The WORST episodes of A Cook's Tour
Every episode of A Cook's Tour ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of A Cook's Tour!
A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines is a New York Times bestselling book written by chef and author Anthony Bourdain in 2001. It is Bourdain's account of his world travels — eating exotic local dishes and experiencing life as a native in each country. The book was simultaneously made into a television series featuring Bourdain for the Food Network.
#3 - How to Be a Carioca
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/14/2003
What is a Carioca? These natives of Rio are lovable scamps who somehow find ways to avoid work altogether, preferring the beach, flirting and hanging out at restaurants and bars. Tony, under the tutelage of an exemplary Carioca, gives the lifestyle a try, enjoying a savage tan, Brazilian barbecue and one too many caipirinhas!
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#4 - A Mystical World
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/7/2003
Known as Brazil's capital of happiness, Salvador da Bahia offers fruitful local markets and rich Bahian cusine: fried shrimp, palm oil, chili peppers, and coconut. Here, Tony takes part in a traditional ceremony and experiences the culinary talents of the famous Bahian, Chef Dada.
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#5 - Singapore: New York in Twenty Years
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/18/2003
Chef Tony Bourdain decides to find the real Singapore with its multicultural restaurants and markets. He samples prescription food dishes, explores the Geyland Serai Market, rides the clean and efficient subway and sees Singapore's diversity in the "Little India" neighborhood.
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#6 - Food Tastes Better with Sand Between Your Toes
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/21/2003
In an attempt to escape the stress of city life, Tony visits the island of St. Martin. In this Caribbean paradise, Tony eats a healthy Rastafarian meal with a freedom fighter, helps prepare grub for a food caravan, discovers foodstuffs not available at American supermarkets and, finally, relaxes at a beach bar.
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#7 - Let's Get Lost
Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 5/16/2003
Jumping into a Thai tuk tuk taxi, Tony attempts to soak up Thai culture and get lost in the cuisine of Chiang Mai. From spicy soups and noodles in the busy city marketplace to the hospitality and delicate salads of the countryside, Tony learns to appreciate all things Thai.
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#8 - Mad Tony: The Food Warrior
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 4/4/2003
Chef Tony Bourdain embarks on a pilgrimage through Australia so he can indulge in a meal made by one of the world's best chefs, Tetsuya Wakuda. When Tony's car breaks down in the outback, he is found wandering about by a veteran of the bush who feeds him a slap-up meal of bush tucker, including kangaroo and wattleseed-bush tomato. Days, miles and many Australian meal later, Tony finds himself unable to describe Tetsuya's delicious and well-earned meal.
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#9 - Down Under: The Wild West of Cooking
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 5/2/2003
Melbourne boasts a bunch of hard-living, good-natured and eccentric food-lovers-Tony's kind of people. In search of the outlaws of food, Tony explores a pasteurization-free cheese factory and an old-world cured jamon workshop. Alas, no trip to Australia is complete without an authentic "barbie", so Tony settles down with new found friends for an afternoon meal of surf n' turf.
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#12 - Desert Feast
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/5/2002
Chef Tony Bourdain arrives in Morocco with a mission: to eat a roasted sheep in the desert. As Tony journeys through the Sahara, he observes the slaughtering of a sheep, eats meat pies with blue-robed Berber men, rides a camel and, finally, experiences the flavors of mud-oven-roasted sheep.
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#13 - Cobra Heart-Food That Makes You Manly
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/19/2002
After taking a cyclo ride through Ho Chi Minh City and trying various foods from roadside vendors and markets, Tony enjoys a unique dining atmosphere where sizzling hot rice cakes fly overhead. Later, Tony tests his might with a few shots of snake wine and a live cobra heart.
#15 - The Struggle for the Soul of America
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/28/2003
Tony travels to the grain belt capitol, Minneapolis, to inspect the conflict between creative independent operators and generic franchises. Beginning in the food nightmare within the Mall of America, Tony vows to find good cuisine within the city.
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#16 - Tamales and Iguana, Oaxacan Style
Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 4/2/2002
Chef Tony Bourdain explores the exotic and colorful indigenous zone of Mexico's Oaxaca region. Here he tastes toasted grasshoppers, tripe soup and a local red-oil sausage, while observing the making of the regional variation on tamales. His adventure ends with dinner on the street, mariachi music and, of course, lost of tequila.
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#17 - So Much Vodka, So Little Time
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 4/16/2002
Tony continues his mission in Russia with a tour of local working class specialities. The first stop is the frozen Neva River, where he tries his hand at ice-fishing-an exercise in stamina and vodka drinking. Following the workout, Tony feasts on Russian foods, including the rare koulibiak, a baked fish pie formerly eaten by the Czars. After so much food and vodka, Tony takes a break at a Russian bath. He steams, eats smoked fish and ends the outing with a dip in the outdoor cold pool.
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#19 - Eating on the Edge of Nowhere
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/26/2002
Taking his obsession with the film Apocalypse Now a little too seriously, Tony sets out of Pailin-reputed to be one of the most dangerous towns on earth. On his journey, Tony experiences nameless waterways, landmine infested roads, unwelcomed guests, and road side delicacies. Arriving in Pailin, Tony realizes the city may be much different than he imagines. After completing his journey in Cambodia, Tony returns to Japan to reacquaint himself with civilization.
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#20 - Highland Grub
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 7/12/2002
Adventuring to the outer reaches of the United Kingdom, Tony insists that Scotland is a place of extraordinary cuisine. Beginning in Glasgow, Tony experiences the heart-clogging glory of a deep fried pizza, deep fried mars bars, deep fried pickled eggs, and deed fried everything! Moving on to more traditional fare, Tony tastes a classic haggis and learns to hunt and fish for his food.
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#21 - Puebla, Where the Good Cooks Are From
Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/12/2002
According to Tony, the best line cooks in NYC come from Mexico, and with this in mind, he travels to the Puebla, the heartland of Mexican cuisine, and enjoys numerous mole sauces, toasted ant eggs, fried worms, and the legendary pulque (a slightly hallucinogenic drink made from cactus sap).
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#22 - Cod Crazy
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 6/17/2002
Portuguese cuisine holds a dear place in Tony's culinary heart. Not only is it the first type of food he learned to love as a young chef, but his boss, Jose Meirelles, hails from Portugal. With Jose, Tony travels to Porto, home of the famous Port wine, where he is immediately exposed to the codfish and the almost mythical place it holds in Portuguese cuisine and culture.
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#23 - Elements of a Great Bar
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/21/2003
Join Tony on his quest to characterize the perfect bar. With him, discover the importance of a "maniacal bartender", the proper chemical makeup of drinks, the joys of seedy dive-bars and the need for late night snacks.
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#24 - The Cook Who Came In From the Cold
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/19/2002
Tony plays spy in Russia when he receives instructions to seek out a man holding a torn newspaper in front of St. Isaac's Cathedral. Once contact is made, Tony and his new partner (Zamir Gotta) set off to locate the best blinis and borscht St. Petersburg has to offer, but first the two spies enjoy a country lunch of pickled salads and braised reindeer. Tony concludes his mission with a trip to St. Petersburg Market and a hearty home cooked meal of borscht, meat filled dumplings and large amounts of vodka.
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#25 - MY Hometown Favorites
Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/23/2002
Passionate about his city, Tony gives us an intimate tour of the New York City foods he knows and loves-sturgeon and bagels, fluke ceviche, pan-seared foie gras, braised veal cheek, authentic cheese and, of course, a hotdog at Papaya King Frankfurters and Juices.
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