We all know Anthony Bourdain’s passion for food had been a love affair of sorts, and
it grew stronger with his visits to France.
The love was such that he globe trotted around the world, putting his taste buds on the line
and checking out dishes with the locals.
On his adventures, it would be expected of him to come across food only Bourdain was
destined to experience and which were like no other.
Here are the top 10 Anthony Bourdain food experiences that the famous American celebrity
chef, author and TV personality witnessed in his lifetime.
Johnny Rockets made Anthony Bourdain sad
This American restaurant chain has filled our bellies with ridiculous amounts of fries,
shakes and burgers.
They’ve even given us the option of letting our dogs end up having a good time, from the
special 20 item dog menu.
And we’ve been entertained by the staff, who come by singing and dancing every half
hour.
Despite all of these good memories we might have of the food chain, Anthony Bourdain did
not have any.
Not even the popular chain could withstand the famous chef’s no nonsense attitude when
it comes to food related endeavors.
On one of the episodes of Conan, he recalled a tale of his experience with Johnny Rockets
at an airport location.
He expressed the experience as ‘soul destroying.’
His meal included a cold burger, limp fries and a whole lot of misery on part of the staff,
including him.
This made him lead to a “spiral of depression,” as he expressed it in his own words.
What else can you expect from a guy who travelled the world, visited exotic locales and treated
himself with authentic, delicious food for a living?
Even a smiley face with ketchup on a paper plate would not have made the chef happy after
that experience.
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Bourdain Eats Eye of Seal
If you thought having a week old pizza slice, lying on the floor was gross, think again.
You haven’t tasted anything disgusting yet.
During the shoot of No Reservations, Bourdain had the opportunity to spend time with the
Inuit in Quebec, Canada.
To be part of the crowd, he participated in a seal hunt.
When you visit someone’s house and are offered food, you expect to relish in it and expect
to acknowledge the generosity towards yourself as the guest, which is what Bourdain did.
He had a good time having kidney, liver and yes the eyeball of the seal.
He considered the eyeball as being “not bad.”
Now when the chef describes the experience in too short words, you start having doubts
as to who to trust anymore when it comes to food advice, even Anthony Bourdain.
Let us all hope he at least added some salt on the raw eyeball.
It surely was an “eye” opening experience.
Iceland shark carcass on No Reservations
While Iceland maybe known for its scenic beauty, glaciers and active volcanoes, it’s also
famous for fermented shark.
In an episode of No Reservations, back in 2004, Bourdain visited Iceland and at the
time the season of Þorri was going on, which is mid-January to mid-February.
Being a good guest that he was, he tasted some of the traditional Icelandic delicacies.
Also part of the dish was the Icelandic shark.
The fish leaving a bad taste in the chef’s mouth would be considered as an understatement
as he recalled it being “the single worst, most disgusting and terrible-tasting thing”
he had ever come across.
It was something he emphasized he would never go for round two again.
To the uninformed minds, who don’t know what a fermented shark is, it is a Greenland
shark.
These are poisonous to us when fresh because of their high amount of ammonia.
The shark is hung and cured for months on end -- after pressing it under stone in order
to squeeze out all the urea and other fluids, which it spends some time fermenting in.
The results are that of a decomposed exterior, after only which it is ready to be consumed
at hearts content.
After hearing the wise words of Bourdain and a brief description of the preparation that
goes into this delicacy, greater will be the person who still has a stomach of steel to
try it out.
Bourdain and the heart of the slithering kind
If you thought nothing could top the seal eyeballs or fermented shark food in its decomposed
glory, think again.
On his show No Reservations, Bourdain was involved in a number of instances which would
weaken the hearts and stomachs of many.
But its Anthony Bourdain we’re talking about and the man had a fondness for all things
crazy and questionable.
On one of the episodes, the chef ate the beating heart of a cobra.
He recalled the experience on The Late Show with David Letterman and revealed that it
is a table side dish in Vietnam and the cobra is allowed to hiss at you till it is zipped
open with gardening shears.
The heart drops on the plate, beating and you are ready to go.
This wasn’t just one isolated incident where Bourdain was involved with a beating heart.
On his TV series, A Cook’s Tour, he swallowed the cobra’s heart and compared the experience
to “an athletic aggressive oyster.”
Anthony Bourdain behind the Warthog
This next food choice is right up there when it comes to consuming the most repulsive things
imaginable.
Anthony Bourdain being the respectful guest that he was, managed to get himself stuck
in sticky situations and this can be safely assumed as a worthy contender on this list
of food experiences.
During his time in Namibia, Bourdain was honoured by the Namibian chief as he was offered an
unwashed warthog butthole, filled with fecal matter, sand and dust.
In order to show respect, he had to accept the offering and with every bite of the butthole
of hell, he had to suffer a bit more each time.
Pumbaa, we have fond childhood memories of you singing Hakuna Matata as you waltzed through
the forest in the Lion King, but after this, we might never think of you the same way again.
Thanks, but no thanks.
No amount of being courteous and respectful can coax us into trying out an anus.
Namibians and Bourdain are far braver than us.
Plane food?
Definitely not for Anthony Bourdain
Celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay have shown their disdain towards plane food.
We have all been there on our globetrotting adventures, cursing and dreading the food
while in the air, but eating it because of hunger pangs.
Anthony Bourdain too had shared his complete disassociation with the culinary delights
available on planes, multiple times.
You would think how bad plane food could be for the guy, compared to his repertoire of
food indulgences that could make mere mortals like us go insane, just thinking about having
them.
Well he did elaborate on his disliking it by mentioning how the food is not prepared
under good conditions, if made on the ground, and it is just edible enough.
The closest he ever got to plane food was his experience with Johnny Rockets at an airport,
if the synonymy of airports and airplanes counts, and we all know how that turned out.
If you think about it, the chef has gone to almost all corners of the world and half the
time he spent in the air to reach his destination.
The whole concept of bland, frozen, repackaged processed airplane food is something that
he simply loathed.
You would imagine him getting starved on those ridiculous long flights, but the chef always
had a plan up his sleeve, reserved for such occasions.
He would drink himself silly with some wine or scotch, with some cheese added in the mix.
So there you go.
In case you’re ever in the mood for sound advice regarding how not to starve on a plane
without having food, drinks and cheese it is.
We should probably take this seriously as it comes straight from the master chef.
Besides, you can never go wrong with a good scotch on a long journey.
Bourdain has Balut for breakfast
The food is as exotic as the name sounds.
Balut is one of the delicacies of the Philippines and is part of the street food culture of
the place.
We might not see boiled eggs the same way after having a taste of this particular egg.
It involves an unborn duck fetus, which you’re supposed to boil and consume just like that,
embryo and all that comes with it.
Sounds weird?
Looking at Bourdain’s exploits of the past, he loves all things unknown in the food department
and not trying out Balut would have been sacrilege for the man.
We might not find it as a common snack to munch on compared to the hot dog stands all
over the place during summer time, but for the Filipinos, it’s just that.
Knowing Anthony Bourdain, the chef wanted to catch in on the bandwagon and check it
out for himself, while in Vietnam in 2006.
Compared to a Warthog’s anus, this seemed like a dessert for him and he described the
experience as “crunchy” and “delicious.”
He further added that if you could get past the feathers, things would not be as bad.
Thanks Bourdain for making that sound like a consolation to minimize the discomfort while
having one.
Variety is the spice of life for Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain has had a fascination with all sorts of testicles when it comes to the
food variety.
We wonder why, but that’s how it was.
The chef tried out sheep testicles in a Moroccan desert, roasted of course.
It was part of his series, A Cook’s Tour.
You would think that he would have stopped this madness right there, but no.
On one of the episodes of No Reservations, he had the balls to try out iguana and bull
testicles.
Apparently he found iguana testicles delicious.
On the Piers Morgan Live show it was turkey testicles, and it wasn’t just restricted
to that, as he was challenged to eat things without knowing what he was having.
The ‘rubbery stuff,’ as he so fondly phrased on the show, turned out to be a bull penis.
Bourdain, brains and blood
This next item sits proudly in this list of uncanny food items.
On his trip to Thailand, Bourdain was offered pig’s brain by a friend.
And as we know, Bourdain was a gracious guest and could not say no to the offer.
As he was enjoying the meal, he didn’t even bat an eye, but yes, once a bowl of Lou was
also presented to him, which is soup filled with raw pig blood, even he cringed at the
site.
If that doesn’t sound gruesome, Bourdain himself compared the scene to a horror movie
and even a “CSI soup,” which he thought of himself eating out of an open wound.
The man was of a few syllables when it came to elaborating on the taste of whatever he
ate and in this case too, he just described it as “completely delicious” and declaring
it the best meal he had in Thailand.
Halloween or not, a brain for a meal with some pig blood to digest it quickly would
surely set the mood for a celebration of gruesome horror.
Anthony Bourdain and the revenge of the tentacles
For this particular dish you don’t have to globe trot to try it out.
Anthony Bourdain happened to find it in Queens, New York.
The restaurant is called by the name Sik Gaek, a Korean BBQ.
They believe in serving fresh food and they’re not kidding when they say the seafood is fresh.
The dish Bourdain ate involved a live fresh octopus, with tentacles still wiggling and
fidgeting, ready to be devoured.
Nothing can get as fresh as this and for all those who relish their food just out of the
water, moving about on their plates, this place is for you.
Compared to other items on this list, this one is alive and kicking and although having
one doesn’t seem to gross us out unlike warthog butts, sheep and bull penis, and so
on, it would still be something we would think twice before eating.
If you do decide to eat one, there are risks involved when you order your octopus.
The animal can use the suckers on its tentacles to clasp onto you and suffocate you while
you are trying to eat it alive.
Wonder if that is mentioned in the fine print in the menu and that you have to sign some
kind of agreement form before you take the plunge.
Now this is the kind of food that can literally, actually kill you.
Bon appétit.
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