Cat Cora

Cat Cora
Born	c. 1968 (age 38 or 39) Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Education	Culinary Institute of America
Culinary career
Cooking style	Mediterranean (Greek), Fusion ("Hellasian"), Southern
Television show(s) Iron Chef America, Kitchen Accomplished, Melting Pot

Catherine 'Cat' Cora (born c. 1968) is a gay professional chef best known for her featured role as an "Iron Chef" on the Food Network television show Iron Chef America.

Biography

Cora was raised in a Greek community in Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.. Her grandfather and father were both restaurateurs. 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 at The University of Southern Mississippi, she enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. 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, 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". She has also participated in charity wine auctions held by Auction Napa Valley.

In 2006, she was hired as a paid spokesperson for In-Sink-Erator® Evolution Series™ Food Waste Disposals. 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. She is also Executive Chef for Bon Appétit magazine and a UNICEF spokesperson.

Cora lives in northern California with her partner Jennifer and son Zoran.

Trivia

• In March 2006, Cora was the Grand Marshal for Hal and Mal's St. Paddy's Parade in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi.

• 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.

• Cat Cora also belongs to Macy's Culinary Councils, amongst Tyler Florence, Rick Bayless and others

• She has worked as an entertainer for Olivia Cruises and Resorts, a travel company catering to the lesbian market.

• She has purchased a Salvador Dalí print at auction, which she describes as her "first piece of true artwork".

• The celebrity she would most like to cook for is Oprah Winfrey.

• Cora was a winner of the Bon Appétit American Food and Entertaining Awards for 2006.

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.
• Cooking From the Hip: Fast, Easy, Phenomenal Meals (2007). ISBN 0-6187-2990-9. Co-authored with Ann Krueger Spivack.
• Under The Olive Tree (in development)

External links

• Food Network's profile of Cat Cora
• audio interview with Cat Cora by Capital Public Radio
• audio interview with Cat Cora by Jim's Kitchen podcast
• audio interview with Cat Cora by OnTheRail
• audio interview with Cat Cora by World Talk Radio Gourmet Club
• Chef to the Rescue with Cat Cora on MSN