TV personality, author, and culinary genius Anthony Bourdain was considered among the most influential chefs in the world. Here, we remember some of the best lessons he taught us.

No amount of restaurant food can replace home cooking

He wished young adults would stop relying on takeout and instant noodles. “I do think the idea that basic cooking skills are a virtue, that the ability to feed yourself and a few others with proficiency should be taught to every young man and woman as a fundamental skill, should become as vital to growing up as learning to cross the street by oneself, or be trusted with money,” he wrote.

When it comes to food, looks aren’t everything

Sure, he’s eaten at some of the world’s finest restaurants, where plating is everything, but Anthony was no snob when it came to appearance. As he said, “Some of the most inherently delicious foods have been pickled, butchered, braised, stewed, and/or charred in a way that maximises flavour.”

Don’t be afraid to try something new

“Good food and good eating are about risks,” Bourdain wrote in his bestseller Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. Through his TV travel adventures, the chef has eaten everything from a beating cobra heart to a raw seal eyeball, which he claimed were similar to an oyster and “not bad,” respectively. For viewers at home, the take-home message is: You won’t know if you don’t try.