(gentle music)
Welcome to my world.
(energetic music)
Two escargot, pâté, frisée.
Two green salads.
Okay (mumbles).
Lamb chops, steak frites.
Shouldn't you be
doing something?
Two (mumbles) filets
and a pepper steak.
Come on, make the dessert.
Chocolate tart, please.
As a cook, tastes and
smells are my memories.
Now, I'm in search of new ones,
so I'm leaving New York City,
and hope to have a few
epiphanies around the world.
And I'm willing to go to
some lengths to do that.
I am looking for extremes
of emotion and experience.
I'll try anything,
I'll risk everything.
I have nothing to lose.
(ethnic music)
(upbeat music)
I love meat.
Pork, veal, beef, you name it.
I was trained at the
Classical French Manor,
for God's sakes, and that
means rich, fatty foods.
But for years I've had the
antiseptic advantage of
ordering up my meat over the
phone from my New York butcher,
and having it
arrive in my kitchen
in neat, plastic-wrapped
packages.
It's time to face the music.
I need to see where
this stuff comes from.
So I thought I'd look
into it while in Portugal.
To be honest, I knew
very little of Portugal.
I knew this was a
nation of navigators.
Beyond that, it was a
big, blank page for me.
When I pictured Portugal, I
wanted it to look like this.
(upbeat music)
All I know for sure is that
José, the owner of the New York
restaurant where I work, is
enthusiastic about his country.
He grew up here, and truly
loves Portuguese food.
When he heard I was planning
to eat my way around the world,
he invited me here.
There is the veal tongue here.
The very first
thing I learn is that
the Portuguese don't
waste an ounce of animal.
In the front window
of a meat store,
hoof, proudly displayed.
That is so cool.
These are free range chickens.
We don't take the neck out.
You know, everything
is in here intact.
The feet, we use everything.
That's the tripes.
(Anthony chuckles)
Pig's head here.
Pig's tail over there.
I think we're missing the
boat on a lot of this stuff.
(women yell in Portuguese)
(laughs)
José assures me that I can
see where all of this stuff
comes from at his family's
annual pork feast.
He's talked about this event
so much and so enthusiastically
that I've always
wanted to go with it.
(woman laughs)
(woman laughs)
(pig snorts)
(roosters crow)
(upbeat music)
This is not like waking
up at the Ramada Inn.
José's family farm is perfect.
Gorgeous countryside, vineyards,
adorable children,
and friendly locals.
Good day to kill a pig.
Ever since I've been working
for José, he's been telling me
about an annual
Portuguese tradition
that dates back to medieval
times, the pig slaughter.
Every week, the pig is getting
fatter, even as we speak.
(José laughs)
I've been getting
regular updates.
The whole family gets
involved, the neighbors come,
and it's a big social event.
(fireworks sizzle)
Just a way to say
that party begins.
(fireworks explode)
It's a traditional
mourning to vegetarians.
Nah, there's no
vegetarians here.
(fireworks explode)
After all the smoke
clears from the fireworks,
it's time to get
down to business.
Food chain in action.
These professional butchers
are hired for the day
to do the job of
killing the pig.
If I was just a little
slower and a little stupider,
that could be me.
As a chef, I love
and appreciate meat.
It's about time I take
responsibility for my actions,
and at least witness the job
that sustains me and feeds me.
The deed is performed
quickly and efficiently.
(rooster crows)
I knew it wasn't
gonna be pretty.
I knew it would be
bloody and disturbing.
It's easy to pick up
a phone, you know,
"Send me two pork loins,
10 orders of pig's feet."
Now, now I see how
we got to that point.
All I can do as a chef is
to go back to the mantra,
"Waste nothing, and be as
good a cook as one can be."
Almost every single piece
of this animal will be used,
eaten, and enjoyed.
The pig is quickly cleaned out,
and its organs saved for
several different dishes.
Here we go.
Liver, lungs, heart,
and the tongue.
Cool.
That's the tenderloin,
look at that.
It's beautiful.
Tripes here.
All these things,
they're gonna wash it,
and they use for the sausage.
- Everything is for casing.
- Everything's for casings,
- yeah.
- Yeah.
[Anthony] Look at that.
(mumbles)
Now, they're gonna wash the
pig inside with red wine.
[Anthony] This goes back
to the Romans, I think.
And besides that, the
wine has some tanins there,
and also is
some alcohol, so you'll get-
(mumbles) bacterial growth.
Exactly.
You know, that looks good.
That's appetizing now.
Beautiful.
Before we start breaking
the pig down into
constituent parts,
José's family and friends
gather around for an old
Portuguese tradition.
(accordion music)
It's their way of honoring
and respecting the pig.
Okay, this is sort of
like a poetry slam,
or playing the dozens,
or a rap competition.
(man sings in Portuguese)
(accordion music)
This is a song, by the
way, about recent events.
One gets the impression
watching these guys
that these traditions
have been around forever,
that they truly know how
to treat food with respect.
It goes from singer to singer,
each one trying to outdo
the other one with better
and funnier rhymes.
(man sings in Portuguese)
(accordion music)
We have another candidate,
that's what's going on.
(man sings in Portuguese)
(accordion music)
(group claps)
I like this.
Maybe I should adopt this
tradition in my kitchen.
A little tambourine,
a couple of ukeleles,
throw in a harmonica,
and we'd be good to go.
(calm music) (rooster crows)
It's day two on José's farm,
and it's back to the
barn to check on the pig.
Okay, all right.
[Anthony] There's
my little friend.
Looking good.
So these gentlemans,
they're gonna show us
how we do this thing,
how we take it apart.
Almost every part of
this pig will be used
or eaten in various
delightful ways.
Cuts of the pig's head,
ears, neck and shoulders,
and even the pig's feet,
all go into one stew pot.
The backbone and the skin are
mostly used to flavor soups.
Beautiful looking fat, though,
as I'm looking at this.
That's gorgeous.
This is pure gold, right?
Yeah.
The rind and fat
are multi-purpose.
They're used for sausages,
crackling, and flavor.
Then, of course, there are
the familiar cuts of meat.
You've got this nice
belly meat in there.
Exactly.
[Anthony] This is almost bacon?
[José] Yeah.
[Anthony] That's
nice, lean meat.
[José] This is used to barbecue.
All those little scraps
are going in a sausage.
So far, I see about eight
ounces of unusable trim
off this animal.
(upbeat music)
So this is the biggest prize.
[Anthony] The front leg up here.
This front leg is going
to be made into presunto,
the Portuguese
version of prosciutto.
Cool.
I always wanted to know
how prosciutto was made,
and it's a fairly
simple process.
So now you're
preparing the salt mix,
salt, a little
pepper, and cumins.
[Anthony] And I see
a little fresh garlic
in there also, right?
Exactly.
[Anthony] You
give it a rub down?
[José] A salt
rub, a nice massage.
Sort of exfoliating and
a massage at the same time.
My muscles are getting all tense
just looking at that stuff.
[José] Right, let's go.
[Anthony] The next step
is to bury these pork legs
in salt for about 30 days.
The salt cures the meat by
sucking out the moisture.
[José] That's the
traditional salt boxes.
So now we're gonna put
some salt in there.
[Anthony] Centuries old thing.
Now we cover it with
salt, pack it very well,
then the belly and the
ribs, they just lay on top.
Right, you're not
looking for a strong cure
on this at all.
No, no, no.
You're flavoring it,
and even more importantly,
historically, you were
preserving it, so again,
necessity caused us to discover
something really tasty.
So that's it, now
we're just gonna cover.
[Anthony] There we go!
[José] And that's
the end of it, okay.
In 30 days, these
pieces will be hung
in a smokehouse and
flavored to perfection.
Voila, prosciutto.
Now there's one last
pig part to deal with.
We have the bladder
some place, right?
It's time for bladder ball.
Yes, the bladder.
That's the pig's
bladder, so traditionally
what they used to do, they
used to do this and then they
would cover with leather,
and then we can have
the perfect soccer ball.
Oops!
Do you want to try to shoot?
(upbeat music)
I was told by some
Portuguese guys in my kitchen
that when you're a kid, the
highlight of any pig feast
is a game of soccer using
the pig's smoked bladder,
another tradition that's
been around for centuries.
(upbeat music)
Touchdown!
I think there's a future in
American sports for this.
All right, so I'm no Pelé,
and my lungs are
about to give out.
I've had enough.
[José] That mountain over
there, it's a perfect pyramid.
Oh, yeah.
The most exciting thing about
Portugal has been the certain
knowledge that I'm looking at
it from a privileged position,
and I'm a guest of a large,
passionate, extended family
who have gathered together
for the big pig feast.
Who have we got?
Let's see.
Your mother, I know.
This is a friend of mine,
very good friend of mine,
it's another very
good friend of mine.
And my brother, that's
the local priest.
Here's another cousin,
so this is Tony.
There's more cousins here.
The food called.
It's an ever-changing cast
of characters around here,
I love it.
They keep coming in the door.
They seem to be carrying food.
Some of them have knives.
They all seem to be involved
in the cooking of the food.
The demarcation of labor
is very mysterious.
Unlike my kitchen, there's
no clear chain of command.
Everybody's got a
little contribution.
It's great when a
family's cooking for you,
and even greater when
it's a family with a farm,
where they actually
grow this stuff.
The potatoes come from there,
the oranges, the olives,
the wine is made on premises,
and of course, all that pork.
(upbeat country music)
That looks good.
After a busy morning
pig killing and gutting,
and a nice bowl of caldo verde.
It's Tony's
request, caldo verde.
My first brush with
Portuguese cooking was a bowl of
caldo verde in Provencetown,
Massachusetts, when I was 17.
It's my favorite soup.
(guitar music)
Wonderful.
This is better than the
stuff I ate in Provincetown.
Now I'm a convert.
This homemade recipe beats
anything I've had in the past.
It's kale and chorizo sausage
in a potato and olive oil
base, flavored with a
smoked bone of prosciutto.
[José] I'll say this
is a perfect caldo verde,
that's why I like it.
The chorizo, too, is really
smoky and more flavorful.
If this is any indication
of what's coming next,
I'm in for a big treat.
As long as I've known José,
he's always been a
maniac for organ meat.
You might think, "Liver,
heart, ew, disgusting,"
but on José's family farm,
these are coveted dishes.
[José] You ever eat heart?
All right, bon appetit.
Bon appetit.
First up, the liver.
Looks good.
I generally don't like pork's
liver, but this is excellent.
When it's this fresh,
it's got a milder flavor,
but I'm really
impressed by the heart.
Man, that's really good.
You know, this is
very distinctive.
It kind of tastes
like filet mignon.
It's wonderful.
[José] Is it?
The next dish includes the
more extreme cuts of pig,
that I've never tried.
One more pig's feet here.
[Anthony] It smells good.
[José] You can smell it?
[Anthony] Yeah.
I'll give you the snout.
One pig extremity to another.
José's working himself
into a fever pitch.
A little bit of the ear there.
Little ear.
[José] A bit of the feet.
And his enthusiasm's
really rubbing off.
Look at this, all one animal.
The different parts all
have distinct flavor.
They all have slightly
different consistencies.
Sensational.
It's got great flavor.
Snout, jowl.
And to accompany a great
meal, the homemade wine.
(José mumbles in Portuguese)
(tranquil music)
Right about now, I'm
busting out at the seams.
Just when I'm about
to cry "Uncle!",
out comes one last thing,
a seriously dense flan.
(guitar music)
[José] It's a
very particular flan
that uses some of the
rendered pork fat.
This flan-type dish is
made only from egg yolks,
sugar, and pork fat.
Tell that to your cardiologist!
This is wonderful.
It should be illegal.
[José] It comes from
the quality of the eggs.
Oh, man, that's so good.
This is excellent.
Delicioso, delicioso.
Okay, so I'm beginning
to feel like that pig.
Wait a second, maybe they're
trying to fatten me up
for next season's slaughter?
Bring my gurney around.
(laughs)
These guys are planning
their next meal already.
No one understands why
Portuguese ever like breakfast,
you know?
You see (mumbles).
These guys could
go on eating all day.
It's unpretentious,
the idea of a sterile,
laboratory-type kitchen
situation, it's very much
the opposite of what
food's about in Portugal.
It's all about friends,
family, and good local stuff
with a long tradition
attached to it.
(crowd mumbles out of unison)
If you think eating all that
animal fat would drive me
over the edge, and it probably
will, but I'm determined
to follow through with this
so-called quest that I started,
and really see where all my
favorite foods come from.
So I'm headed into the
southwest of France,
where it's well known to be
the epicenter of foie gras,
the creamy, delightful
liver of the duck or goose.
My younger brother, Chris,
decides to hook up
with me in France.
We spent a lot of
time here as kids,
and it's fun to
be back together.
Plus, his French is
better than mine.
(group greets each
other in French)
Michel and Nicole Cabannes
raise ducks on their farm
for foie gras production.
This is yet another case of,
"I've been ordering
this stuff up for years!"
"It's only fair that
I see the process"
"from beginning to end."
Okay, so they get
them around one day old,
and they raise them just
kind of freely like this
for about 16 weeks,
and they feed them
grass and grains
from the farm here.
[Anthony] Right.
Then, for about 15 days,
they basically kind of
pump them up, so they get
the liver all fattened up.
[Anthony] We head
over to the pens,
where the more mature
ducks are fed twice a day.
Kind of like I was back at
José's farm in Portugal.
(guitar strums)
Basically, it
comes down to this.
Monsieur Cabannes
feeds the ducks
a hefty portion of high
grade, ground up corn meal.
(guitar strums)
Right, so it's like they're
not miserable being fed
this way, but it's not like
they want food, not at all.
So they're not
lining up (mumbles).
No, they're not lining
up (mumbles) at all.
Now, some may argue
that this is cruel,
but foie gras is a
precious delicacy,
and like most delicacies,
it takes the skill of a
true craftsman to make.
At the end of the day,
you taste that liver,
and realize it's
all means to an end.
Right here?
Oui.
All right.
The Cabannes invite my brother
and me into their family shop
for a tasting of their
homemade foie gras.
Oh, yeah.
First up, conserve de foie gras,
slightly cooked whole liver.
Lovely.
[Chris] It is lovely.
And this is?
And this is pâté (describes
the food in French).
Next up, pâté, a mix of
foie gras and duck meat.
It is wonderful.
This is beautiful stuff.
[Nicole] And this
is the rillettes.
Oh, yes, good, I love this.
Finally, rillettes, my favorite.
It's whole duck slow
cooked in its own fat
'till it falls off the bone.
So good.
So is fat the
greatest thing ever?
That's what I want to know.
Ask him if he thinks that fat
is the greatest thing ever.
(laughs)
Let's face it, fat is
flavor, and the Cabannes
have perfected the
foie gras form of it.
(mumbles) that they have
in Paris for foie gras,
and they always take
away first prize.
So this is champion foie
gras we're eating right here.
This is totally champion foie
gras that we're eating here.
Outstanding.
(upbeat music)
I knew that.
We came to just help.
Delicate, wonderful,
creamy, ethereal flavor.
It's not an acquired taste.
You learn to love it
almost immediately,
or you're just one of those
who will never like it.
This is wonderful.
I was gonna say, this is about
as French as you can get.
Our last night in town,
Chris and I make our way
to a local restaurant for
yet another French delicacy,
tête de veau, or veal head,
a dish that horrified
me as a child.
It's basically veal
cheeks, sweet breads,
and fatty skin rolled
into a kind of roulade.
The French, like the
Portuguese, hate to waste
what we consider the less
desirable animal meat.
So the wily and frugal French
came up with this dish.
Now, I've been shoveling
fatty, rich food in my face
at a horrendous rate for days,
but I'm a man on a quest,
so against my better judgment,
I think I'm gonna
have to order this.
[Chris] The tête de veau?
Yeah.
Tête de veau is really hard
to find, even in France.
It's one of those old school
dishes that no sane person,
other than a
Frenchman, would eat.
It's essentially the
face of the veal.
It's not staring
at me on a plate?
(laughs)
No, no, rolled up, often
with the sweet breads
and the cheeks.
So it's stuffed?
It is not a recognizable head,
but it is terrifying
to the novice.
Okay.
[Anthony] Voila, now
don't get scared away,
because the chef is very proud.
Before he even starts
preparing my dish,
he's got the raw veal tongue
and rolled up cheeks and skin
laid out on a plate as if it
were a diamond in the rough.
The tête de veau
is already tied up
like a Christmas log
with sweet bread filling.
The chef slices it and lays
it out with the tongue,
he steams it for
about two minutes.
Finally, he tops it
with a traditional
egg yolk and green herb
sauce called gribiche.
You're left with something
that is predominantly skin,
fat, gelatin, glutinous matter,
and a little bit of meat.
Now, does that sound
like a good thing?
You'd be surprised.
But at the moment, my
resolve is starting to wane.
I feel pretty ravaged, frankly.
All this good food,
it takes its toll.
[Chris] Oh, yeah.
The rich food, I could
feel my liver ballooning up.
I had a nightmare of myself
quacking around
the room, you know.
I'm giving those livers
a run for their money
sometime real soon,
you can feel it.
But despite all my belly
aching, there's no turning back.
This looks great.
Merci.
So that's what it looks like.
Merci.
I have to say, it still
looks a little scary.
Old school, baby.
This is the skin, this is
the actual face right there.
Okay, I can do
this, I can do this.
This is a tender, rich
dish, full of textures.
Under normal circumstances,
I would enjoy this,
but suddenly, I hit the
wall on my fat consumption.
This is killing me.
I'm telling you, I'm
falling by the wayside.
It's having a
terrifying effect on me.
I feel bloated, nauseated,
weak, queasy, cranky, irritable.
This trip is
catching up with me.
I don't want to insult the
chef by leaving a full plate
in my wake, so I've
gotta do something.
Score.
It's amazing how much
Chef Bourdain actually ate.
(laughs)
Done admirably (mumbles).
Thank you.
You know, maybe this is
why the French eat dogs.
They just (imitates whooshing).
(laughs)
Just when I think I'm home
free, my worst fear is realized.
The chef's coming out.
This is it.
(Chris greets the
chef in French)
This was superb, I thank him
for a wonderful experience.
(Anthony thanks
the chef in French)
My covert maneuver
seems to have worked.
The chef didn't suspect a thing.
Now I have finally eaten
tête de veau in France,
and survived.
The truth is, it was very good,
but after four days of
eating pig parts, egg yolks,
and duck liver, my body
is just saying, "Stop!"
Maybe a brief foray in a
vegetarianism will do me some good?
(upbeat, energetic music)
