Ken Hom

infobox chef


caption = Portrait of Ken Hom
birthdate = birth date and age|1949|5|3|mf=y
birthplace = Tucson, Arizona, United States of America
education = University of California, Berkeley

Ken Hom (born May 3, 1949 in Tucson, Arizona, United States) is a notable Chinese American chef, author and television show presenter.

Biography

Hom was born in Tucson, Arizona, and raised in Chicago, Illinois, by his widowed mother, after his father died when Hom was eight months old.cite news| last=Burros |first=M | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E7D9123DF934A25755C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2| title= The World Beckons, and One More Chinese Chef Leaves America| date=1998-06-17| publisher=New York Times| accessdate=2008-07-03] He first learned cooking at age eleven when he worked in his uncle's Chinese restaurant.cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2002/aug/03/features.jobsmoney1|title=How the wok ethic paid off|last=Anstead|first=Mark |date=2002-08-03|publisher=The Guardian (London)|accessdate=2008-07-03] He went out to California to study History of Art from the University of California, Berkeley.

During this time he was invited to teach Italian cooking lessons at weekends, which he did to supplement his college fees. He actually taught the participants how to make their own pasta. This led to him going on to teach Chinese cookery, and in 1977 he was invited to join San Francisco's new California Culinary Academy as an instructor.

In 1982, the BBC were looking to find a good Chinese presenter and chef to do a series on Chinese cookery following the success of Madhur Jaffrey's Indian cookery series. Jaffrey had met Hom in New York and suggested that the BBC should audition him. The BBC then commissioned him to star in a new TV series on Chinese cooking named "Ken Hom’s Chinese Cookery". The success of this series and the companion book broke all records. It became one of the best-selling cookbooks ever published by BBC Books, selling well over 1.2 million copies. As of 2008, the book is still in print and will be celebrating it's 25th anniversary in 2009.

Although Hom has had a base in Paris since 1986, in 1997 Ken moved permanently to Europe, settling in southwest France where he restored a 13th century tower in the Lot. In 2003, he made the decision to spend more time in his adopted homeland of Thailand.

He has since written over 20 award winning cookbooks which include different oriental types of cookery, such as Singaporean, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Cambodian, Thai and, of course, Chinese dishes. Ken is one of the leading authorities worldwide on Chinese and oriental cuisine.

Hom has consulted in many of the top hotels and restaurants all over the world and some of his former pupils have also opened leading restaurants all over the world. He has cooked for over 30 Heads of State including presidents, celebrities and royalty.

There is also a range of Ken Hom cooking sauces, noodles and rice developed with Ken and Costa (part of Associated British Foods). These are available only in the UK. However, he now divides his time between Paris, Bangkok and is semi-retired. He still travels extensively worldwide.

On the 12th September 2007 Ken Hom received an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes University in recognition of his ‘outstanding success within the international food world’.

Hom was a contestant on a special Chef's edition of The Weakest Link, and while not winning, did quite well, surviving many elimination rounds. He continues to make radio and television appearances worldwide.

Television

* "Ken Hom’s Chinese Cookery" (1984)
* "Hot Chefs" (1992)
* "Ken Hom’s Hot Wok" (1996)
* "Ken Hom’s Travels with a Wok" (1998)
* "Foolproof Chinese Cookery" (2000)
* "Take on the Takeaway" (2007)

Bibliography

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

References

*cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19981126/ai_n14198763|title=Education: Passed/Failed Ken Hom| last=| first=|date=1998-11-26|publisher=The Independent (London)|accessdate=2008-07-03
*cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010929/ai_n14414603|title=Interview Ken Hom: Hot fusion| last=Kapoor|first=Sybil |date=2001-09-29|publisher=The Independent (London)|accessdate=2008-07-03
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

External links

* [http://www.kenhomcooks.com/index.php Ken Hom cooks... website]