May 28 2008
Cooking Star - Emeril Lagasse
Cooking Star – Emeril Lagasse
“Bam – Kick.” Is there a pattern here. With Paula Deen’s “Hay y’all”, maybe the first step to success to becoming a cooking star is to come up with your own unique phrasing or words. Maybe you could say “Happy Days,” or “Almost Heaven,” after completing each dish. It might be the start of a brand new career for all the new aspiring foodies out there.
I don’t know how Emeril Lagasse would have used these catch phrases if he’d decided to persue music as a career instead of cooking. I also wonder if success, for some people, is just in the stars, and he might have been a great musician if he’d made that choice. Emeril was offered a full music scholarship to the New England Conservatory of music. He turned it down in favor of a career as a professional chef and studied at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. He worked at a local restaurant in or order to pay for his schooling. He met his future wife, Elizabeth Kief there and the were married shortly after he completed his studies, in 1978. He worked in France before returning to the U.S. and working in the northwest for several years.
Emeril’s Career Takes Off
In 1982 Emeril became the Executive Chef at the famous restaurant, Commander’s Palace, in New Orleans. He put in 18 hour days there which surely put a strain on his marriage. Elizabeth and he were divorced in 1986.
Emeril worked at the Commander’s Palace for seven and a half years, at which time he decided to open his own restaurant, Emeril’s, in New Orleans. There, he pulled a menu together which encompassed Spanish, French, Asian, Caribbean and Portuguese cuisine. He had great success with his restaurant and was named “Best New Restaurant of the Year” by Esquire Magazine. Two years later, he opened a second restaurant, Nola,(named for New Orleans Louisiana) which also became very successful.
Just one year after the opening of his new restaurant, his first cookbook was published, Emeril’s New New Orleans Cooking. It introduced his special flavors and combinations of food and became a bestseller. Soon, Emeril was noticed by the, then fledgling, Food Network.
Emeril – TV Cooking Star
After two failed programs at the Food Network, Boiling water and Emeril and Friends, a new program was started. Essence of Emeril, took off in popularity. It was classified as one of the ten best shows on television by Time magazine. Starting to use his, now well known, catch words, “Kick” and “Bam,” in a new Food Network show, Emeril Live. In step with Emeril’s dramatic cooking style, the new show had a live audience and a four-piece band. The show shot Emeril into the ultra-celebrity he is today. Despite criticism from other chefs, he remains wildly popular with the public. In 2003, the Food Network signed him for 90 new shows per year for five years in a multi million dollar deal.
There’s No Stopping Him Now
After the opening of six restaurants, four bestselling cookbooks and his busy tv schedule, Emeril started his own line of cookware. With all of this going on in his life, he continues to make guest appearances and work for charities.
Emeril’s Statistics
Born: Emeril Lagasse
Date of Birth: October 15, 1959
Birth Location: Fall River, Massachusetts
Marriages: Three, Elizabeth Kief, Tari Hohn, and currently, Alden Lovelace
Children: Two daughters, Jessica and Julia
Books: Emeril’s Potluck Comfort Food With a Kicked Up Attitude
Emeril’s New Orleans
Emeril’s There’s a Chef in My World
Emeril’s There’s a Chef in My Family
Emeril’s TV Dinners
Prime Time Emeril
From Emeril’s Kitchen
Emeril’s There’s a Chef in My Soup
Emeril! Inside the Amazing Success…
Emeril’s Delmonico
Louisiana Real and Rustic
Every Day’s a Party
Restaurants: Emeril’s Restaurant
Nola
Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House
Emeril’s Delmonicos
Emeril’s Olando
Delmonico Steakhouse
Emeril’s Miami Beach
Emeril’s Gulf Coast Fish House
Table 10 at The Palazzo in Las Vegas
Tchoup Chop
ecipe
Our version of Emeril’s Kicked Up Pigs in a Blanket
Ingredients
1 lb Italian sausage links
2 package refrigerator crescent rolls
8 slices provolone cheese
Desired mustard for dipping
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a skillet cook sausage thoroughly. Set aside until cooled enough to handle and then cut each link into thirds. Roll out crescent rolls and form a rectangle of two triangle pieces for each piggy. Place a slice of cheese on top of each roll. Place a sausage piece on top of the cheese. Fold over the roll to cover the sausage.
Place the piggies on a baking sheet, seam down.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
