The Most Bizarre Things Anthony Bourdain Has Ever Eaten

From fetal eggs to seal eyes, Bourdain has chowed down on it all.

Balut, or fetal duck egg, is not for weak stomachs. In 2006, Anthony Bourdain ate balut while visiting Vietnam, though it is most traditionally beloved in the Philippines. In an online chat via The Washington Post, Bourdain describes balut as a "crunchy, delicious" food. Bourdain also ate balut on air during an interview with Piers Morgan. "It's not one of my favorite things on earth," Bourdain tells Morgan, "but it's not that bad if you can get past the feathers."

While a guest on Piers Morgan Live, Anthony Bourdain was challenged to eat foods without knowing what they were until after eating them. Among those dishes were bull testicles, which Bourdain remarked was "rubbery as hell" as he picked up a piece. His thoughts? "Not bad... Piers, penis — it's so last week," Bourdain joked. 

In Saigon, on his first TV series, A Cook's Tour in 2013, Bourdain swallowed a beating cobra heart. He likened it to a "very athletic, aggressive oyster" — if you can imagine that. 

Hákarl, heavily ammoniated fermented shark from Iceland, has popped up on a few of The Daily Meal's lists, including the world's stinkiest foods and foods for the daring eater. And it is the one thing that Anthony Bourdain truly finds revolting, telling Piers Morgan in an interview that hárkal is like a "WMD." He described it as "the single worst, most disgusting and terrible-tasting thing" he's ever eaten. 

"You won't get this in your local supermarket," Piers Morgan said to Bourdain as he ate some daring foods on an episode of CNN's Piers Morgan Live. The dish was maggot fried rice, and it made Bourdain wince, reach for a glass of wine, and pass on a second go of the dish. "He's beginning to crack," Morgan joked.  

While filming in the Moroccan dessert for his first series, A Cook's Tour, Bourdain ate roasted sheep's testicle. During an interview on The View, co-host Sherri Shepherd asks Bourdain what sheep testicles tastes like. His answer? "Like any other testicle, actually." 

Bourdain tried stinky tofu while visiting China. Stinky tofu is a fermented tofu, and, funnily enough, it is the one thing his adventurous eating counterpart Andrew Zimmern could barely swallow.

While filming No Reservations, Bourdain spends time with Inuits in Quebec, Canada, and participates in a seal hunt. To make sure he gets the full experience, Bourdain says, he is offered a piece of everything. Bourdain eats some of the liver, kidney, and the eyeball. Offering the eyeball is seen as an act of kindness and generosity toward guests. Bourdain simply describes the eyeball as, "not bad." 

In Namibia, Bourdain says, "All those years of telling you to eat as the locals do, take a chance, don't be squeamish, they're all coming back to haunt me. Behold the worst meal of my life." That worst meal is unwashed warthog anus, filled with dust, sand, and fecal matter. Bourdain suffered with each bite and knew that he would be sick after the meal, but he also knew that spitting out the warthog would be rude to his hosts. "The chief is there in front of his whole tribe offering you his very best," Bourdain said. "Show respect. I'm lucky to be there. I'm lucky to see that. I'm lucky to have that experience. Chewing some antibiotics is a small price to pay."