Born in England in 1651, William Dampier embarked on a life of piracy in 1679 in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche after a number of unsuccessful early jobs. He changed his fortunes by joining the rapidly growing field of high seas raiding and pillaging. But along with his busy career in piracy, Dampier was also an avid diarist. He kept a journal wrapped in a wax-sealed bamboo tube throughout his journeys. During a prison stay in Spain during 1694, Dampier turned his journal into a novel that became a bestseller and an early travelogue.

A New Voyage Around the World reads like an episode of No Reservations, with Dampier playing a 17th century Anthony Bourdain. Along with his writing about piracy, he also ventured into meteorology, maritime navigation, and zoology. Food was also an important focus of Dampier’s attention. He frequently documented the eating habits of locals he observed on his voyages around the world.

The English speaking world can thank Dampier for the words “tortilla,” “soy sauce,” “barbecue” and “breadfruit,” and the first ever recipe for guacamole. In A New Voyage Around the World Damier wrote of a fruit “as big as a large lemon … [with] skin [like] black bark, and pretty smooth.” Lacking distinct flavor, he wrote, the ripened fruit was “mixed with sugar and lime juice and beaten together [on] a plate.” This was likely the English language’s very first recipe for guacamole.

In the years after its its publication, A New Voyage became an international bestseller, earning Dampier wealth and fame. The book created a renewed interest among European audiences for travel writing. It also inspired Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Charles Darwin brought a copy of A New Voyage with him aboard the Beagle’s voyage to South America, having cited the book as a “mine of information.”

Sadly, Dampier died in debt due to legal problems. But the next time you enjoy some guacamole and chips, pause to remember Dampier’s contributions to our eclectic menus.