The US State That Anthony Bourdain Never Visited

Whether it was a war-torn street corner in Beirut or a dive bar in Detroit, Anthony Bourdain did a fine job of trying to touch nearly every corner of the globe. But even one of the most well-traveled food documentarians ever left a few surprising blank spots on the map. One of the most notable? Our 49th state, Alaska. It's a place that's rich in culinary identity and complexity, yet somehow managed to evade the Bourdain spotlight. 

The vast and still largely unexplored state is often called "The Last Frontier." One does wonder how Bourdain — a man obsessed with extremes and edge-of-the-map locales — could skip a state that's arguably the most remote and rugged in the country. Alaska's Indigenous foodways are centuries old and deeply rooted in survival in an often unforgiving landscape. With foods like wild salmon, seal oil, muktuk, and cloudberries, Alaska has a culinary landscape that's unlike anything in the lower 48. Maybe he was just worried he'd have to eat fermented shark again.

Though shark isn't served in Alaska, stinkheads are. An Indigenous Alaskan delicacy, stinkheads are exactly what they sound like: naturally fermented fish heads. They're a traditional food of Inuit and Yup'ik communities, so we just know Bourdain would have loved to give them a go.

It's also worth noting just how deeply Anthony Bourdain loved the American landscape. He filmed in West Virginia, Montana, New Mexico, Texas, and Mississippi (among other states) — always hunting for the "real" America. And he didn't shy away from harsh climates or logistical hurdles either. He braved Antarctica's minus-30 temperatures and even had to hire militia for extra security when filming in Libya.

Bourdain never publicly stated why he didn't travel to the so-called Land of the Midnight Sun, but we have some guesses. Alaska, especially in the world of food media and travel shows, has often been portrayed through a stereotypical lens featuring bearded survivalist men, salmon fishing, fat bears, dog sledding, and reindeer sausage. If there was anything Bourdain hated, it was clichés. He loved exploring the nuances and contradictions of new cities and countries. Perhaps he hadn't yet found a story in Alaska that wouldn't make for a tired repeat of moose anecdotes and Sarah Palin jokes.

Perhaps most importantly, many of his most powerful episodes centered on local fixers, journalists, or cooks who acted as cultural translators. Alaska's vastness and sparse population might've made that kind of storytelling harder to pull off in a one-hour episode format, or maybe he just hadn't found the right fixer yet. If only we'd had more time with him. Alaska, with its epic landscapes and Indigenous traditions, seems like it would've been right up his alley.