutely love and adore and others are like, 'Wow, that's a little too barnyard-y for me.' But the deer version is so excellent, and when it's done right with pinhead oats, especially pinhead oats that are toasted before they're mixed with the meat and liquid and put into the stomach, is such an amazing product." The new season, which gets underway July 3, also takes the host, restaurateur, chef and author to locations here and abroad to check out the Camino de Santiago trail in Spain; the moonshine highway in North Carolina; Bastogne, Belgium, one of the sites of the Battle of the Bulge during World War II; and Hawaii, to hunt ram. In Tuesday's season opener, Zimmern rides the last 200 miles of the Pony Express in California and dines on boiled elk heart, a dish he says is best when slow-cooked. "Hearts are kind of like clams," he explains. "You know, you either fly a clam through a warm kitchen – in other words cook it just to the point of being done – or you chop it up and cook it for a long, long time like in a chowder where it can become soft and tender once again. It's the same thing with heart. If you cook it well done, it's tough and dry. If you cut it and braise it for a long time, it tends to fall apart like pot roast and is quite delicious." Andrew Zimmern What book are you currently reading? "I'm actually finally getting around to Jim Comey's book ('A Higher Loyalty'). I'm almost finished with it." What did you have for dinner last night? "I had a hamachi crudo, I had a grilled ribeye with sunchokes and local asparagus and ramps, and for dessert a rhubarb clafoutis. It was dynamite." What is your next project? "I leave tomorrow morning to shoot a couple of episodes of my new show 'The Zimmern List.' I'm working on a cookbook proposal right now and I'm in the middle of a whole bunch of all-day meetings about a Chinese restaurant that I'm opening up here in Minneapolis called Lucky Cricket." BY GEORGE DICKIE Haggis, elk heart on the menu in Season 12 of 'Bizarre Foods' Page 8 July 2 - 8, 2018 On or Off-Site Catering All Occasions Dine under the glow of gas lanterns Breakfast and Lunch Meals also available Open Tuesday through Saturday 7/7/2018 7/7/2018 7/7/2018 PICK UP y o u r c o p y a t : t h e h A R T Your source for arts, entertainment and culture news in Elkhart County

• Cover