Celebrity chef 101: who to follow on Twitter
Posted on 30. Aug, 2010 by Marina in People & Places
1. @jamie_oliver
If the celebrity chef circuit was a breadbin, Jamie Oliver would be wholewheat. Or maybe low GI. After dropping out of school at the age of sixteen to attend catering college, Jamie became famous overnight when he was spotted by some smart TV producers shooting a documentary in the restaurant where he was interning. His first TV series The Naked Chef was a hit and Jamie Oliver is now a household name across the globe (check out his kitchen tools and cookware). We love that amidst the fame, he prioritises family and constantly raves about his wife, daughters and country home.
2. @chinghehuang
Ching-He Huang is one of Britain’s top cook and TV presenters, born in Taiwan to Chinese parents and raised on home-cooked meals inspired by the paddy fields, bamboo farms, orangeries and traditional cooking styles of the southern Taiwanese countryside. Entirely self taught, she set up her UK food and drink business when she was twenty one and in 2005 was given her own TV show (Ching’s Kitchen). Ching reminisces fondly about childhood years spent in South Africa, comparing her foreign lunchbox content with astounded locals. Check out Ching’s youtube channel and Chinese Food iphone app for some great cooking tips.
3. @curtis_stone
Described as the ‘young gun’ of the celebrity chef scene, this classically trained Australian made it big as the author and presenter of the globally successful cooking and lifestyle program Surfing the Menu. And yes, Curtis Stone looks like a Ken doll. But that’s kind of cool.
4. @raymond_blanc
Totally self taught and with simple beginnings, Raymond Blanc is now one of England’s most respected chefs. He opened his first restaurant, Les Quat’ Saisons, with his wife in 1977 and has powered on consistently since. His list of foodie achievements includes a thriving patisserie, Michelin star awarded country house hotel, group of seven brasseries across the country (Brasserie Blanc) and the setting up of The Raymond Blanc Cookery School. The Queen gave him an OBE in 2007, he has written numerous popular books and starred in two series of his own BBC Food TV series, The Restaurant. Not too shabby!
5. @gordonramsay01
Whatever your sentiments on arguably the most famous celebrity chef to date, you have to respect his natural kitchen skill, intuition and raw command in the kitchen. If Jamie is wholewheat, Gordon Ramsay would have to be pumpernickel (or some kind of naughty bread still to be named). At the age of 5 his dreams of becoming a soccer star were dashed by a serious injury, and the Scottish born diamond in the rough made his way to England where he grew up in a broken home. We met him earlier this year, and he won our hearts hook, line and F@(!*
6. @hestonfatduck
Self-taught chef Heston Blumenthal’s route to the top has been an unconventional one, involving rule-breaking, unusual experiments and an exploding oven. He fell in love with the idea of cooking after visiting a three star restaurant in Provence with his family at age sixteen. It took more than a decade to realise this dream. While working all kinds of day jobs to pay the bills, he worked his way through the classical repertoire of French cuisine and became a food whizz, incorporating his interest in science into food in ways that have now made him famous. His three Michelin star awarded restaurant (The Fat Duck) is a serious foodie destination.
7. @rachelallen1
Described as an “Irish cooking queen” this Dublin born lady left home at eighteen to study at the world-famous Ballymaloe Cookery School. She is now a busy TV chef, author, journalist and mother (and still teaches at Ballymaloe). She has a devoted fan base, and writes for various columns and publications across the UK. Simple, delicious and practical cooking is her thing – sign up here to receive her monthly newsletter with inspiring recipe ideas.
8. @valentinewarner
“The foundation of where I find myself now was the very act of biting everything and eating everything, attempting to make sense of the world by trying to get it into my mouth” – Valentine Warner.
Valentine Warner was born to two great home cooks, and spent most of his childhood in a rambling farm kitchen. Under the guidance of his outdoor-loving father, he developed a deep appreciation of the important connection between the natural world and the table. He spent time working the kitchen circuit in London before opening a cooking school and starting what he describes as a strange courtship with television before getting his own show on BBC food. He has penned two books, both of which have been successful.
9. @benodonoghue
Australian Chef and TV presenter Ben O’Donoghue describes cooking as a passion and a reflex, and believes strongly that food should be simple, distinctive and technically and culturally correct. He started his cooking career working at top restaurants in Perth and Sydeny, before moving across to the UK where he lived for thirteen years. Four of these were spent in London working alongside Jamie Oliver (they’re mates). Ben has starred in a number of cooking TV series, published numerous cookbooks and writes for various columns. He is currently living in Australia with his wife and three kids. One of whom is called Herb.
10. @noreservations
If there is one thing that sets this guy apart from other celebrity chefs, it would be his formidable writing skills. Born in 1956, Anthony Bourdain attended Vassar College and graduated from the world-renowned Culinary Institute of America. His cooking career began with running various kitchens in New York (Supper Club, One Fifth Avenue, and Sullivan’s) and his food-related writings began appearing regularly in newspapers and magazines.
On 19 April 1999 The New Yorker published Don’t Eat Before Reading This - Tony’s exposé of some New York restaurants. The scathing review put his name on local and international foodie maps and served as the catalyst and basis for Bourdain’s hugely successful first cookbook - Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
And that’s our list – a few of the celebrity chefs to whom we lend our Yuppiechef ears in the busy Twittersphere.
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