When it comes to learning about food, wine and spirits, TV culinary journalist Dave Eckert has done just about everything.

He’s gone into the kitchens of many of the world’s great chefs, met with fishermen from New Zealand to Tuscany and visited local markets in Australia, Bali, Hong Kong and India.

Eckert’s watched world-class coffees being roasted and taste tested. He’s seen master chocolatiers practice their craft. And he’s gone along for the harvesting of walnuts and pistachios.

He’s toured the top wine-producing regions of the world and met some of the best wine makers, visited the Scottish Highlands to sample single-malt scotch and gone to Kentucky to find out about super-premium bourbon.

He knows about beer, too, having traveled to microbreweries in Ireland, Scotland and England.

From all of his exotic journeys, Eckert has discovered one grand, unifying principle about food.

People will eat anything.

“When you think about the past and how many places have been desperately poor, it’s just a matter of survival, and then it becomes part of the culture,” said Eckert, who lives in Liberty, Mo.

In the course of his work, he’s come across folks in different countries who savor the taste of duck’s feet, scorpions, water cockroaches and sea snakes.

Dave Eckert, a former news anchor, works on a sauce during taping of Jaynis Kitchen." Eckert, of Liberty, Mo., is the producer and host of "Culinary Travels with Dave Eckert." He is featured this week on "Jaynis

“I try not to judge so much, because what we consider to be normal eating in America might be considered extremely abnormal in other parts of the world,” he said. “I don’t necessarily look forward to putting all these things in my mouth, but my philosophy is: I’ll try anything once.”

Finding ‘hidden gems’

That adventurous outlook is the recipe for some great television, with Eckert as guide.

He’s the producer and host of “Culinary Travels with Dave Eckert,” a program that takes viewers to the source of interesting, indigenous and – most of the time – delicious food, wine and spirits around the world.

His show airs on close to 200 affiliates of the Public Broadcasting System across the country, as well as on DirecTV, The Dish Network, and Delta and Northwest airlines.

“Culinary Travels” made its debut on PBS in 1998. Eckert and his staff have completed 104 episodes of the 30 minute program. Eckert, 43, is on the road three to four months of the year, producing 26 shows annually.

The rest of the time, he works out of the office in his Liberty home, writing and planning for future programs.

Eckert was in Lawrence recently to tape a cooking show with Jayni Carey of “Jayni’s Kitchen,” which appears on Sunflower Broadband’s Channel 6.

He set some time aside to talk with the Journal-World about his work as a food-and-wine journalist, which has earned him recognition twice in the past four years from the Academy of Wine Communications.

“I think we’ve carved out a unique and important niche in terms of a travel show with a specific, culinary theme,” he said of “Culinary Travels.” “We take people into markets and specialty shops, and introduce them to farmers and purveyors, all over the world,” he said.

“I want to continue to make it better, to locate more hidden gems at the local level. I just want to keep improving on what I already think is a pretty good product.”

Essential part of life

Eckert’s name and face should be familiar to many in the Lawrence and Kansas City area.

He was a reporter and anchor from 1989 to 1994 for KMBC-TV Channel 9 in Kansas City, Mo., the city’s ABC affiliate. During those years, Eckert won two regional Emmys for his work.

In 1994, he was hired by Chicago’s superstation WGN-TV, owned by the Tribune Broadcasting Co. In addition to reporting news, Eckert developed, produced, reported and edited “What’s Cookin’ Chicago.”

The TV segment featured food and wine from across the city. One week, Eckert would introduce viewers to a Korean market. The next week, he’d explore olive oils at world-class Spaggia restaurant. Then he’d take a peek at a lively rib shack on Chicago’s South Side.

At WGN-TV, Eckert built his broadcast experience and food knowledge, as well as developing relationships with some of the city’s great chefs: Rick Bayless, Sarah Stegner and Charlie Trotter.

When Julia Child, southwestern pioneer chef Mark Miller or wine expert Anthony Dias Blue were in town, he was able to broaden his food-and-wine network.

In 1996, Eckert realized he was most fulfilled professionally when he was working on “What’s Cookin’ Chicago.” So he began the process of creating what became “Culinary Travels,” launching the show two years later.

Eckert and his wife, Denise Eckert, married 18 years, moved from Chicago to Liberty in 2001. They have two children: Conor, 8; and Fiona, 4.

Eckert explained why he thinks people these days are so fascinated by food and wine, tuning into the Food Channel and making superstars of chefs like Mario Battali and Emeril Lagasse.

“Food is an essential part of our lives. We all have to eat and drink. Beyond that, we’re a nation of immigrants, and all those places we came from have long food and wine histories. There is a little part of us that’s attached to those roots at some level,” he said.

“You can vicariously experience that by flipping on the TV and watching our show.”

Though he’s followed his taste buds to fine cuisine all over the world, Eckert is no food snob.

“Some of the best meals I’ve had have been at local places or in somebody’s family kitchen. It’s not about the gourmet aspect of it. It’s about enriching and enhancing your life. If you can grow your own tomatoes, slice them up and pour on a little extra virgin olive oil, along with some fresh herbs from your garden, you’ve enriched your life,” he said.