James Beard
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In addition to helping America define its culinary heritage, James Beard was the pioneer of television cooking: he hosted the first ever cooking TV show, I Love to Eat, in 1946 on NBC. Beard initially aspired to a career in theater and movies, but when that ambition failed, he started a catering business in 1935. By 1937, with the opening of his small food shop called Hors d’Oeuvre, Inc. Beard knew food was his future.
In 1940, Beard produced the first major cookbook on cocktail food, Hors d’Oeuvre & Canapes, which put him on the culinary map. He published books, ran a restaurant in Nantucket and established the James Beard Cooking School in 1955. The year before, the New York Times had dubbed him the dean of American cookery. James Beard died at age 81 in 1985, but he will always be remembered as one of the fathers of American food and the first of television’s chefs. After his death, Julia Child suggested that Beard’s townhouse in Greenwich Village be purchased and a foundation formed in his honor. The James Beard Foundation now issues annual awards to recognize excellence in culinary pursuits.
Next: Martin Yan
Martin Yan
Cuisine played a central role in Martin Yan’s life from the day he was born in China to a restaurateur father and a mother who operated a grocery store. Though his father died when Yan was a toddler, the boy picked up cooking skills from watching his mother prepare meals at home. At her urging, Yan immigrated to Hong Kong in 1963 to escape Communist China, and while in Honk Kong, he worked in restaurants and studied at the Overseas Institute of Cookery. He eventually made his way to the U.S., where he earned a master’s in food science at the University of California Davis, teaching cooking to pay for his degree.
In 1978 he appeared on a talk show on which he was to prepare a meal — though it didn’t quite work out that way. Known for being a bit chatty and loving to share stories, he didn’t finish cooking the dish but managed to tell viewers he could teach them how to cook and asked them to call the station to get him hired. And thus Yan Can Cook, So Can You was born. Featuring what Yan called “nouvelle Chinese” dishes, it was one of the few ethnic food shows on national TV. By 1990 it was broadcast by 250 stations across the U.S. and in 20 countries. Yan has won two James Beard Awards — one for his show and one for his food journalism — as well as an Emmy, and he has published more than 25 books. Much to his delight, he was instrumental in bringing Chinese cuisine to people the world over. “When I was a cooking teacher in the 70s, Chinese ingredients were hard to come by,” he once wrote in Life magazine. “The first time I saw Chinese bean sprouts in Texas, it nearly brought me to tears.”
Next: Dione Lucas
