Xavier Legette’s Raccoon Meal Gets Props From Celebrity Chef, It’s ‘Delicious’

Anyone who yucked Xavier Legette‘s yum needs to reconsider … ’cause celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern tells TMZ Sports eating raccoon is actually quite delightful.

The host of “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern” (what a fitting title for a topic like this) weighed in on the Panthers receiver’s shocking reveal this week … when he disclosed on a podcast he enjoyed some trash panda on Thanksgiving.

Zimmern is siding all the way with the South Carolina native … who claimed raccoons don’t taste like chicken, but possess a very distinct flavor.

Zimmern — a four-time winner of the James Beard Foundation Award — believes no one should judge the 23-year-old’s food preferences just because it’s not found in grocery stores.

“People frown on folks like myself who regularly eat that animal, which is why I was so happy with what Xavier had posted,” Zimmern said.

“Quite frankly, I can cook chicken, pork, beef, lamb and all the other traditional animals as many ways as anybody I know. However, it certainly makes my diet more interesting.”

Zimmern added, “We have a lot of other things to worry about in this country. I say let people eat what they’re gonna eat.”

The 63-year-old chef also shared his raccoon recipe with us — and it’s nothin’ like cookin’ chicken.