Anthony Bourdain has issued a rare apology after trashing a New Mexico dish during an episode of his CNN show Parts Unknown. In the episode, he went to Santa Fe and visited the Five & Dime General Store, which serves a ‘world famous’ Frito pie, which he slammed as being unoriginal and stolen from Texas.
During the segment, Bourdain reluctantly tried the famous dish, which was served inside a bag of Frito chips. According to E! News, he said that the chili tasted canned and insulted the cheese as a “day-glow orange cheese-like substance.” But it was his statement that the food was actually a Texas dish that really got some angry.
“Neither the Frito, nor the Frito pie, are indigenous to New Mexico. They were actually Texan,” Bourdain said. “New Mexico, you have many wonderful things. I think, let Texas have this one.”
“I don't have any idea where he got that from,” Mike Collins, the owner of the Five & Dime store, told the Associated Press. “I mean, if we're using canned Hormel Chili then I'd like to buy stock in that because what we have is good.”
Bourdain spokeswoman Karen Reynolds told the AP that he was wrong about the chili and they will try to fix that the next time the episode airs. Bourdain added, “Contrary to the impression left by some reports of the show, I, in fact, very much enjoyed my Frito pie in spite of its disturbing weight in the hand. It may have felt like (expletive) but was shockingly tasty.”
Parts Unknown airs every Sunday at 9 p.m.
image: ABC/Randy Holmes