Kathmandu, June 25 -- It's easy to imagine Anthony Bourdain sitting in a nondescript bhatti, swilling raksi and spooning kachila into his mouth.

A couple of locals might regale him with the food's heritage, but it wouldn't take long for the conversation to transcend taste. Bourdain's deep and dulcet monologue would delve into Nepal's history, politics and social problems, then he'd inevitably interrogate his hosts about the guthi protests and the media council bill.

Bourdain was first a chef but eventually and variously, he was a food writer-author of the best-selling Kitchen Confidential-and a television producer and presenter- famed for his travel and food shows, most recently, CNN's Parts Unknown. He traversed borders around the worl...