Female Iron Chef, Cat Cora

While Chef Cat Cora has become most popularly known for her champion role on Iron Chef America, this Greek/Mediterranean chef has already carved a deep and notorious niche for herself in the culinary world. She is Chef, author and now TV personality.

What type of culinary education led her to become the first female Iron Chef America?

Cora’s Iron Chef Training

Chef Cat Cora was born in Mississippi and grew up in the restaurant industry. Combine her Greek national heritage with her southern Mississippi roots and the resulting cuisine could be nothing but unique. Regardless of her attachment to any culinary upbringing she pursued a traditional college degree in Exercise Physiology. She followed this with a degree at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York’s Hyde Park. This particular school has a string of celebrity chef alumni to its name.

After this her career and education continued with a series of chef jobs in New York under the guidance of a couple of notable chefs, Anne Rozensweig and Larry Forgione. She also made a career stopover in France where she was fortunate to work with Roger Verge, chef/owner Le Moulin de Mougins, and Georges Blanc, chef/owner of Georges Blanc restaurant.

Prior to her invite to Iron Chef America—a true Food Network program—Chef Cora was part of the SWAT team that headed up FN’s Kitchen Accomplished.

Cat Cora Chefs for Humanity

Chefs for Humanity, the charity organization Chef Cora founded, was developed to provide a wide variety of charity and educational programs all within a food-centric mission. For example, Chefs for Humanity provides local outreach programs where necessary that help families learn about childhood nutrition. But the group also raises funds through its chef corps that helps battle hunger around the world.

Cora as Executive Chef

In 2005, when Cora was invited to join Iron Chef America, she had been well-known enough throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as Executive Chef of Postino in Lafayette.

One of Chef Cora’s mightier career moments came when she was selected to be Executive Chef of culinary magazine Bon Apetit. She has also authored a number of her own cookbooks, including Cooking from the Hip.