Interviews | Kat Kinsman: Writer & Editor

Paula Deen may be television royalty, but the queen of Southern cuisine wasn’t born with a slew of books, a suite of restaurants, a trio of TV shows or a line of gourmet goodies to her name. In fact, at age 40, the Emmy-winning cook was a struggling, single mother who not only hadn’t yet started down her career path — she was afraid to even walk out her front door. She and her husband Michael Groover sat down for a video interview with me to share the story of her remarkable journey and his delicious life with Paula Deen.

AOL Food: Who taught you how to love food?

Paula Deen: I don’t know if I can say one person that taught me the love of food. My Daddy certainly loved food. My grandmother certainly loved food. She loved food so much that that was she and my grandfather’s business. They were in the food and lodging business, so food was going on all the time. My mother was a fabulous cook and my daddy over-served himself many, many, many times on my mother’s cooking. My brother loves to eat so I’d almost say it’s a family affair.
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I got a chance to sit down with the legendary chef Marco Pierre White. Read the entire interview here, and grab a little nibble below.

Q & A with Marco Pierre White, Host of ‘The Chopping Block’ and ‘Hell’s Kitchen (UK)’

Marco Pierre White The legendary chef and television host talks to AOL Food about dealing with unruly diners, his famous protégés and why he’s stopped swearing.

He’s been called the greatest chef in the world, but you’ll never have a chance to taste his food. Chef Marco Pierre White earned three ground-breaking Michelin stars — and notoriety for his white-hot temper — before walking away from it all at the height of his career. White spoke with AOL Food about his single-minded pursuit of culinary perfection, his most notorious protégé, and the celebrity chef he calls “the gastronomic king of America.”

AOL: What made you want to become a chef?

Marco Pierre White: When I was a boy of 16, I left school. My dad put forward the idea of becoming a chef like himself, like my grandfather. He gave me 50p which took me to Harrogate and back on the bus. He told me to knock on the back door of hotels and ask to see the chef. The first hotel I came across was the Hotel St. George on Ripon Road. I played my Sunday best, and I started work at 7:30 in the morning. I’ve got to say, it was the toughest day of my life.
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