Ken Hom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ken Hom
Portrait of Ken Hom
Born	May 3, 1949 (1949-05-03) (age 59) 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, cookery book writer and television show presenter.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Television 3 Bibliography 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

Raised in Chicago, Illinois, by his widowed mother, he first learned cooking at age eleven when he worked in his uncle's Chinese restaurant. 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.

[edit] 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)

[edit] Bibliography

• Hom, K.; Steiman, H. (1981). Chinese Technique. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0671253476. 
• Hom, K. (1984). Chinese Cookery. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563211067. 
• Hom, K. (1987). Ken Hom's East meets West cuisine. London: Macmillan. ISBN 033345989X. 
• Hom, K. (1987). Ken Hom's Vegetables & Pasta Book. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563205393. 
• Hom, K. (1988). Asian Vegetarian Feast. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0688077536. 
• Hom, K. (1989). Fragrant Harbor Taste : the new Chinese Cooking of Hong Kong. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0671644696. 
• Hom, K. (1989). Ken Hom's Quick and Easy Chinese Cookery. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563206756. 
• Hom, K. (1990). The Taste of China. London: Pavilion. ISBN 1851452478. 
• Hom, K. (1994). Ken Hom's Chinese Recipes. London: Pavilion. ISBN 1857933885. 
• Hom, K. (1994). Ken Hom's Chinese Kitchen. London: Pavilion. ISBN 1851459510. 
• Hom, K. (1995). Ken Hom's Vegetarian Cookery. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563369582. 
• Hom, K. (1997). Ken Hom Cooks Chinese. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563383496. 
• Hom, K. (1996). Ken Hom's Hot Wok. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563371005. 
• Hom, K. (1996). Ken Hom's Asian Ingredients. Berkeley, Calif.: Ten Speed. ISBN 0898157951. 
• Hom, K. (1997). Ken Hom Travels With a Hot Wok. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563383941. 
• Hom, K. (1998). Ken Hom Cooks Noodles and Rice. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563383496. 
• Hom, K. (1998). Ken Hom's Easy Family Dishes: a memoir with recipes. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563384395. 
• Hom, K. (1999). Ken Hom Cooks Thai. London: Headline. ISBN 0563384549. 
• Hom, K. (2000). Ken Hom's Foolproof Chinese Cookery. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563534192. 
• Hom, K. (2001). Ken Hom's New Chinese Cookery. London: BBC Books. ISBN 056355133X. 
• Hom, K. (2001). Ken Hom's Quick Wok: the Fastest Food in the East. London: Headline. ISBN 0747222231. 
• Hom, K. (2002). Simple Thai Cookery. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563493283. 
• Hom, K. (2003). Foolproof Asian Cookery. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563488697. 
• Hom, K. (2003). My Favourite Chinese Recipes. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563487267. 
• Hom, K. (2004). Ken Hom's Top 100 Stir-fry Recipes. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563521643. 
• Hom, K.; Roulier, M. (2004). Wok & Co. London: Hachette. ISBN 184430177X. 
• Hom, K. (2005). Simple Chinese Cookery. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0563521791. 
• Hom, K.; Chan, W. (2005). Fresh Chinese: over 80 healthy Chinese recipes. London: BBC Books. ISBN 0600611914. 

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ken Hom cooks... website