Before he catapulted to the heights of celebrity as a renegade chef, author and TV host Anthony Bourdain spent decades slogging 13-hour days in New York kitchens.

He was "a dishwasher, a prep drone, a line cook, and a sous-chef," he wrote in an unsolicited New Yorker article that, once published in 1999, led to a book deal and a life in the culinary spotlight.

A self-described "traitor to my profession", he revealed the tips, tricks, and dirty secrets of the industry that often took place while diners sat blissfully unaware, sipping their soup or slicing a steak in the front of house.

Bourdain was found dead in a hotel room in France on Friday. He was 61.

Anthony Bourdain died in France at the age of 61.

Photo: AP

Advertisement

Here is a collection of his memorable musings on food, life, travel, and death.

Tuesday is the best day for seafood; take your chances on Monday

"Generally speaking, the good stuff comes in on Tuesday: the seafood is fresh, the supply of prepared food is new, and the chef, presumably, is relaxed after his day off. (Most chefs dont work on Monday.)," he wrote in the New Yorker article, aptly titled Don't Eat Before Reading This.

Anthony Bourdain was found dead in his hotel room on Friday.

Photo: Brendan Corr

Beware the well-done steak

Again in the New Yorker, he revealed the "time-honoured practice" in many kitchens, known as the "save for well-done".

"When one of the cooks finds a particularly unlovely piece of steak – tough, riddled with nerve and connective tissue, off the hip end of the loin, and maybe a little stinky from age – hell dangle it in the air and say, 'Hey, Chef, whaddya want me to do with this?'," Bourdain wrote.

"The way he figures it, the philistine who orders his food well-done is not likely to notice the difference between food and flotsam."

Love thy eggs

"An egg in anything makes it better," he said in a preview for his CNN show Parts Unknown.

"The way you make an omelet reveals your character," he advised in a NBC News interview.

Value the meal

“Meals make the society, hold the fabric together in lots of ways that were charming and interesting and intoxicating to me. The perfect meal, or the best meals, occur in a context that frequently has very little to do with the food itself.”

Travel, travel, travel

"If youre 22, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go," he wrote in his book Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook.

"Travel isnt always pretty. It isnt always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But thats okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind,” he wrote in No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach.

Anthony Bourdain and US President Barack Obama dined at a local noodle restaurant in Hanoi.

Photo: AP

On success

"I shouldve died in my 20s. I became successful in my 40s. I became a dad in my 50s. I feel like Ive stolen a car – a really nice car – and I keep looking in the rear-view mirror for flashing lights. But theres been nothing yet," he told The Biography in 2016

On Trump

Bourdain shared a meal with former president Obama in Vietnam earlier this year, but ruled out doing the same with President Donald Trump.

"I cant see the point, he only talks about himself and hes only interested in himself," he said.

"I can't see that as being scintillating dinner conversation. Plus he eats his steak well done. I think that really settles it."

On Henry Kissinger and Cambodia

Dirty bathrooms are OK

"I used to say a dirty bathroom was a sign you should not be eating in a restaurant. I've learned the opposite is true. Some of the best food experiences I've ever had are places that really don't give a [expletive] about that. They know their food is good and that's enough," he wrote in Time.

On death

"[When I die], I will decidedly not be regretting missed opportunities for a good time. My regrets will be more along the lines of a sad list of people hurt, people let down, assets wasted and advantages squandered,” he wrote in Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

"Ill be right here. Until they drag me off the line. Im not going anywhere. I hope. Its been an adventure. We took some casualties over the years. Things got broken. Things got lost. But I wouldnt have missed it for the world."

Support is available for those who may be distressed by phoning Lifeline 13 11 14; beyondblue 1300 224 636; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; Mensline 1300 789 978.

Most Viewed in Entertainment

Morning & Afternoon Newsletter

Delivered Mon–Fri.