"celebrity chef" news and stories

This past Wednesday, the Careers through Culinary Arts Program celebrated its 20th anniversary at Chelsea Piers' Pier 60.

The Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) was created in 1990 by celebrated cookbook author and educator Richard Grausman. Recognizing that many underserved high school students could flourish in the restaurant and hospitality industry, Grausman began working to enrich school culinary programs at the teacher's request. C-CAP puts educators on par with industry professionals by arming them with tools and the knowledge of proper techniques and identifies and nurtures talented students.

C-CAP acts like a guidance counselor for these promising students, matching them to the proper culinary institutions based on their GPA, skills and financial capability. About 160 lucky prodigies are offered a scholarship to their school of choice each year, after proving their worth to judges and top chefs in the annual C-CAP Cooking Competition. In 2009, C-CAP generously awarded $3.2 million in scholarships. They also enable internship opportunities, job training and the ability to shadow high-profile chefs.

Watch our exclusive event red carpet video after the jump.

Wolfgang Puck. Photo: Lisa Romerein.

Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck has been sued over his attempt to develop the .food domain in cyberspace.

Minds+Machines, a company that had partnered with the Spago restaurant owner on the project, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Tuesday alleging breach of contract as well as tortious interference and fraud on the part of Puck's wife, Gelila. The suit demands $5 million from the Pucks.

Earlier this year, Wolfgang Puck and Gelila Puck had announced their partnership with the company to develop .food Internet addresses.

"This is a great way for the finest food enterprises to stand out from the crowd on the Internet," Puck said in June. "Owning a .FOOD address is like opening a business on the best street in any city in the world."

Humble pie is something chef Gordon Ramsay says "I'll be eating for breakfast for the rest of my life" after the "Hell's Kitchen" host apologized for a sexist rant at the Melbourne Good Food and Wine Show that led to a very public spat with a journalist.

Ramsay apologized Wednesday for comparing Australian TV newscaster Tracy Grimshaw to a pig. He said he knew he'd gone too far when his mother phoned him in a huff.

"When your mum rings you, and it's a bollocking down the telephone, then of course you start to get the picture," he told Grimshaw's program "A Current Affair."

Chef Gordon Ramsay is in hot water again thanks to his foul mouth.

On Saturday, the "Hell's Kitchen" host compared an Australian TV newscaster to a pig and allegedly insinuated she was a lesbian, according to reports. Ramsay made the comments during a cooking demonstration at the Melbourne Good Food and Wine Show, one day after an interview with the journalist, Tracy Grimshaw.

The Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun reported that Ramsay showed the crowd of 3,000 a photograph of a naked woman with "the features of a pig" and compared her to Grimshaw.

YouTube video of the incident shows Ramsay telling the crowd: "Look who I sat next to on the plane at Qantas," as the image of the naked pig woman and a photo of Miss Piggy are shown. "There she is, oh Jesus, I'm not going to tell you her name but it begins with T." He then says, "It's a joke."

But the ensuing firestorm prompted Grimshaw to defend herself Monday. "He says it was a joke. Well not to me or to anyone who cares about me," she said in a televised response. "Truly I wonder how many people would laugh if they were effectively described as 'an old ugly pig.' How is that funny exactly? And worse, it's not even witty."

See her response after the jump.

Scrambling for ideas for your Super Bowl party? Check out Cookstr's Top 10 Winning Super Bowl Recipes from some of America and Great Britain's favorite celebrity chefs. There's a Caribbean-influenced sweet and spicy wing recipe, made in a slow cooker, a crowd-pleasing bacon and chipotle truck stop chili, homemade crispy tortillas with guacamole from Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, roasted almonds with Southwestern spices, classic nachos, spicy meatballs whose leftovers can double as dinner Monday night, Indian-inspired chicken samosas with veggie yogurt dip, a garlicky take on classic spinach dip, a healthy chopped salad with feta and chickpeas, and Nigella Lawson's almost no-cook peanut butter squares. If you don't get a chance to make these before the big game, I'm pretty sure they'll taste just as good during March Madness.

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