This Was One Of The Worst Things Anthony Bourdain Ate On His Travels

Anthony Bourdain prided himself on his worldwide dining experiences that granted him a better understanding of several cultures and their signature cuisines. However, Bourdain didn't enjoy every meal he ate throughout his extensive travels and actually had a handful of dishes that he simply couldn't stomach. Notably, around the time that Bourdain filmed his first travel TV show, "A Cook's Tour," in the early 2000s, the beloved chef discovered that iguana tamales were not for him, especially if they were undercooked.

He found this preference out the hard way, describing the unsavory experience on an episode of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in 2002. "I went to every cool place I could think of looking for kicks, and whatever came my way, I tried," Bourdain explained. "Unfortunately, that included undercooked iguana tamales. ... It might've been better if it was alive." Being as descriptive as Bourdain was, he didn't hesitate to compare the dish to something downright inedible, saying, "It's like chewing on an action figure if you'd let it marinate in your childhood turtle tank. It was really, really nasty."

While it's hard to tell if Anthony Bourdain hated the iguana tamales quite as much as he'd go on to hate Johnny Rockets several years later, it was an incredibly negative experience all the same. However, despite the chef's description of iguana tamales on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" being damning, Bourdain had a much more polite reaction to the dish while he was eating it. The chef's unfortunate meal was caught on film as part of the 15th episode of "A Cook's Tour" Season 1, where he visited the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Despite his voice-over of the segment being just as negative as his eventual recollection, the chef was able to save face in front of those who were feeding him. "It's very tough, it's covered with skin. You can feel the little bones inside there," he critiqued softly. "The meat is sort of rubbery, but chicken-like."

Now, while Bourdain had a rough time with iguana tamales, that doesn't mean the animal is completely inedible. In fact, beyond just Puerto Angel — the town in which Bourdain ate the tamales — it's a popular protein across Latin America, and, thanks to its spread across the Sunshine State as an invasive species, iguana been enjoyed by some hungry Floridians, as well.