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| Rachael Ray's Biography |
Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968 in Glens
Falls, New York) is an Emmy-winning television
personality and author, who currently hosts the syndicated
series Rachael Ray. In addition, she currently hosts four
different programs on cable television's Food Network (30
Minute Meals, $40 a Day, Inside Dish, and Rachael Ray's
Tasty Travels), and has authored a series of cookbooks based
on the 30 Minute Meals concept.
Personal life
Ray's family is Sicilian-American on her mother's side and
French-American on her father's side. Her family owned a
restaurant on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while her mother
managed restaurants in upstate New York. She grew up in Lake
George, New York. Her first job was at the candy counter at
Macy's in New York City, where she eventually managed the
fresh foods department. She later helped open Agata &
Valentina, a New York City market. Moving back to upstate
New York, Ray managed Mister Brown's Pub at The Sagamore, a
famous hotel on Lake George. From there, she became a buyer
and chef at Cowan & Lobel, a gourmet market in suburban
Albany. Ray credits the concept of 30 Minute Meals to her
experience working at the store where she met people
reluctant to cook. She began teaching a cooking course there
showing people how to make meals in thirty minutes or less.
With the success of her "30 Minute Meals" classes, WRGB, the
local CBS TV affiliate, asked her to appear in a weekly
segment on their newscasts. This, along with a public radio
appearance and the publication of her first book, led to a
Today Show spot and her first Food Network contract in 2001.
She also appeared in a few commercials for Schenectady-based
grocery chain Price Chopper, which stocks all her books at
their stores and retains her as an occasional spokesperson.
Ray owns homes in Lake Luzerne, New York and Manhattan's
Greenwich Village. On September 24, 2005 in Montalcino,
Tuscany, Italy, Ray married John Cusimano, a lawyer and
member of the band The Cringe. In an Internet survey, the
fan-favorite cook on the Food Network was unanimously voted
as Rachael Ray
Cooking
Ray teaches simple recipes that she claims can be prepared
in 30 minutes or less. Like many cooks, she uses garlic and
chicken stock as simple ways to boost flavors. She often
uses recipes that include her Italian, French, and American
heritage, and Ray emphasizes using fresh herbs whenever
possible. She states that measuring "takes away from the
creative, hands-on process of cooking" and instead favors
approximations such as "half a palmful" and "eyeball it." On
her television programs she has introduced catchphrases such
as "E.V.O.O." (extra-virgin olive oil), "yum-o," "so
delish," "G.B." (garbage bowl)," spoonula, stoup (cross
between a soup and stew) and "how good is THAT?" She often
refers to sandwiches as "sammies."
Most trusted kitchen tool is the can opener. Coincides with
her simple "open a can" style of cooking.
She claims to dislike baking desserts and to be notorious
for burning bread under the broiler. Ray says her Sicilian
maternal grandfather, Emmanuel Scuderi, served as a strong
influence on her cooking. To critics of her shortcut
techniques, Ray responds, "I have no formal anything. I'm
completely unqualified for any job I've ever had."
Media
Ray launched her own magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray in
conjunction with Reader's Digest. The magazine premiered on
October 25, 2005 and will feature seven issues in 2006. It
will increase to ten issues in 2007.
In addition to her television hosting and cookbooks, Ray has
endorsed products for Price Chopper supermarkets and Burger
King, and has developed her own line of cookware and
cutlery. When she endorsed Wüsthof's, sales rose
dramatically, and she now endorses her own line of santoku
knives. In 2003, she posed for the men's magazine FHM. The
New York Times wrote, "The shots feature Ray in short-shorts
with an exposed midriff, licking chocolate off a big wooden
spoon, eating a strawberry and sitting in a sink, laughing
as suds cascade down her curvaceous thighs." One year later
she was named number 92 on "FHM-US's 100 Sexiest Women
2004". Most recently, she was featured in "FHM-US's 100
Sexiest Women 2006," ranking at #71.
In late 2005 Ray signed a deal with Oprah Winfrey and King
World Productions to host a syndicated daytime TV talk show.
The show, Rachael Ray premiered on September 18, 2006.
Recurrent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show were used to
fuel the launch, much like Dr. Phil's show was spun off
based on his own frequent visits to Oprah. The show tapes in
New York City, and Ray will continue to appear on the Food
Network. Ray said, in coordination with the syndication
announcement, "People know me for my love of food, but I
have so much more I want to share." On the September 19th
episode of The Insider, host Lara Spencer characterized the
ratings for the show as "a monster hit".
In addition to Oprah, Ray has appeared on The View, The
Today Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show
with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and
Larry King Live.
In 2006, Ray's 30 Minute Meals received an Emmy Award for
Outstanding Service Show. Ray was also nominated for
Outstanding Service Show Host, but lost to Suze Orman.
Ray was also named one of Time magazine's 100 most
influential people of 2006. She was nominated by fellow Food
Network star Mario Batali.
According to Forbes magazine, Ray earns about $6 million per
year from her books and television shows (excluding her new
show, Rachael Ray).
On November 12, 2006 Mario Batali and Rachael defeated the
team of Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis on an episode of
the program Iron Chef America which featured the use of
cranberries as the secret ingredient.
In November 2006, Ray became a spokesperson for Nabisco
crackers. She appears in commercials and on boxes for the
many Nabisco products. Many boxes with Ray's picture have
recipes written by her.
The Oxford American College Dictionary will add the term
EVOO, short for Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which Rachael Ray
has helped popularize.
Criticisms
Some have criticized Ray's perky demeanor as well as her
lack of a formal chef's education and perceived
unseriousness about cooking. For example, celebrity chef and
Travel Channel personality Anthony Bourdain has referred to
her as a "bobblehead".
In a Slate article defending Ray, Jill Hunter Pellettieri
summarized some of these criticisms by writing:
"Ray's ditzy demeanor also makes her easy to dismiss. She
giggles off-cue and constantly praises her own cooking.
"Smells awesome already!" she says, making her Snapper in a
Snap. "I am so psyched about that." She employs kitschy
abbreviations—EVOO means "extra virgin olive oil" — and
gives her menus corny nicknames like
You-Won't-Be-Single-for-Long Vodka Cream Pasta. The
acknowledgments in her $40 a Day cookbook read like a
high-school yearbook: "Don …You are the tallest man we've
ever had on crew, and yet you pack the smallest bag—ever!
Cool." And it didn't boost her credibility when she posed
for pinup shots in FHM. (One featured Ray licking chocolate
off a spoon.) When the magazine hit newsstands, she said, "I
think it is kinda cool for someone who is goofy, and a cook,
just a normal person to be thought of in that way".
The 30 Minute Meals concept has been criticized because
Ray doesn't account for certain preparation times in the
signature half-hour cooking time. Many of these
preparations, such as pre-washing herbs and vegetables, are
not meal-specific, and Ray counsels they should be done
ahead of time. In the Slate article that otherwise mostly
complimented her, author Pellettieri went through several of
Ray's "30 Minute Meals" recipes and was unable to complete
any meal in under half an hour.
Ray has indicated on her cooking show that it may take
others over 30 minutes but the point being that it's still
fast and simple.
The New York Times has noted that one of the prices of her
popularity has been an "anti-fan site," a LiveJournal page
titled "Rachael Ray Sucks." The page's creator acknowledges
that it was created partially in jest, and Ray herself has
laughed it off. |
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