Besides being a famous chef, Gordon Ramsay is also an adventurous eater.
Ramsay won't back away from any food, regardless of how it looks or smells.
That has paid off greatly for him and also hugely backfired.
On several of his TV shows, he has tasted all kinds of special dishes and local delicacies.
We did some thorough research, and found the most exotic foods that Ramsay has ever eaten.
A Fresh Snake’s Heart
Being a professional chef for so long, it’s hard to make Gordon Ramsay uncomfortable with
food.
He has eaten plenty of it.
Some great, some horrible.
So, it's impressive how queasy Gordon looked in this Vietnamese restaurant.
With a local guide, the chef went to a place that specializes in fresh food.
Too fresh, considering the food was still alive.
The options for the menu were varied, but none looked very tempting.
Mountain rat, lizards, frogs.
His local guide suggested they try the six-foot snake.
The restaurant staff actually showed Gordon how they prepare it.
The scene looked straight out a horror movie.
And that made Gordon quite uneasy.
That’s gotta be a first for some of you, seeing the angry chef so hesitant.
Gordon even said: “The thought of eating that turns my stomach”.
But it was too late to back down.
Now, he had to eat that snake’s heart.
In quite an unusual way, too.
They put the snake’s heart inside a glass, then poured some liquid on it.
Even worse, the heart was still beating!
Gordon was astonished.
His guide mentioned that he would feel it beating as he swallowed it.
After gathering up some courage, Ramsay ate it.
But he didn’t seem too happy about it.
That wasn’t the full meal, though.
The waiter then presented Gordon with the snake’s bile, also in a glass.
But that was too much for him.
He didn't actually eat it.
We won’t blame you for skipping that one, Gordon.
The Rotten Shark
For this particular dish, Gordon actually roped in another person.
It was the TV presenter James May, who was a co-host on the TV show "Top Gear".
Rotten shark is an Icelandic delicacy.
The process of preparing the dish is quite complex, as Gordon explains it.
First, the shark is put in the ground and covered in gravel.
It stays there for three months.
That’s not all.
After that, the shark is then hung for four months.
Finally, it’s ready to be eaten.
Apparently, not even the Icelandic locals enjoy this dish too much.
It looks more like a food challenge.
If you eat it without getting sick, it’s proof that you are manly enough.
It's hard to disagree, given how the dish looks and supposedly smells.
Gordon cuts two slices.
Meanwhile, May prepares for the worst by grabbing a bucket.
Surprisingly, it’s Gordon who wasn’t able to eat the rotten shark.
Ramsay grabs the bucket out of May’s hand and spits out the food.
Imagine how foul it must taste, given that Ramsay couldn’t eat it.
Mind you, it wasn’t badly made.
The shark was cooked as intended.
While Gordon spat out the food, you can hear people laughing.
It must have been cathartic to some since the chef can give other people such a hard
time.
May, on the other hand, was unfazed by the shark.
He even offered to eat another slice.
Although to be fair, he probably didn’t actually mean it.
Finger-Lickin’ Tarantulas
Who doesn’t like a good deep-fry?
Some people say you can make anything taste good if you deep-fry it.
But this dish might prove these people wrong.
Deep-fried tarantula is a popular snack in Cambodia.
The process to prepare it seemed simple.
The hardest part was probably getting the spider!
First, the locals boiled it in salted water.
Next, it’s right into the hot oil.
A crowd of locals actually gathered around to watch him eat.
Gordon’s first bite looked crunchy.
But his face wasn’t saying “this is great”.
You start to wonder if Cambodians really do eat tarantulas or if this an elaborate prank
on the chef.
Gordon’s guide noted that the belly of the spider was full of pus.
The chef didn't seem pleased with that information.
But you gotta hand it to him.
He at least tried it.
Gordon actually spat it out!
He looked a bit ashamed, even.
Ramsay said that the legs of the spider were crunchy.
But then, it tasted sweet.
After that, the belly was bitter.
That’s quite a journey for a meal.
Sounds like Gordon won’t be serving spider in his restaurants.
Chutney with a Special Ingredient
Chutney is a true Indian specialty.
Being a lover of the sauce, Gordon seemed excited to taste the chutney of the Dhuruva
tribe.
At first, this mysterious chutney overwhelmed him.
The hot flavor had the famous chef at a loss for words.
But it was all worth it.
Gordon loved the delicacy.
His guide, then, offered to show the special ingredient behind the delicious chutney.
Turns out, the secret ingredient was in a tree.
At the very top of it.
It seemed a bit dangerous.
But Gordon was raving so much about the chutney he might have even climbed the tree himself.
After a very handy catch by one of the locals, the secret was unveiled.
It wasn’t any fruit, sap or bark, though.
It was a nest.
An ant's nest.
Turns out, this Indian tribe makes chutney out of ants and their eggs.
On the ground, the ants took a bite out of Gordon before he turned them into food himself.
His guide, showing off, ate one raw egg.
So, naturally, Gordon had to eat it too.
To his surprise, he liked it!
It had a sweet and sour taste.
Next, it was time for Ramsay to learn how to make the dish.
All in all, it was pretty easy to make.
Just add red chili, salt, ginger.
And, of course, ground up ants and their eggs.
Gordon liked it so much, he even swore off mango chutney.
Sounds tempting to any chutney lover out there.
The World’s Most Dangerous Cheese
Sardinia is a beautiful island in Italy.
Gorgeous beaches, beautiful countryside.
And, for generations, they’ve been eating a special kind of cheese.
It’s named casu marzu.
What does it stand for?
It's Italian for maggot cheese.
That’s right, it’s rotten pecorino cheese served with yummy maggots on top.
It’s a dying tradition, though.
Right now, only a few families still make casu marzu.
This cheese has a bad reputation.
It even got banned in Brussels.
The worry around it isn’t that unfounded.
Ingesting maggots can be a dangerous thing.
It can even lead to some serious health issues.
The farmers defend it, saying it’s part of their tradition.
They also didn’t seem sick, considering they must eat a lot of casu marzu.
There’s a meticulous process behind making the cheese.
First, they make regular pecorino cheese.
After that, they cut the top of it.
This makes it more attractive for the flies to lay their eggs.
The cheese is left for two or three months in a dark hut.
Eventually, the eggs hatch into larvae.
At a distance, it looks like a regular block of cheese.
If you pay close attention, you start to notice something different.
The cheese is moving!
Well, not the cheese.
The white maggots inside of it.
It’s the final transformation from pecorino cheese into casu marzu.
Now, it’s time for Gordon to taste it.
The cheese might be a delicacy in Italy, but Gordon didn’t look that eager to eat it.
He looked uncomfortable.
After eating it, Gordon complained about the sour taste.
Worst of all, it will actually lingers for hours.
It isn't surprising that Gordon didn't like the cheese, though.
After all, he’s is always scolding other chefs for storing rotten food.
Duck Fetus Straight From of the Street
During one of his travels, Gordon was invited to cook an old-styled Cambodian meal.
So, he decided to do his due diligence.
He wanted to taste all the traditional food Cambodia had to offer, to decide what he was
going to cook.
His first pick was a bold one.
Duck fetus.
It’s actually sold on the streets in Cambodia.
Very different from the peanuts and hot-dogs carts you see in some cities.
The legend behind this street snack is that it provided good health and virility.
Duck eggs aren’t out of the ordinary for Gordon, but he never ate one quite like this.
The server put down some salt, lemon, and pepper.
The egg came in a cup.
So far, it looked like a normal boiled egg.
After peeling the egg, though, Ramsay got a good look at what he was in for.
It was an irksome view, and he wasn't prepared for it.
He actually took out the whole unborn duck, and hold it in his spoon.
It’s no wonder that Gordon was incredulous that people ate this.
It doesn’t look good at all.
The guide told him that the egg was 20 days old.
Which didn't help Gordon gather the courage to eat the duck.
All his guide did, though, was watch and laugh.
After some moments of hesitance, Gordon took the smallest bite.
Thankfully, this one was a surprise.
He said it was better than it looked.
Which is easy, since it looks terrible.
But it was so good, he took another bite.
An Eye for an Eye
When Ramsay was on a recent Late Late Show with James Corden, he had to taste a bit of
revenge.
Turns out that, seven years ago, Ramsey actually convinced James Corden to eat a fish eye on
his show "The F Word".
In front of Corden’s whole family, no less.
To convince the TV host, Ramsay promised a free meal for him and his family in any of
his restaurants.
Without any fish eyes involved, too.
Turns out, Corden actually proved it.
Unfortunately, Ramsay never went through with his offer.
He didn’t even remember it!
James Corden’s family were even in the audience.
Maybe they were hoping to score a free meal?
But it was too little, too late for Ramsay.
Corden actually chose to take revenge on the chef, rather than accepting a free dinner.
Ramsay was presented with a fisheye just for him, ready to be eaten.
As you imagine, the dish seems horrible.
Ramsay sure looked like he regretted not inviting the Corden family for dinner.
Maybe because of the pressure of being on television and in front of a crowd, Ramsay
actually decided to eat it.
He made one mistake though.
He took a whiff of it first.
His reaction to the smell alone wasn’t great.
But he still ate it.
Well, in the end, Gordon couldn’t even eat it, really.
He actually did a spit take so powerful that Corden backed away in surprise.
Next time, we bet Gordon will remember all of his promises.
On the Hunt for a Meal
For this meal, Gordon and his son, Jack, went hunting.
But their target wasn’t one of the usual suspects.
The Ramsay clan went hunting for a Burmese python.
Turns out, those pythons are wiping out the species in the Everglades, in Florida.
It’s so bad that the State of Florida even sponsors python hunting.
So, besides it being a great adventure, what they did was actually pretty good for the
environment.
The Ramsay clan met up with two python hunters and made a deal.
They would teach them how to hunt and Gordon would teach them how to cook.
But first, a snake-wrangling lesson.
Gordon’s son, Jack, seemed to do pretty good.
But that was just the training.
This was a six-foot snake.
Pythons in the wild can get to ten times the size of that.
They head into the swamp to catch more of them.
Tracking them down proves to be hard since the snakes blend so well with the foliage.
The group decides to head into the swamp.
A dangerous move, given they just added crocodiles to the list of things they have to worry about.
When they spotted a snake, they all rush towards it.
One of their guides actually got bitten.
But he wasn’t in much danger since pythons don't actually carry venom.
They caught a nine-foot snake and put it down gently in the most humane way possible.
After some snake skinning, it’s Gordon’s time to shine.
He first cuts the snake fillet, then he grounds the meat.
The chef also prepared some accompaniments for the meal and worked his magic.
The result looks pretty damn good.
Who would have thought that snake could look so tasty?
Pigeon Hunt
When most people think of pigeons, they don’t think of a savory meal.
They think of the annoying pests that are all over many cities.
But Gordon won't be eating any of those.
He goes to England’s countryside to get his meal.
There, pigeons cause plenty of trouble for farmers.
They are always eating their crops.
But before he can even prepare the meal, the chef has to hunt it.
Gordon’s guide, Garry Green, gives him the proper tips on how to get a pigeon that’s
going to turn into a great meal.
It requires a good shot since you have to be careful not to spoil the meat.
The chef needs quite a lot of practice in the shooting range.
But after that, he is ready for the real thing.
To attract those pesky birds, they lay out a trap.
Decoy birds are planted all over the farm, to make it look safe for the pigeons.
They also need to go into full stealth mode, using a camouflage outfit.
But the birds proved to quite difficult to hit.
Eventually, though, Gordon manages to snag one.
Now, it’s time to cook it.
The raw pigeon meat already looks pretty good.
The results, in the end, are surprising.
It looks like a fine steak.
Gordon serves with a delicious dressing and a special salad with black pudding and bacon.
The plate looks straight out of a fancy restaurant.
The meat is cooked to perfection, one of Gordon’s specialty.
The meal ended up looking so appetizing that it might change your perception of pigeons
as a whole.
Shark Fin Soup
Traveling to Taipei, Gordon was determined to eat a traditional Taiwanese meal.
It was shark fin soup.
Not only that, he wanted to know how it was cooked.
He went to one of the most famous restaurants in Taipei.
There, Gordon watched how the chef prepared the meal.
The soup's broth had been cooking for over eight hours by the time Gordon arrived.
The chef also flavored it with ham and darkened it with soy sauce.
The shark’s fin was steamed, soaked and washed for days.
Then, the fin was infused with a chicken stock until it reached a gelatinous texture.
Finally, the fin was boiled with the broth.
You could tell that Gordon was curious to taste it.
This local specialty isn’t cheap, and the bigger it is, the more it costs.
The large bow costs 90 pounds, close to 120 dollars.
The soup surprised Gordon.
Not in a good way though; he said it tasted like nothing.
Although the broth was good, Ramsay wasn’t that impressed with the meal.
Actually, he thought that the shark fin was getting in the way of the broth!
This got Gordon curious.
He wanted to know why people spend so much money on something that tasted like nothing.
He tried to ask some of the VIP customers in the restaurant, but the waiter didn’t
love this idea.
He actually blocked Gordon’s way.
Gordon didn't give up.
He even tried to distract the waiter and sneak his way over to their table.
Unfortunately, he was caught again.
So, are you adventurous like Gordon?
What items on this list would you actually eat?
Let us know in the comments.
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