Sophie Grigson

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Sophie Grigson (born Hester Sophia Francis Grigson on June 19, 1959 in Swindon, Wiltshire) is a British cookery writer and celebrity "chef" (though she would prefer to be known as a cook), the daughter of Jane Grigson. She is known for her extravagant, dangly earrings and appears regularly on the BBC Food television channel.

After graduating in 1982 with a B.Sc. in mathematics from UMIST University in Manchester (where she is currently Vice President of the Alumni Association), she worked for a time as a production manager of pop videos for groups including Bonnie Tyler and Style Council. Having inherited her mother's love of food, she found she also enjoyed writing about it. Her first food article, published in 1983 in the Sunday Express Magazine, was entitled "Fifty ways with potatoes". She has since written columns for The Evening Standard, The Independent, and The Sunday Times. Her television debut came in 1993 with a twelve-part series "Grow Your Greens, Eat Your Greens" on Channel 4.

She has written a number of best-selling books including:

• "Gourmet Ingredients" (1991, nominated for the James Beard Award, published by Van Nostrand Reinhold)
• "Eat your greens" (1993)
• "Travels a La Carte" (1994, written with William Black)
• "Fish" (1998, written with William Black)
• "Sophie Grigson's Herbs" (1999)
• "Organic" (2001, written with William Black)
• "Sophie Grigson's Country Kitchen" (2003)
• "The First-time Cook" (2004)

Publishing in October 2006 is her latest book, "Vegetables". (Collins - ISBN 0-00-721377-8)

She won the Guild of Food Writers Cookery Journalist Award 2001.

She is a keen supporter of organic and local food suppliers and, like Jamie Oliver, is an advocate for decent children's food.

She is a lone parent (divorced from William Black) and lives in Oxford with her children, Florence and Sidney.