otI wish Medicorp would have proper celebrity chefs who teaches
us how to cook 2 set of meals on our local tv, every week.
rather those, standing at the side, observing, giving tips here
and there on Channel 8...very sian liao...very stale liao. I see at
least the the Malay and Indian channel did that but I dun
understand the language :(
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http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/Celebrity-Chef-investopedia-180286534.html?x=0
The most trusted and renowned chefs of our time aren't
necessarily the best at their trade. Someone's grandma bakes up a
better pie than Martha Stewart. French chefs were mastering rich
butter-based recipes centuries before Paula Deen's attempts to
convert her blood into milk fat. And stressed out fry-cooks have
been cursing up anger-inspired offerings at your local Denny's long
before Gordon Ramsey made a reality show that relies on profanity.
But can we really trust the cooking of an uninspired fast-food
cook? Or, the French?!
Compared to the credibility that celebrity offers, even
grandma's pie becomes suspect, which is why we've turned to the
world's most entertaining and influential chefs to dictate our
diets, write our recipes, sell us our cookware and host our
favorite reality shows. Becoming one of these elite-level "chefs"
may not always require official culinary training, but it does
require a marketable personality, an obvious passion for food and
the ability to get people excited about what's for dinner. Top
celebrity chefs have amassed legions of devoted apprentices who
consume nearly anything the chef is attached to, allowing a select
few "Super Chefs" to build multi-million-dollar empires. Here's a
look at the fortunes amassed by some of America's favorite
celebrity chefs.
Rachel Ray
She may not
have traditional chef training (which any true chef is fond of
pointing out), but that hasn't kept Rachel Ray from becoming the
highest-earning cook on TV. Buoyed by her perky demeanor, a trove
of cute catch-phrases and the support of Oprah Winfrey's TV
production studio, Ray has built a culinary empire based on her
simple 30-minute-meal concepts. According to Forbes, Ray earns $18
million per year, and while she freely admits she's not a qualified
chef, her fans don't seem to mind. Millions of people tune in each
day to her syndicated talk show, as well as her three shows on The
Food Network. She also endorses Dunkin' Donuts, has published
numerous cookbooks and is the founder of her own magazine, "Every
Day With Rachel Ray."
Gordon Ramsay
This
Scottish cook was trained in Oxford and he refined his skills as a
chef in restaurants throughout Europe. But anyone who's worked in a
restaurant knows that the greatest proof of Gordon Ramsay's ability
as a chef lies in his incredible proficiency in swearing. Truckers
and sailors swap stories of the appalling language they've heard
from cooks, and Ramsay's knack for motivating, shaming and
intimidating his underlings with curses has made him legendary
among his peers. Not having dined in any of his 27 restaurants
around the globe, I can't say much about his cooking ability, he
could undercook Wellington and serve runny risotto, and millions of
people would still tune in to see his five reality TV series. And
some of these aren't just Food Network fare; Ramsay's made the big
time with shows on network television (it was FOX, but it still
counts). Toss in revenue from his 17 cookbooks and numerous
endorsements, and Forbes estimates the chef earns $7.5 million per
year. Of course, with various litigations pending against him -
including a labor suit filed by his mother-in-law - and some of his
restaurants losing money, Ramsay may need to keep his high-revenue,
ill-tempered persona in the media for many more years.
Paula Deen
Paula Deen
says herself, "I never refer to myself as a chef. I'm a cook." But
like Rachel Ray, Deen's influence on American cooks stems more from
her straightforward and approachable "home cooking," than it does
from any formal training. Of course, if dinner at your home wasn't
flooded with butter, you and Deen may not share the same tastes.
Deen is famous for making butter the star of her recipes, and she's
infamous for having guzzled melted butter on camera to reiterate
her approval of churned cream. You can argue the damaging effects
Deen's pro-butter campaign is having on an already-obese nation,
but you can't argue that her full-flavor cooking is a hit. Deen has
two shows on the Food Network, six cookbooks, an autobiography and
a magazine, all of which combine to net her $4.5 million per year.
Sex may be the simplest to sell, but Paula Deen is helping to prove
that high-fat food is an attractive second.
Wolfgang Puck
This
Austrian chef has spread his brand throughout America in thorough
fashion. Starting with his first restaurant in Los Angeles in 1982,
Puck has gone on to open 21 more fine-dining restaurants, as well
as an array of casual eateries such as Wolfgang Puck Express and
Wolfgang Puck Bistros. A sure sign you've made it in any business
is when the branding of your name can make nearly anything
marketable, as proven by Wolfgang's ability to use him name and
likeness to sell indispensable tools of the trade such as toasters,
coffee makers and salad spinners, and even prepackaged foods like
pizza and soup. It's estimated that all of Puck's endeavors
generate about $800 million, with Puck cutting himself a
$16-million-per-year salary to oversee it all.
The Bottom Line
The
exposure to new cooking styles and ingredients, as well as the
money-saving appeal of cooking at home have helped to propel TV
chefs into the ranks of Hollywood celebrities and rockstars. And in
the same way that the most popular actors and musicians aren't
necessarily the most talented, not every celebrity chef has
achieved fame purely for his or her skills over the stove. The
right "recipe" of charisma, skill and passion makes for an
influential chef who can become a marketable brand that is the base
for an empire of can't-miss restaurants, TV shows, books, cookware,
gadgets, etc.
suria got subtitles one mah ....
