Cat Cora

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Cat Cora

Cat Cora at the U.S. Navy Mobile Construction Battalion Gulfport, Mississippi
Born 1968 (age 39–40)
Jackson, Mississippi, United States
Cooking style Mediterranean (Greek), Fusion ("Hellasian"), Southern
Education Culinary Institute of America
Television show(s)

Catherine 'Cat' Cora[1] (born c. 1968)[2] is a professional chef best known for her featured role as an "Iron Chef" on the Food Network television show Iron Chef America.

[edit] Biography

Cora was raised in a Greek community in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. Her grandfather and father were both restaurateurs.[3] Cat was inspired by Julia Child, Barbara Tropp, M. F. K. Fisher, and her grandmother, Alma. Her cuisine is a blend of her Greek and Southern roots like her favorite dish Kota Kapama (Greek cinnamon chicken), and slow-cooked lamb shanks with feta salsa verde.

After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Physiology and Biology at the University of Southern Mississippi, she enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.[4] Cora has also appeared on Simplify Your Life. She was also a co-host of the Food Network show Kitchen Accomplished. She has also coined the term Hellasian, referring to a fusion cuisine combining Greek and Asian cooking. She is one of the few female Iron Chefs in its franchise history (including the Japanese version of Iron Chef). At the end of every Iron Chef competition, she shares a shot of ouzo with her team.

In January 2005, Cora co-founded Chefs For Humanity[5], which describes itself as "a grassroots coalition of chefs and culinary professionals guided by a mission to quickly be able to raise funds and provide resources for important emergency and humanitarian aid, nutritional education, and hunger-related initiatives throughout the world."[6] She has also participated in charity wine auctions held by Auction Napa Valley.[7]

In 2006, she was hired as a paid spokesperson for InSinkErator Evolution series garbage disposals.[8] In partnership with 3 Street Media, she is developing The Cat Cora Show, a talk show devoted to food and wine which she will produce and host.[9] Cora is also Executive Chef for Bon Appétit magazine[10] and a UNICEF spokesperson[11]. In March 2006, Cora was the Grand Marshal for Hal and Mal's St. Paddy's Parade in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi.[12]. She has purchased a Salvador Dalí print at auction, which she describes as her "first piece of true artwork."[13] Cora was a winner of the Bon Appétit American Food and Entertaining Awards for 2006. In 2008, she was awarded the Hero Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign.

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