Culinary Career Spotlights: Major Culinary TV Personalities

Culinary Career Spotlights: Major Culinary TV Personalities

Rachel Ray, Emril, Julia Childs, Paula Dean & Wolfgang Puck

As Americans we are drawn to food, and many of us are drawn to cooking shows and the television personalities that host them. We watch Paula Dean and Rachel Ray, and in generations past they watched Julia Child. We watch in awe of the simplicity of making the meal and attempt to do it on our own. Each of the major television personalities received their start in different ways. We will focus on a few of the most well-known.

Julia Child

When Americans are asked who the most famous female chef is, they automatically name Julia Child. She attended the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school while in Paris with her husband in the late 1940’s, where she developed a liking to French cuisine. Upon graduation, she formed the L’Ecole de Trois Gourmandes with two fellow Cordon Bleu graduates. They wanted to adapt traditional French entrees for Americans and wrote a two volume cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The cookbook was considered groundbreaking at the time, and has become a staple in the culinary community.

Once back in the United States, she approached television producers and prepared an omelet on air for them. The public enjoyed it so much that she taped her own televised cooking show, The French Chef. She became a household name and the Smithsonian features an exhibit that houses the kitchen she used for three of her famous cooking shows.

Paula Deen

Paula Deen’s southern charm and style is what draws cooking enthusiasts to her television shows. She never received a formal culinary education. She started The Bag Lady, a bag lunch delivery and catering service. The popularity of her service led to a restaurant located inside of a Best Western hotel to its very own location downtown. She wrote a cookbook, and once it was discovered, her popularity skyrocketed. Ultimately, she received two different cooking shows on the Food Network.

Rachel Ray

Rachel Ray grew up cooking and says that “cooking is a way of life I was simply born into”. Rachel grew up in food service watching her mom. She started her career working in the fresh foods department at Macy’s. She developed an extensive knowledge of gourmet foods. She opened Agata & Valentina in NYC. She moved back to upstate New York and managed restaurants. Soon she was recruited by Cowan & Lobel as their buyer and eventually their chef.

Rachel started to offer cooking classes as a way to increase grocery sales in the store. Her specialty was “30-minute Meals”. CBS discovered her, and hired her to do a weekly segment on the nightly news. With her popularity a companion cookbook was created. Her specialty became quick and easy meals, and she created a magazine based on those recipes and methods.

Emeril

When asked to name a famous television chef, most Americans will either name Julia Child or Emeril Lagasse. As a teen Emeril worked in a bakery; mastering the art of bread and pastry baking. He decided to pursue a career as a chef, after turning down a full scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music. He received his degree from Johnson and Wales University. He traveled to France, and practiced the art of French cuisine. He worked in restaurants in New York, Boston and Philadelphia. Though is not originally from New Orleans as some believe, he was recruited to be the head chef at Commander’s Palace. He then opened his own restaurant Emeril’s Restaurant in New Orleans’s Warehouse District.

Emeril has a popular cooking show also on the Food Network and also serves as the food correspondent for ABC’s “Good Morning America”. He has had many television shows including “Emeril Live”.

Wolfgang Puck

Wolfgang started his careers in the culinary arts field at a young age in France. His mother was a hotel chef and fed his culinary passion. After being in the United States a couple of years, Wolfgang moved to Los Angeles and became chef and part owner of Ma Maison. Ma Maison a popular hangout for the rich and famous. He created a cookbook, “Modern French Cooking for the American Kitchen”. It is well known that he strives to use the highest-quality, all natural and organic ingredients.

Puck is also a regular guest on Good Morning America and has a Food Network cooking show. His style often influences others, and a replica of his restaurant is featured in the television show “Las Vegas” and his has also made cameo appearances on the show.

Of course these are just a few of the many cooking personalities, and many more continue to show up on the horizon. With the increased popularity of televised cooking shows there has also been an increase in reality cooking shows from Iron Chef and Top Chef.