Cookbook Authors Mix Cuisine With Charm On Tv
Madhur Jaffrey was one of the earliest Indian cookbook authors to do her own culinary show on television. And this was before the era of cable TV and food channels. Now comes the turn of a mostly Western-raised generation, with Padma Lakshmi in the U.S. and Anjum Anand in the U.K. taking the lead. These telegenic desi divas have the ‘oomph' factor, to be sure, but how do they rate when it comes to displaying their cooking skills? It's perhaps fair to say that while Anand has won raves for her ability to cook dishes, Lakshmi is better known for being able to dish out glamour. Along with her two co-hosts, Lakshmi is a judge on Bravo's "Top Chef," in which aspiring chefs compete in live cooking contests. Lakshmi, a winner of the Best First Book prize at the World Cookbook Awards, has also been a host on Food Network. Her new book, Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet, is just out. That's a double entendre, no doubt.
Anand, interestingly, seems to be following in the footsteps of Jaffrey, who helped to popularize Indian cooking in British homes. Some years ago, realizing that she was overweight, Anand changed her cooking style and eating habits. After the success of her debut book, Indian Every Day: Light, Healthy Indian Food, Anand became a regular guest on UKTV Food's Great Food Live. She is now doing a solo six-part cookery series on BBC Two. Calling her a ‘yummy mummy-ji', The Times of London notes that "she grew up in Switzerland, studied in Madrid and Paris, too, speaks fluent French, has a degree in business administration from London and a husband she met and married after ‘a typical Indian love story'."
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