On his show, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, chef Anthony Bourdain travels around the world in search for the most delicious and authentic cuisines. Along the way, he meets locals, who help him discover the hidden, underground treasures their town, city, or region has to offer. It seems like there's always more to explore!
But on a 2014 trip to the South American country of Paraguay, business as usual took a deeply personal turn for Bourdain.
In the 1850s, his great-great-great-grandfather Jean Bourdain immigrated to Paraguay from France, to a colony called Nouveau Bordeaux.
In the 1880s, Jean Bourdain mysteriously disappeared and was presumed dead.
With the help of experts and genealogists, the host was able to make some discoveries about his ancestor. With all the scant evidence, they were able to determine that Jean was a hat maker, presumably for the aristocracy.
Of course, the adventurous Bourdain was disappointed by this revelation — it wasn't a very exciting occupation.
But he was in for the surprise of his lifetime when the experts came back to him with some stunning news (in a later video clip): Jean may have been a hat maker, but he had arrived with boxes of "fireworks." What these fireworks were is unknown (the ancestor may or may not have been an arms dealer of sorts), but the younger Bourdain now has some answers about this elusive family member's past.
Please SHARE if there are mysteries in your family you hope can be solved, too!
