India, Aug. 22 -- Anthony Bourdain began as a chef, but he became a legend the moment he stepped out of the kitchen. Armed with little more than a backpack, a leather jacket and an insatiable curiosity, he travelled the world not in search of fine dining, but of honest meals. He pulled up plastic stools on Vietnamese streets, lingered over wine in neighbourhood bistros and shared tables with strangers instead of booking reservations.

For Bourdain, food was never just about what was on the plate. As he once said, "Food was simply the door. Behind it were history, migration, class, family, pride, survival and memory." Every meal became a way to understand a place and the people who called it home. Food, to him, was culture, connection and ...