Emeril Lagasse
Emeril Lagasse
Emeril John Lagasse is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and cookbook author. He is a regional James Beard Award winner, known for his mastery of Creole and Cajun cuisine and his self-developed "New New Orleans" style. However, he is perhaps most notable for having appeared on a wide variety of cooking TV shows, including the long-running Food Network shows Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril. On those shows he pioneered several catchphrases he is associated with, including "Kick...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionChef
Date of Birth15 October 1959
CityFall River, MA
CountryUnited States of America
My mom is Portuguese, and my dad is French Canadian. The solid foundations of those heritages, cultures and techniques, melded with my education and classical background, lead to my style of cooking.
I never thought about what it was to have fresh milk, or to take milk and make it into cheese and that sort of thing.
After talking to people all day long in the restaurant, which I love to do, I look forward to being quiet at home.
Because of my restaurant schedule and other commitments I have, I shoot up to 12 shows in a week. It's taped live.
I am very fortunate that I have a large audience who watches my show, and who seem to love my show, and there's certainly a lot of people contact that comes from that. But that really hasn't changed what I still feel, or how I get up in the morning, or what motivates me to get to work.
I'm gonna do it MY way! The problem with cooking is too many rules. You don't have to have perfect squares. Who cares, you know? Like we got some architect judging us at breakfast!
I know this is a major catastrophe, but I work so far in advance. My things are planned, my people are planned, ... I don't know anyone out there who's been more rah-rah for the city of New Orleans in the last couple of weeks.
Spain has some of the richest culinary traditions and truly appreciates food that is simply prepared with top-notch ingredients.
I love to cook; that's my passion.
I moved to Louisiana to become the executive Chef at Commander's Place. And I must say I had some encouragement from friends such as Ella Brennan, the queen of the New Orleans's culinary set, and others. This was very flattering to a young man with a dream. I was only 26 years old.
One big reason I do what I do is there's no two days alike. It's not work for me. It's my life. My passion.
We'll be going to the fish market and a farmer's market this afternoon to get what we need to make and eat dinner as a family. I'm trying to expose my kids to going to a farmers market or the fish market and learning what that's all about.
We're setting up an urban farm for kids on more than 20 acres in New Orleans. We want to make this a world-class educational center for the community.
When I first decided to open a restaurant, I was turned down by several banks. It was the late 80's and many restaurants were failing. I refused to give up because I knew I had a good concept.