Nigella Lawson - A biography of The Domestic Goddess

The lady who has made a name for herself as a prominent chef and a TV celebrity, Nigella Lawson is popularly known as The Domestic Goddess, after her cookbook about the art of baking and comfort food. In her own words, "I am not a chef. I am not even a trained or professional cook. My qualification is as an eater." So she is basically a foodie like all of us, but she went one step further and her tie-up with Food Network made her a culinary celebrity and a name known in most households! Writer and TV cook Nigella Lawson is beautiful, talented, and has a way with food. Here I present some less-known facts about her and a writeup on what lies behind the famous personality.

Image: Nigella with her Daughter Cosina (courtesy of cookiemag)

Snapshot:
Birth Date: January 6th, 1960
Homebase: London, UK
Family: Husband-Charles Saatchi, Kids-Cosima and Bruno
Famous Cookbooks: How To eat, How to be a Domestic Goddess, Feast: Food to Celebrate Life
Famous Shows: Nigella Bites, Nigella feasts, Forever Summer with Nigella

Born of a rich heritage, Nigella's father is the former Conservative Chancellor (for the queen), Nigel Lawson, and her mother was Vanessa Salmon, beautiful socialite and heiress to the Lyons Corner House empire. She wasn't an excellent student, and yet she did find her way into Oxford, began a restaurant column in The Spectator in 1985 and moved on to become the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times in the coming year. But it was not until she married John Diamond (her deceased husband) that she found her inner strengths and inclinations toward food and cooking. He pursuaded her to write her first cookbook "How to Eat", and her second award-winning book "How to be a Domestic Goddess" gave her the fame and recognition that she had no idea about! It was voted as the "Cookery Book of the Year" by the Guild of Food Writers in 2001. Meanwhile, she had made a presence in the media world through her Channel 4 TV series, "Nigella Bites". Her most recent book is the "Feast: Food to Celebrate Life"

But life is not always a bed of roses. Nigella lost some most important people in her life to cancer and leukameia - her mother, her sister and then her late husband. These were huge losses, and at tough times like these, she found refuge in cooking. Her motto for such times has been like this: "I suppose I do think that awful things can happen at any moment, so while they are not happening you may as well be pleased." It is reported that Nigella declined an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) honor for "her services to journalism and to cookery" in 2001, which created quite a havoc in UK and got her some negative publicity. But if it's true, I only respect her more for having selected to stick to her passions rather than fame!

Nigella found her way into Food Network for the first time through Nigella Feasts, a serioes about food, family, public holidays and private passions, and how to celebrate them with dishes that stir the senses and delight the palate. American audiences also know her from her bi-monthly food column for The New York Times, Gourmet and Bon Appetit, which flourished her with 2002 Tastemaker of the Year award She also hosts the "Forever Summer with Nigella", her popular cooking & lifestyle series on Style. Nigella remarried in 2003 and currently lives in London with husband, Charles Saatchi, and her children (from her previous marriage).

Inspired by her day-to-day experiences in the kitchen, she launched the Nigella Lawson's kitchenware collection which is both stylish and practical. For more details, you can check out her website. She is not a loud-spoken girl, and has always been simple and shy. I think she does have a knack of cooking and puts a lot of passion into her food and presentation, which is commendable. A lot of us have sought inspirations from her lovely cookbooks and shows, and will continue to do so in the future! I, like several others, look up to her and wish her luck and thank her for showing us the way to becoming Domestic Goddesses!:)

King of a Culinary Empire - Emeril Lagasse

The first chef to find his way to Food Network, and make it big on national television is none other than our dear Mr. Emeril Lagasse. The king of the Emeril Empire, he is no longer a chef, but is in fact a definition of celebrity chef and has made a significant contribution to how the world sees gourmet food, restaurants and culinary professionals. He is among the few who make watching cooking shows everybody's worth, not just for the food, but for the lively environment that he creates by involving his audience in his shows. So let's take a peek into the life of this famous food celebrity- both on-screen and off-screen!!

Snapshot:
Birth Date: October 15th, 1956
Homebase: New Orleans
Family: Wife Alden
Famous Restaurants: Delmonico Steakhouse and Emeril's New Orleans Fishhouse
Famous Shows: Emeril Live, Essence of Emeril

Born in the small town of Fall River, Massachusetts, Emeril boasts of a fusion of Portuguese and French Canadian heritage. He worked in a local portuguese bakery as a teenager, learning the art of bread-baking and pastry, then found his way to the culinary program at Johnson & Wales University, where he earned a Doctorate in Culinary field. He later trained in France, worked in New York, Boston and Philadelphia and finally as Executive Chef at Commander's Palace restaurant for seven and a half years before fulfilling his dream of opening his own restaurant in New Orleans. He expanded this chain to 3 more eateries with his flagship palce called "Emeril's" in 1990 and by 1995 he had found a place for "Emeril's New Orleans Fish House" at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las vegas, the first ever to make an impression in the sin-city. 1999 saw the growth of his name, fame and food at Universal Studios in Orlando and a steakhouse in Vegas.

But what got every kid and adult to know the name of Emeril Lagasse was his affiliation as top chef with Food Network. His two shows "Essence of Emeril" and "Emeril Live" won him several awards and made him a celebrity in the true sense!! He has also published several bestselling cookbooks like "New Orleans cooking", "Emeril's Delmonico" and more recently "There's a Chef in my World". His books have sold more than 4.3 million copies, and his restaurants have been showered with critical acclaims like "Restaurant of the Year by John Mariani(Esquire magazine)" and the prestigious "Ivy Award". He was also named the Best Southeast Regional Chef by the James Beard Foundation. If that's not all, an entire brand of cooking stuff is named after him and is always on Amazon's most-wanted list!! Lately though, I'm a bit disappointed to see his shows being repeated on Food Network. Emeril Live, is not longer live, but then maybe its FN that needs a makeover, and not Emeril!:)

So what is this guy when he's not a chef??!! Well, he has a history of two failed marriages, but now lives with his wife Alden in New Orleans and is passionate about cooking good food. He enjoys collecting wine, and often fantasizes of joining the PGA Tour. He also loves Tennis, Golf and Fishing, which is often sacrificed due to his 12-15 hour work days!! In 2002, he started the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, a charity organization to improve the lives of children and youth, and he spends whatever time he gets with kids and passing on his culinary skills to tiny chefs.

There, a concise yet descriptive biography on the famous chef Emeril Lagasse, a celebrity in the culinary world! People all around the world love this guy, and his Emeril-isms like "Bam" and "Kick it up Another Notch" are known to most of his fans! The one thing he says to his loving audience is "Enjoy Food, Have Fun and Remember Flavor".....hmm....kind of sounds like Fun and Food, right?!:)

Alton Brown-Has a degree in Drama and loves "Apple"??!!

This week in chef-o-logy, we feature a chef who's different, and is loved more for his sense of humour and style than his cooking. Yup, you guessed it right, I speak of the legendary Alton Brown, the funny guy with the spectacles who makes you laugh on Food Network, and who is also a "scientifically-correct" cook! The way he hosts the show "Good Eats" makes me feel informed and satisfied. The details that he shares about every ingredient, all in his humorous ways goes a long way in appealing to the chef in all of us!


Snapshot

Name: Alton Brown

Family: Wife DeAnna and daughter Zoey

Born on: July 30th, 1962 in Los Angeles, CA

Famous Shows: Good Eats, Iron Chef America, Feasting on Asphalt

Famous Books: I'm Just Here for Food, Alton Brown's Gear for your Kitchen

Trivia: Is an ardent fan of the apple (not just the fruit, the mac too!)

Born in Los Angeles, Mr. Brown received a degree in drama from the University of Georgia. He then worked in cinematography and film production (and still does) before he noticed that he was very dissatisfied with the quality of cooking shows currently airing on American television, so he set out to produce his own show. He wished to bring his own unique style to cooking and his show, so that people could be entertained, and at the same time learn something fascinating and interesting. To realize this dream, he enrolled in the New England Culinary Institute, as cooking was not his forte. He worked really hard to understand the basics of cooking and graduated in 1995 with his first culinary degree. Though Food was his first love, he could not forget about television, and while struggling with restaurant and catering jobs, he was busy planning a new kind of cooking show, one that would entertain and inform with wit and humor—"something for his sitcom-and-fast-food-junkie generation". With that in mind, he started writing Good Eats, a show that combines his passion for food with quirky pop culture. launched his own show "Good Eats", which soon became highly popular on Food Network.

The rest is history! He is often described as a culinary version of Mr. Wizard or Bill Nye because he brings a scientific and humorous approach to his cooking shows. He is also the commentator on the show Iron Chef America, and currently hosts the show called "Feasting on Asphalt". He has a huge fan following, and in May 2003 he published his first book "I'm Just Here for the Food" which won a James Beard Foundation Book Award in the Reference category.

My husband loves to watch him on TV, with his nerdy geek-like look and his witty remarks. There is a Good Eats Fan Page too, but you are most welcome to leave your comments on this post itself and show your fanaticism for the cherished chef -Alton Brown!

Tarla Dalal - The Indian Food Queen

Continuing the trend of food celebrity discussions, we focus today on Tarla Dalal, the lady with a radiant smile on her face who can create magic with her hands. She has single-handedly reached the epitome of respect and love that is humanly achievable in India, and rules millions of hearts with her simple and extravagant recipes.



Born in Pune, the newly-wed Mrs. Dalal moved to Bombay after her marriage. In 1966, she started cookery classes form her residence. Her classes become a phenomenal success with a long list of students wanting to join them. Its very well-known that every Indian girl learns to cook at an early age, and at one time, it was said that "If you want to get your daughter married, send her to Ms. Dalal's Classes". This was because students attained guaranteed cookery expertise after attending her classes. It may sound funny, but it sure depicts how this lady was gaining ground fast in the culinary field. From a tiny crowded kitchen she moved to bigger and better places not only in India but internationally too like Tokyo, Jakarta, Honkong, Singapore, Brussels Antwerp, Lisbon, Zurich, Nairobi, London, Toronto, New York etc.

She hosts many television shows on Indian forefront, the current favourite being "Cook it Up with Tarla Dalal". She's also a regular contributor to several publications, newspapers and magazines. She has published more than 100 cook-books on different topics like vegetarian food, international cuisine, baby food, pregnancy-related food, diabetic recipes, fast food, healthy living, soups and salads and much more. She's truly the unmatched Cookery author since two decades!! Wow, if that's not an achievement, then what is!! Try this one - She was awarded the Padma Shri on Jan 26th 2007 by the President of India to her contribution in the field of cookery.

Lots of chefs and aspiring cooks use her recipes, and novices like me look up to her for guiding us on the path to attain culinary excellence. With more than 11,000 recipes to her credit, she's truly the queen of Indian cooking arena. This legendary yet down-to-earth woman dedicates her fame to her husband and his love for food. It was him who motivated her to start cooking different recipes andsharing them (Hmm..sounds familiar!! Read my profile on the home page:))

Her advice to young chefs - "Patience, dedication and hard work"

Her favorite food quote - "Haste Khelte khana Pakao" (Cook with a smile on your face)


Visit her website http://tarladalal.com/ and her new blog http://tarladalal.blogspot.com/
Then please come back to share your thoughts about her and join me in celebrating this enigmatic persona called Tarla Dalal.

Rachel Ray - A Legend or a Hype?

All right, the winner of this week's poll is clearly Rachel Ray, who rules the hearts of many food-lovers and young, aspiring chef's alike. Personally, I admire and respect her. She has carved a place for herself in the highly competitive food industry through sheer hard-work and determination. True, she's gifted too, for its not easy to cook delicious food, which many of us will vouch for, but its one thing to just live with your passion, another to make a living out of it, and exceptional to rise to a food celebrity status holding on to just your passion. What I like about her is that she's still very down-to-earth, grounded to her values, and honest to her love of cooking and her profession. I could be wrong, as I don't know her personally, but that's the kind of vibes you get from looking at her.

Snapshot
Birthday: August 25, 1968
Place of birth: Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Food Network Shows: 30-Minute Meals, $40 a Day, Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels

The legendary Rachel Ray inherits her cooking skills from her Italian maternal ancestors, as she's mentioned a lot of times on her shows, and by her early 20's, she had started working at Macy's, first on the candy counter, then as Manager of Fresh Foods dept. From there she walked on to be a buyer, pub and restaurant manager, and finally a Chef. How she attained her celebrity status with 2 popular Food network Shows, "30-Minute Meals" and "$40 a Day" is known to all. She also launched her own talk show in Sepember 2006, has a biography written on her life, and has a series of best-selling cookbooks. Her online magazine "Everyday with Rachel Ray"is a great resource for food-lovers and cooks. But its not all "rosy" for the famous chef, as fame brings fans and enemies together, and you won't be surprised to find dedicated sites like "rachel ray sucks!" online!

I woudn't say that I am a great fan of her cooking though, because most of her items use the same ingredients, and she doesn't make food from scratch. I believe a good cook should know what goes into making a dish, the ingredients, their flavours and proportions. Its easy to mix ready-made items, sauces and some leftovers from home and make a meal, but that's just a one-time meal. To really relish your food, you need to put in some more effort, and that creativity and dedication is what makes an ordinary cook a great chef. And Rachel Ray probably falls short in this criterion.

At the end of the day, what is good or bad is for an individual to decide, and I'm all for giving credit to this woman for her hard work, and in her own way, she still continues to be an inspiration to many of us, right?!

What do you think???