Rachael Ray
Get this tv seriesRachael Ray is the chef who can’t make coffee. The petite brunette with a raspy voice says she can never remember baking instructions and looks more like the host of a “what to wear” shopping show than one about cooking. But looks can be deceiving; this so-perky-you’ll-want-to-lock-her-in-the-freezer chef can cook up a storm using common grocery-store ingredients and eyeballed measurements. Known for her folksy recipes and penchant for made-up terms, Ray won America’s overworked, strapped-for-time heart with her “30-minute meal” concept and tendency to cover her mistakes by adding more olive oil (sorry, we mean E.V.O.O.).
In 2001 a Food Network executive heard Ray on an upstate New York radio show. Within a week, she had appeared on the Today show and signed a $360,000 contract. Eight years, four TV shows, 16 cookbooks and one magazine later, Rachael Ray has yummo-ed and delish-ed her way into culinary history.
Next: Emeril Lagasse
Emeril Lagasse
Get this tv seriesThe Massachusetts-born master of one-liners, Emeril Lagasse began his cooking career washing dishes at a Portuguese bakery. After graduating from the Johnson and Wales culinary program in Rhode Island, he spent several years in France before moving to New Orleans in 1982 to work at the Commander’s Palace, where he replaced cooking legend Paul Prudhomme as the restaurant’s executive chef.
In 1990 he opened his own restaurant, Emeril’s. His unique approach to Cajun food, which he dubbed the “new New Orleans,” resulted in a best-selling book of the same name and two failed shows on Food Network. But then came Emeril’s Essence, which combined live music, a studio audience and a flurry of Emeril’s signature zingers like “Bam!” “Feel the love!” and “Kick it up a notch!” Today, Lagasse owns and operates eight restaurants nationwide and has even taken his cooking into space; he teamed up with NASA in 2006 to send members of the International Space Station a special treat: zero-gravity-friendly versions of his jambalaya and mashed potatoes. He’s since done commercials for Crest toothpaste, starred in a short-lived NBC sitcom (called, what else, Emeril) and showed up during the 100th episode of TLC’s Jon & Kate Plus 8 as a surprise guest. And if you want to own something with his name, face or signature on it — Bam! — Lagasse also markets his own spices, cookware, kitchen applies, cutlery and sauces.
