Famous Chefs: Rachael Ray
Rachae Ray is an Emmy-nominated television variety celebrity chef and author who hosts at least four different programs on cable television's Food Network: 30 Minute Meals, $40 a Day, Inside Dish, and Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels. She has authored a series of cookbooks based on the 30 Minute Meals concept. She will also host a syndicated TV talk show starting in 2006.
Ray teaches simple recipes that she says can be prepared in thirty minutes or less. Like many cooks, she uses garlic and chicken stock as simple ways to boost flavors, and emphasizes using fresh herbs whenever possible. She says that measuring "takes away from the creative, hands-on process of cooking", and instead favors approximations such as "half a palmful" and "eyeball it". On her television programs she has popularized catchphrases such as "E.V.O.O... extra-virgin olive oil", "Yum-O!", "So delish!", "G.B... garbage bowl," and "How good is THAT?".
Ray launched her own magazine, Everyday with Rachael Ray in conjunction with Reader's Digest. The magazine premiered on October 25, 2005 and plans bi-monthly issues in 2006. In addition to her television hosting and cookbooks, Ray has endorsed products for Price Chopper supermarkets and Burger King, and has developed her own line of cookware and cutlery. When she endorsed Wüsthof's , sales rose dramatically, and she now endorses her own line of santoku knives.
In late 2005 Ray signed a deal with Oprah Winfrey and King World Productions to host a syndicated daytime TV talk show in 2006. Recurrent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show will be used to fuel the launch, much as the Dr. Phil show was spun off based on his own frequent visits to Oprah. The show will film in New York City, and Ray will still appear on the Food Network. Ms. Ray said, in coordination with the syndication announcement, "People know me for my love of food, but I have so much more I want to share".
In addition to Oprah, Rachael Ray has appeared on The View, The Today Show, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In 2006, Ray and her 30 Minute Meals show received two Emmy Award nominations, for Outstanding Talk Show Host and Outstanding Service Show.
