A Cook's Tour takes viewers along for a ride with chef/writer Tony Bourdain as he travels to more than a dozen countries in search of rare, legendary and sometimes dangerous foods. Some of the locales and delicacies are challenging, others are more familiar - from the heart of dark Cambodia to the streets of sun drenched Los Angeles. "There's no script, there's really scary locations," says Bourdain, "It's very different."
A Cook's Tour takes viewers along for a ride with chef/writer Tony Bourdain as he travels to more than a dozen countries in search of rare, legendary and sometimes dangerous foods. Some of the locales and delicacies are challenging, others are more familiar - from the heart of dark Cambodia to the streets of sun drenched Los Angeles. "There's no script, there's really scary locations," says Bourdain, "It's very different."
The early years of the Tour are full of heroics and all the protagonists are featured, from Lucien Petit Breton and Philippe Thijs, to Rene Vietto and Antonin Magne. After WW2 came the Italian revolution with the emergence of Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi, one of the greatest of them all. However, the Golden Age of the 50's saw the return of the French champions in Bobet, Walkowiak and Gaul as well as the inaugural win of Jacques Anquetil in 1957 who went on to complete the first ever five-timer. His battles with Raymond Poulidor are still talked about to this day. Then came Eddy Merckx, who trounced the opposition in his five victories. Merckx was followed by Luis Ocana, Bernard Thevenet and Lucien Van Impe before the next five-time winner emerged in Bernard Hinault, followed by Spanish legend Miguel Indurain who dominated the early 1990's with his five consecutive victories from 1991.