(gentle music) Welcome to my world. (upbeat music) Two eight's gotta go. Two green salads. Lamb chops, steak. Shouldn't you be
doing something? Two filets and a pepper steak. Come on, make the dessert. Chocolate tart please. [Narrator] As a cook, tastes
and smells are my memories, and now I'm in
search of new ones. So I'm leaving New York
City in 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. I picked Cambodia as
a place to go because I knew nothing about it, and because it was the
last place on earth that I guess I really wanted to go. Maybe you've seen
the killing fields. This is just about all
I knew of Cambodia. I guess the first thing
that struck me was "Gee", it looks just like the movie." Familiar, frightening,
and a little intimidating. At first it's a
little depressing. You really wonder
what people see in it. But the country grows on you. The people are lovely and
the food is eye-opening and mind-expanding. Using aromatic herbs
and spices, traditional Cambodian cuisine is both
complex and accessible. Fat and meats are
used sparingly, while vegetables, fruits,
and fish are used liberally. We're in beautiful downtown
Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This is where mad
men, missionaries, the leaf workers,
journalists, and backpackers and westerners come
to behave badly. Gonna buy some crunchy, tasty breakfast. Maybe a little fruit, pick up a little
picnic lunch and then go discharge some
heavy weaponry. First a haircut. [Narrator] Last night I was
at the appropriately named. Heart of Darkness Bar, and I was told by a
local ex-patriot who'd been here for some time, the four rules of
survival in Cambodia. One: Always wear a condom. Two: Don't drink the water. Three: Throw out your
anti-malaria pills. Four: For God's sake, stay
away from the durian fruit. Stay away from it? That's all I needed to hear. Big Jhenko's back and he's
got a kinky new summer 'do. I'm ready, I can appear
in public in Cambodia. Let's eat. Let's go eat some
crunchy bugs and little birdies and have some fruit,
maybe kill something. [Narrator] Alright, I'm
on the hunt for the king of all Asian fruits,
the elusive, terrifying, melon-like, durian. A man can get easily
distracted in the market. Yeah I need, like,
identification of this product before I put it in my mouth
this early in the morning, I think. And even identification
might not do it for me. Actually, the colors
are beautiful. Alright maybe for lunch. Maybe we'll pick
it up for a picnic. [Narrator] The food in this
place is really challenging my intestinal fortitude. My culinary vibrato is
starting to shrivel. There's stuff here
that's, you know, alarmingly bright, sort of
unnatural colors and jelly-like. That I think I'm
gonna lay off of, that looks radioactive. I try not to eat food that exhibits color that does
not exist in nature. And then of course there's
some stuff that I know what it is, but I don't
think I'll be having any. Like the chicken
skin and giblets. I see something I'm
curious about, though that I might have for breakfast. [Narrator] Alright
here we go, crickets. Yeah let me get one. Let's get five. Thank you. Head first or tail first? Any way. (crunching) Mmm. Those are good. [Narrator] Could
use a beer with it. Kind of a cross between
french fries and beef jerky. [Narrator] Alright
enough distractions. Back to the mission at hand. I want durian, must have
durian, need durian, have to get some durian,
where's the durian? I should be able to smell it. I know it's around
here somewhere. (light music) Oh yeah baby, the
terrifying durian. Do they have to sell you
a whole one, I'm guessing? We'll buy a knife, and we'll buy some
stuff and then we'll tear into this someplace. Pick me out a nice one. Yeah you can just wrap it to go. I saw kitchen
equipment over there. We're gonna try to
get us a nice meat axe to cut the durian with. I gather from my limited
reading on this subject that one does not want to
be in a closed, confined area with a lot of
people around when you hack into this thing. [Narrator] This
dirty-diaper smelling fruit can weigh up to 12 pounds. Now that's a load. Okay, we've got our cutlery. We've assembled a little
picnic for ourselves, including a single durian in
this double-wrapped bag here. The elephants, upon
smelling durian, might charge and
choose to stomp on me. This costs 10 dollars US, eight dollars US, which is a lot for a piece of
fruit anywhere in the world. So people really like this. I mean this is hugely
popular all over Asia. But, you know, it's a
love-hate thing because it stinks to high-heaven,
but apparently it's absolutely wonderful
and addictive. And I've heard about it,
you know, in the states. People talking
about it, you know. It's an experience that
they keep coming back to. There's a message board
online, people like. "How do I score durian
in the United States? How do I get durian
into the United States?" So this is it. [Narrator] The inside of the
durian has five compartments containing the
edible, custardy pulp. This looks like a little
bit raw, doesn't it? Scary-looking, huh? It's almost smokey. It's actually really good. It's really good. Stinks to high-heaven. Doesn't taste like it smells. It's actually
subtle, kinda fruity. But the smell is very much
part of the experience. Rich as all hell, I
mean you need to like bring your friends
to this experience. If you have any friends left
after you've transported it. They're not gonna
love you for that. Now as I understand it, one buys one of these little swallows,
cups it in ones hands, and then releases it with a wish. And presumably, in
return for your kindness, an act of mercy, you will
be granted this wish. I'm making a wish. I hope that the smell of
durian leaves me soon. (light music) (bright music) [Narrator] I've been told
about a little, how should I say unique eating experience about
15 kilometers out of town. I'm a little apprehensive,
it's on a military base. Okay, guess I didn't need to
call ahead for reservations. What do you recommend? Yeah I think we're
gonna find the K-57s. Let's do two magazines to start. Okay. So, I'm kinda
hungry, I'm thinking you know, play a
little with a handgun, and then we'll snack. (gunfire) [Narrator] This is
no ordinary eatery. Sure, you can order
drinks and snacks, but the specialty of the house
is firearms and artillery. Nothing like a cold Anchor and the smell of cordite
in the morning. (gunshots) We don't have a lot of
breakfast like this in New York. Maybe I should. (gunshots) Woo. I'm sure our audiences
have noticed the similarity between me and a
young Sean Connery. That's what we're shooting now, the chosen gun of James
Bond, a Walther BBK. (gunshots) [Narrator] A lot of things
in my life that I've done that have felt
really, really good, I've had at least an
element of shame involved. Thanks, okay. That'll do me. [Narrator] You know, even
if you're talking about a really good, really
big, really rich meal. You feel a little bit ashamed
of yourself afterwards. Why is it that shame and pleasure
are such close partners? [Narrator] So as I
leave the shooting range, I'm feeling a
little bit ashamed. Although I did have a
rollicking good time. But I still reek of that durian. (calm music) I've been traveling around Asia, eating alone,
strangers gawking at me and chattering in
strange languages, eating every variety
of strange food. It's lonely, so I'm very grateful
and very happy that my friend and boss, Phillipe,
the owner of Les Halles my restaurant in New York, decided to join me in Cambodia. I hear there's some
organ meat in the market that Phillipe
would go crazy for. The French love organ meat. We should point out that
this market's like 130 degrees. You have to walk in
a crouching position, under a tent which, you know, ensures that all that
nice heat and sort of gas from the decomposing
carcasses all around is rising up around you. This is all appetizing, so we're in for a treat. [Narrator] Now it's always
good to rely on a Frenchman. Phillipe's an adventurer
and a colonialist in the best sense of the word. I love Phillipe,
and I love food, and it's really fun
to travel with him. But you know, as with
all things French, it's a love-hate thing too. Phillipe tends to
get me in trouble. He wants to eat everything. There is a fish
here that has been... Basically opened
up, butterflied, the major part of the
rib removed, and the rest I guess, hung and smoked. That is appetizing. We're in the insect district. You want a small one? Let's have some
crunchy little birds. [Narrator] Fried
chicken, Cambodian style. Roll it in a
little of this stuff. [Phillipe] Some
red pepper and lime. Good everything, no? Oh, this is good. It's delicious. I'm so happy, this is so good. Take a bag of those
to a Knicks game. See here, look. [Narrator] This is
what I was talking about. [Anthony] My last
LSD trip looked just like this, by the way. [Narrator] From
what I could tell, this gelatinous substance is
a real favorite for breakfast. Oh man, now I'm gonna
have to taste this. [Narrator] But I think I'm
gonna let Phillipe go first. [Phillipe] This one
here, a little bit. Not much... It's a bit, very jello-like. Very bland. It's almost like
a negative taste, not a lot of taste. Okay, that sounds
right up my alley. It tastes like tea, tastes like jelly green tea. Thank you very much. We're headed to
the tripe section. Phillipe saw some really
nasty bits of pig guts that well, you know, he's French. Need I say more? I take this as a compliment. (laughs) So this is mixed I guess, right? Okay, like this, yes? [Narrator] Big buckets of
steaming, nasty-looking tripe. I make tripe very well, in
the classic French manner. But I don't
particularly like it. I think it smells like wet dog. So this particular tripe, I
don't even know what animal it's from and it's in a
big nasty-smelling heap with tongues mixed
in there somewhere. And this is caviar to
Phillipe, he's gotta have this. Lemongrass tripe. Oh, yes, see? [Narrator] I'm convinced
that he's poisoning me at this moment. I'm wondering why he hates
me, why he's doing this to me? But you know the French,
they're a mystery. Remember, they like
Jerry Lewis over there too. [Narrator] I'm thinking,
"Run away! Run away!" And Phillipe is like, "Eat
more tripe! Eat more bugs!" Ah, let's try that!" Mmm. [Narrator] I'm like,
"Get me back to the hotel, I want a grilled
cheese sandwich." (upbeat music) I finally drag Phillipe
away from the claustrophobia of the market and
the organ meats. I'm in need of some open space. (calm music) Having digested the culinary
delights of the market, I'm ready to find the floating
village on Lake Tonle Sap that I'd heard about. [Phillipe] We're
going in a faster boat. We're going up to
a floating village. As I understand it,
it's a fishing village. It's a self-contained community. As far as what to expect, once again, we won't
know until we get there. But it's apparently an
entire floating community. [Narrator] I mean by that,
that their houses float, their livestock pens float. They operate floating fish
farms, floating restaurants, floating businesses. Their entire lives, their
entire communities are water-born and moved
from place to place as situation requires. Phillipe, once again,
decides that he's gonna risk life and limb, my life and limb, for emotional reasons
and for an adventure. He's not content to
eat in a restaurant. He wants to eat local food. And he sees a woman cooking
food for her family. We'll have rice with
whatever she's preparing, a fish concoction or... [Narrator] And says, "Oh
let's eat what she's eating." I think she's very surprised
to have us come along, and we're very aware of the
fact that she very likely has little food. So all we want is a little
taste to see what she's doing. So what is it then? I say Phillipe. Outstanding, chose the
right place for food. I think they're selling
ballpark franks over there. (laughs) [Narrator] And all
she's doing is stir-frying a mixture of pork and
fish, served with rice, and a little green onion. This smells so good. Some sugar? Some sort of sugar syrup. Pure sugar cane syrup. [Narrator] Pay attention
though to how hot that block is, how controlled the heat is,
how well she manipulates the flame and the pot and
the wood to apply heat. To cook this very simple,
but very nutritious meal. This woman is very
kind and very generous, and I think curious and
maybe a little awed at the strange freakazoids who want
to have a taste of her food. [Phillipe] Oh, look at this. (laughs) My God, thank you so much. Look at this. [Anthony] You first,
you sniffed this meal out. Ah, little peppers, oh yes. (laughs) Let me roast it a little first. (laughs) Just like this, yes? Mmm, smells delicious. Mmmm, mmmm. I'll be back here. (laughs) Oh that is good. [Narrator] It's simple, it's
honest, and it tastes good. Freshwater clam. [Narrator] It's the people
that make the difference, and if you're gonna travel,
it's always wonderful to eat what the people are
eating at your destination. This is the way they
feed themselves, this is the way they live,
this is what they're eating. This is not hotel food. I am aware, however,
as I'm eating it, she's washing the pot
in the river water. I should probably visit
my gastroenterologist when I return to New York. You know, I'm reconsidering
traveling with this guy. [Anthony] Very good, thank you. Thank you, thank you very much. Here comes dessert. (ethnic music) It's like bananas flambe,
I mean it's basically... Looks sweet to me. [Narrator] There's a
little floating dessert boat that pops up along side. I guess they see us from
a little down river and come sailing up with
some caramelized bananas and fresh fruit and sweets. [Phillipe] So it's
only fruits, right? That smells so good. That is mango. Pickled mango. Okay. Should we start with this here? Mmm, that's great. Spectacular. This is good. [Narrator] So if you're
really curious about a country, eat how everyday people eat. And this is how everyday
people eat in this village. Sometimes you find satisfying
meals in the strangest places. It was good. I just violated absolutely
every Lonely Planet. Traveler's Guide
there is and loved it. Let's see, unripened
fruit, coliform bacteria. [Narrator] And that's
why I love Phillipe, and why I hate Phillipe. He's so happy. [Phillipe] (singing) [Narrator] He inspires both
the best and the worst in me. So this was something
I'm glad I didn't miss. Lukewarm and liver
fluke, add that to the. Lonely Planet violations today. (calm music) [Narrator] Phillipe and I
have traveled from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap to explore
the last vestiges of a once mighty empire, and to discover
high-end, Khmer cuisine. Angkor Wat. Looking good. Don't see this in Jersey. [Narrator] Truly one of
the most imposing sights of the ancient world. A city of temples in the
middle of the jungle. You can't even take pictures
of this, it's too big. It's just too beautiful. It's too intricate,
it's endless. It's a nice view here. One of the seven
wonders of the world. [Narrator] It's the
child's dream of adventure. There you are, standing
next to evidence of a magnificent and intricate
ancient civilization. You're dwarfed by the scale
and the volume of it all. This was the pinnacle
of the Khmer Empire, and I'm ready for a meal
that matches the grandeur of this experience, or at least comes close. (piano music) Home to the famed
Angkor Wat Temples, the city of Siem Reap
has a world-class hotel that caters to foreign tourists. This is Phillipe's
last night in Asia. He's gotta get
back to Les Halles. So as an appropriate sendoff,
we decide to have in the hotel a royal Cambodian meal. After all morning
spent eating tripes and tongues and bugs and
rather run-down and not so tidy dining, and an afternoon spent
firing automatic weapons outside of town, we decided that we
deserve to live like colonial imperialist pig-dogs. [Narrator] So we tuck
into some really excellent, very well-prepared, very
subtle, very precise colorful food, that
really for the first time gives us a sense of the
possibilities inherent in traditional Khmer cuisine. We have a first course here. [Narrator] Beef, crushed
peanuts, black mushrooms, and minced sweet basil in a
fresh rice paper wrapping. Again, really fresh. [Narrator] Sure,
it's an egg roll. But it's a damn good one. Mmmm. [Narrator] Pumpkin
and lemongrass soup with a dollop of coconut milk. It's lovely, thank you. Pumpkin, cool. [Narrator] And a nice
touch, a cumin stirring stick that infuses flavor. Delicious. [Narrator] Beef
sauteed with garlic, red peppers, and soy sauce. Served in a banana leaf, and garnished with deep
fried threads of ginger, turmeric, potato, and taro. That's extraordinary. [Narrator] Whole grouper, steamed with shiitake mushrooms. Topped with red pepper,
cilantro, scallions, and fresh ginger, and finished with hot
oil and a chili sauce. Mmm. [Narrator] A really good
meal, beautifully presented. A truly inventive use
of local ingredients creating rich and
textured dishes. We did well. (laughs) [Narrator] I'll miss Phillipe, but I'm recharged
and ready to move on for more food adventures. (upbeat music)
