Welcome to a celebration of the celebrity chef. They weren’t always called celebrity chefs of course but they do have a very long and distinguished history around the world. The last twenty years or so has witnessed a gigantic increase in the popularity of this particular phenomena as a huge array of television channels has allowed any number of budding chefs the opportunity to try their luck in front of the cameras.
Rachael Ray, the American food and lifestyle commentator is one of our favourites, partly because of her diverse and impressive range of culinary skills but also because she brushes up pretty well. BTW, Ray also insists that she is not a chef; make of that what you will.
For some years now it’s been pretty clear that in the United States you can find a cooking related programme on television at any time of the day or night; Ray herself had five different programmes running at one point. The United Kingdom is not much different, nor is Europe, Australia or anywhere else you can name which has more broadcast capacity than quality content to fill it.
So this website is a somewhat sideways look at the business of the celebrity chef and the long and interesting history of these kitchen conquerors. We’ll also check out the incredible range of cookery programmes that have blessed our airwaves in whatever country you reside. We’ll also have a in depth look at some of those big names who have made it big in this industry, relying on cooking skills and personality alone. Step forward Jamie Oliver, step forward Anthony Bourdain and step forward Ken Hom among others. On this site we’ll learn about Gordon Ramsey, Marco Pierre White (possibly the first contemporary celebrity chef) and prolific writers such as Delia Smith. Check back regularly for updates.