Cat Cora
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| Born | c. 1968 Jackson, MS <tr><th>Cooking style</th><td>Mediterranean (Greek), Fusion ("Hellasian"), Southern</td></tr><tr><th>Education</th><td>Culinary Institute of America</td></tr><tr><th>TV Show(s)</th><td>Iron Chef America, Kitchen Accomplished</td></tr> |
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Catherine 'Cat' Cora<ref name="Yancey1">Yancey, Kitty Bean. "'Iron Chef' Cat Cora is out of the bag", USA Today, March 31, 2006.</ref> (born c. 1968)<ref name="Yancey2">Yancey, Kitty Bean. "What's cookin' with 'Iron Chef' Cat Cora", USA Today, April 5, 2006.</ref> is a professional chef best known for her featured role as an "Iron Chef" on the Food Network's television show Iron Chef America.
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[edit] Biography
Cora was raised in a Greek community in Jackson, Mississippi. Her grandfather and father were both restaurateurs.<ref name="Yancey1" /> Cat was inspired by Julia Child, Barbara Tropp, M. F. K. Fisher and her grandmother Alma. Her cuisine is a blend of her Greek and Southern roots like her favorite dish Kota Kapama (Greek cinnamon chicken), and slow-cooked lamb shanks with feta salsa verde.
After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Physiology and Biology, she enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.<ref name="Profile">Food Network profile</ref> Cora has also appeared on Simplify Your Life. She was also a cohost of the Food Network show Kitchen Accomplished. She has also coined the term Hellasian, referring to a fusion cuisine combining Greek and Asian cooking. She is the only female Iron Chef in its franchise history (including the Japanese version of Iron Chef).
In January 2005, Cora co-founded Chefs For Humanity<ref>Chefs For Humanity: About Us</ref>, which describes itself as "a grassroots coalition of chefs and culinary professionals guided by a mission to quickly be able to raise funds and provide resources for important emergency and humanitarian aid, nutritional education, and hunger-related initiatives throughout the world".<ref>Chefs For Humanity: Home page</ref> She has also participated in charity wine auctions held by Auction Napa Valley.<ref>Auction Napa Valley</ref>
In 2006, she was hired as a paid spokesperson for In-Sink-Erator® Evolution Series™ Food Waste Disposals.<ref>Rovito, Rich. "Elevating the garbage disposal", The Business Journal of Milwaukee, July 28, 2006.</ref> In partnership with 3 Street Media, she is developing The Cat Cora Show, a talk show devoted to food and wine which she will produce and host.<ref name="Profile" /> She became Executive Chef for Bon Appétit magazine<ref>Cat Cora Named Executive Chef of Bon Appetit Magazine, PR Newswire, August 9, 2006.</ref> and a UNICEF spokesperson<ref>"Chefs for Humanity president Cat Cora joins UNICEF as spokesperson", UNICEF, January 20, 2006.</ref>.
Cora lives in northern California with her partner, Jennifer, and her son Zoran.<ref name="Yancey2" /><ref>Sturrock, Carrie. "Chef steeling herself for TV's Iron Chef competition", San Francisco Chronicle, April 1, 2005.</ref>
[edit] Trivia
- In March 2006, Cora was the Grand Marshal for the Mal St. Paddy's Parade in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi.<ref>Lucas, Sherry. "Iron Chef to lead Mal's St. Paddy's Day Parade", The Clarion-Ledger, January 1, 2006.</ref>
- In the September 2006 issue of FHM, Cora was featured in the cooking section, where she demonstrated various recipes using items purchased from a convenience store. As in the FHM pictorial of her Food Network colleague Rachael Ray, Cora was photographed displaying her cleavage in a "cheesecake" style.<ref>"Mini Mart Iron Chef", FHM, September 2006.</ref>
- She has worked as an entertainer for Olivia Cruises and Resorts, a travel company catering to the lesbian market.<ref>Olivia Cruises and Resorts: Entertainers</ref>
- She has purchased a Salvador Dalí print at auction, which she describes as her "first piece of true artwork".<ref>Rose, Lacey. The Chef: Cat Cora, Forbes, February 14, 2006.</ref>
- The celebrity she would most like to cook for is Oprah Winfrey.<ref name="Yancey1" />
[edit] Books
- Cat Cora’s Kitchen: Favorite Meals for Family and Friends (2004). ISBN 0-8118-3998-2. Co-authored with Ann Krueger Spivack. Photography by Maren Caruso.
- Under The Olive Tree (in development)<ref>All American™ Talent & Celebrity Network</ref>
- Cooking From the Hip (in development)<ref name="Profile" />
[edit] References
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