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Anthony Bourdain is known for many things: world traveler, TV presenter, best-selling author, conversationalist, cultural commentator, adventurer — the list is endless. His presence is difficult to quantify; however, above all, Bourdain was a chef (or, as he often referred to himself, a cook). Bourdain believed that cooking is a skill, something you learn, practice, and develop. It’s about diligence and attitude. He resisted grandiose culinary notions and took pride in the steely resilience often associated with working in restaurant kitchens.
Bourdain started his career washing dishes, and after finding kinship with the other kitchen “degenerates” (as he often lovingly called them), he developed aspirations of becoming a cook. From dishwasher, he was promoted to line cook, starting his formal training at the Culinary Institute of America shortly thereafter. Bourdain went on to work at restaurants like The Supper Club and Rainbow Room, and at the height of his cooking career, he worked at Brasserie Les Halles in New York City as the executive chef. He worked in restaurants for 20 years before writing the now-infamous New Yorker essay that skyrocketed him to fame. Meaning, his cooking credentials are solid and his opinions on cooking are as unfiltered and decisive as everything else we’ve come to love about him.
While Bourdain’s legacy is vast, remembered dearly for using food and travel as a vehicle for cultural understanding, we’ve gone back to where it all began. These are the absolute best cooking lessons we learned from Anthony Bourdain.
The key to perfect scrambled eggs is simplicity
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According to Anthony Bourdain, there are two key factors to making the perfect scrambled eggs — freshness and simplicity. Your eggs should be fresh, always, and he warned against beating the eggs in advance because it results in a dull grayish scramble. Regarding simplicity, Bourdain believed that scrambled eggs are all “about the egg.” He typically didn’t add water, cream, or milk, since these ingredients don’t really elevate the dish. In a 2017 interview with Insider Tech, he said that, as with many simple dishes, people can “overcomplicate” a good thing — ultimately, ruining it for us all.
Bourdain would start the process with a hot pan. Not too hot, but hot enough for the butter to melt in the meantime. He noted that eggs should be cracked on a flat surface and then transferred into a secondary container before entering the pan. This ensures that pieces of shell or other bad bits can be removed before scrambling. Then, he would beat the eggs, but not over-beat them, before transferring them into the pan of searing butter. Regarding technique, Bourdain suggested gently folding the eggs for a delicate wave of white and yellow throughout the eggs, and avoiding over-scrambling by using a figure-eight technique with your spatula. You’re looking for fluffy eggs, rather than small, rubbery pieces, he explained.
Despite his emphasis on simplicity, Bourdain once claimed on “No Reservations” that, of everything he’d ever included on a menu, the dish most beloved by his customers was a more elevated version of scrambled eggs. His recipe included bacon, scallions, and a dollop of sour cream.
The ideal burger doesn’t need any fancy additions
True to his style, Anthony Bourdain did not believe that burgers should be overly complicated either. Simplicity is tantamount, and a good thing should be left as is. “With a burger, as with all things that you cook, you have to ask yourself, ‘Is this thing I’m doing to this perfectly good classic dish, is it making it better?'” he suggested in another video for Insider Tech. Your friends might enjoy your reinvention or be amazed by your creativity, he explained, but chances are they’d still prefer a classic American burger, because perfection cannot be improved upon. For instance, famously, Bourdain’s favorite restaurant in Los Angeles was In-N-Out, which he routinely stopped at after he landed at the airport and just before leaving the city.
Bourdain was partial to a potato bun; however, he believed that several bun varieties are sufficient so long as the bun-to-meat ratio made sense. In other words, there cannot be more bun than patty. Cheese is preferred, so long as it’s processed — aka easily meltable. While he didn’t like his burgers fancy, he did believe in using good-quality meat. Either flattened or chunky patties are appropriate, so long as the ground beef used to make the patty is decent.
When it comes to the accoutrements, Bourdain argued that the burger must maintain its structural integrity. Meaning, stick to tomato, crisp lettuce, maybe some onion, maybe a pickle, and that’s it. You’re looking for some of each ingredient in every bite, so balance is crucial. Ketchup is a yes, while mayo is okay, per Bourdain. Finally, this celeb chef’s absolute best lesson: eating a burger should not require two hands.
Don’t underestimate cheap meat ingredients
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Anthony Bourdain was against food waste, believing that animals (and vegetables) should be eaten top-to-tail. Offal is the cheap organ meat often disposed of in American cooking. According to Bourdain, these ingredients are not only delicious and affordable, but also ethical and should be reintroduced into mainstream American cooking. In Bourdain’s CNN show, “Parts Unknown,” he can be seen sampling beef hearts in the streets of Peru, a sheep’s head (known as a smiley) in South Africa, and sausage made in part from pigs’ feet in Berlin. In his 2000 book, “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly,” he bemoans the idea of living without decidedly non-vegan foods, like organ meat.
In an interview with Business Insider, Bourdain suggested that America had “lost touch” with traditional foods that were once ubiquitous. He mentioned that cheap off-cuts like pigs’ feet, neck bone, and oxtail are overlooked parts of the animal and considered that pig tails and lobster could be interchangeable menu items. His documentary “Wasted!” — an exposé on American food waste — implores consumers to reintroduce offal into their cooking, especially because the techniques for cooking offal (such as braising, pickling, slow-cooking, and stewing) are already integrated into American cooking. Bourdain took this cooking lesson so seriously that, in a YouTube segment for Vanity Fair, he introduced the notoriously picky eater Anderson Cooper to a French tripe dish.
Bourdain’s palette was more adventurous than most. The man has eaten fermented shark, still-beating cobra heart, and maggot rice, making offal appear relatively mild and implementable by comparison.
The best way to cook steak
Anthony Bourdain loved meat. In fact, he loved meat so much that he famously calls vegans and vegetarians “the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food” in his “Kitchen Confidential” book. While the celeb chef’s opinion would evolve over time, it should still go without saying that his opinions on steak were plenty and precise. For example, in his aforementioned 1999 article in The New Yorker, “Don’t Eat Before Reading This,” Bourdain states, “People who order their meat well-done perform a valuable service for those of us in the business who are cost-conscious: they pay for the privilege of eating our garbage.” Meaning, cheaper cuts of meat are “saved for well-done.”
Regarding the various cuts of steak, Bourdain hated tenderloin. While he admitted to Insider Tech that it’s tender, he considered it unimaginative, expensive, and flavorless due to its lack of fat. He favored sirloin and rib cuts, such as entrecôte or côte de boeuf. When it comes to seasoning, Bourdain again leaned toward simplicity. He suggested salting right before you cook your steak, rather than rubbing the meat long in advance — since salt dries and cures meat, it’s best not to leave it on for too long before cooking. He preferred a high-end sea salt and used a heavy hand. Once a grind of black pepper is added, it’s good to go.
Finally, and perhaps the absolute most important cooking lesson, under no circumstances should you handle your steak right after removing it from the pan or grill. Let it rest for about five minutes at room temperature as it continues to cook, because, according to Bourdain, this is when the magic happens.
Add more butter
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If you’re looking to cook restaurant-quality food, Anthony Bourdain believed in using butter, and plenty of it. He famously revealed that most people will leave a restaurant having consumed about a cup of butter. “In a professional kitchen, it’s almost always the first and last thing in the pan,” he writes in “Kitchen Confidential.” Noting that he only has patience for the real thing, he adds in true Bourdain manner, “If you’re planning on using margarine in anything, you can stop reading now, because I won’t be able to help you.” According to Bourdain, butter simply makes food better, as it elevates nearly every dish. It adds richness, decadence, and flavor; it adds gloss to vegetables; and it combines sauces.
As previously mentioned, Bourdain trained at the Culinary Institute of America, where foundational cooking techniques are taught with a decidedly French slant (the French were the first to formalize culinary training). Bourdain often refers to these French cooking techniques and their relation to certain ingredients, like butter, in his book. For instance, he states that most sauces in a professional kitchen are finished with a monter au beurre, a butter mixture added at the end of most dishes to enhance the creaminess and enrich its flavor. He insists that this final step is why restaurant sauces are superior to anything we make at home.
Bourdain’s training, and perhaps his French heritage, might be the reason for his devotion to the ingredient. But thankfully, you don’t need either to employ this cooking lesson in your next dish.
Use a good, comfortable chef’s knife
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When it comes to cooking, Anthony Bourdain took knives very seriously. Not only should you use a proper chef’s knife, but you must know how to use it properly. And if it’s good and comfortable to hold, you only need one. According to “Kitchen Confidential,” serrated knives are “useless.” Even more pointless are knife sets and knife-like gadgets sold on home shopping networks, per Bourdain. While the old-school German knives are amazing, he suggests that they are unhelpful to most people because they are heavy and require a lot of sharpening. Instead, he recommends a lightweight Japanese knife, particularly from a brand called Global. The perfect chef’s knife should just as seamlessly cut meat and fish as it does fruit and vegetables. One knife, all food groups, and according to Bourdain, you’ll look good, too.
Once you’ve acquired the perfect knife, learn to use it. Perhaps Bourdain’s most passionate cooking lesson was that he believed everyone should have some semblance of knife expertise. In an onion cutting demonstration, he insisted that the hand that’s holding the object being chopped be turned at a 45-degree angle with your fingers curled under and inwards. If your fingers are facing forward and outward, you’re more likely to cut yourself. Bourdain was also a proponent of chopping practice and suggested buying a bag of cheap onions or other vegetables and chopping away until mastery is achieved.
Finally, Bourdain was a firm believer in the foundational knife skills taught in “La Technique,” an instructional cookbook developed by French chef Jacques Pépin. In “Kitchen Confidential,” Bourdain recommends everyone, chef or laymen, learn it well.
A heavyweight pan is crucial
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Anthony Bourdain was not one to mince words. If he believed it, he said it, and his forthright charm was part of why he was so beloved. Regarding a good pan, Bourdain had a few strict dos and don’ts. For instance, he absolutely hated celebrity chef-branded cookware, famously criticizing chefs for touting shiny products that were of poor quality. He believed in functionality and durability. In “Kitchen Confidential,” Bourdain states that the best place to buy a good pan is from a restaurant that’s going out of business. The majority of restaurants unfortunately fail and will often sell elements (or the whole thing) of their kitchen in the process. He did not think that folks need to buy new, and he certainly didn’t believe in over-priced cookware. Restaurant sales, then, are a great way to avoid being scammed.
When it comes to pans, Bourdain states in his book that if it’s lightweight, it’s a dud. “A proper sauté pan, for instance, should cause serious head injury if brought down hard against someone’s skull,” he writes. “If you have any doubts about which will dent — the victim’s head or your pan — then throw that pan right in the trash.” To Bourdain, lightweight pans serve only three functions, burning, sticking, and peeling; meanwhile, a heavyweight non-stick pan is a work of art, especially for cooking omelets and crepes. However, Bourdain emphasizes never to wash the pan with water. Instead, clean the pan by wiping it with a paper towel.
Finally, your tools are also important. To avoid scratching the marvel that is a heavyweight non-stick pan, Bourdain insists on using rubber, ceramic, or wood in his book. Absolutely, under no circumstances, should you ever use metal.
Don’t hold back on the garlic
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This celebrity chef loved garlic, considering it a sublime ingredient that should be treated with the utmost respect. Anthony Bourdain’s best lessons on cooking with garlic are as follows: learn how to use it, and more is more. The latter of these lessons is illustrated in an episode of “Parts Unknown,” where Bourdain travels to Tbilisi, Georgia. We see him relish a traditional Georgian dish called shkmeruli, which is essentially a few pieces of chicken swimming in saucy heaps of garlic. The recipe generally calls for about 12 cloves of garlic.
In “Kitchen Confidential,” Bourdain describes garlic as being varied and suggests that the easiest way to elevate your use of it is to roast it. “It gets mellow and sweeter if you roast it whole, still on the clove, to be squeezed out later when it’s soft and brown,” he explains. Bourdain even proposes an experiment: make two batches of a Caesar dressing, one with raw garlic and one with roasted garlic. Notice how drastic the change in flavor profile is. In fact, the sauce with raw garlic might even appear overly biting in comparison to its smoother roasted counterpart.
When it comes to slicing, Bourdain suggests in his book that “Goodfellas” thinness is the gold standard, or you can smash it with the flat end of your knife. Never cut it too long, and whatever you do, do not use a garlic press. To Bourdain, a garlic press is obscene. He describes the mush that comes out the other end of a garlic press as only slightly more acceptable than the “vile spew you see rotting in oil in screwtop jars.” Meaning, keep it fresh.
And don’t bother with dried herbs
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Anthony Bourdain believed that creating restaurant-quality food and presentation is often simple. He was a famous proponent of fresh ingredients, and herbs were no exception. He believed that most dishes could easily be upgraded with the right garnish, so long as it’s not the dried kind you keep in your pantry. In fact, in “Kitchen Confidential,” he recommends getting rid of all of your dried herbs, insinuating the ingredients are no more useful than a pile of “sawdust.” To Bourdain, garnishing food is the great equalizer: You don’t need to be gifted or highly skilled to employ this cooking lesson.
In his book, Bourdain goes on to recommend a variety of ways to incorporate fresh herbs into dishes. For instance, use basil tops with pasta, chives on fish, or get creative with dessert by adding mint tops to a bowl of cream and raspberries. He also suggests using the rest of the herb to season your meal, highlighting herbs like thyme and rosemary as impactful ways to add flavor to many dishes.
Bourdain’s entire philosophy on food can essentially be summed up in relation to his emphasis on freshness. He states that no more than a few ingredients make up some of the best dishes in the entire world, so long as the ingredients are fresh and garnished. For example, from his diner cook days, a customer favorite was a dish consisting of little more than a roasted red snapper seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon, and garlic, fresh rosemary and thyme, and topped with basil. “It takes so little to elevate an otherwise ordinary-looking plate,” Bourdain writes. “… So why not do it?”
Dining and Cooking