Giada Brings Sex Appeal to the Food Network

She’s a native Italian, she’s gorgeous, she’s very warm and friendly on her show, and umm…there was something else – oh yeah I remember, I guess she does this thing called cooking?

Host of Food Network’s Everyday Italian, Giada De Laurentiis’s passion for food began with her roots. Her passion for food was sparked as a child as she learned to prepare recipes for her frequent family gatherings.

Born in Rome, Giada grew up in a large Italian family where the culture of food was a staple in and of itself. As the granddaughter of film producer Dino De Laurentiis, she learned to prepare many of the family’s recipes as well as other Italian specialties.

Giada’s passion for cooking flourished through professional training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where she specialized in both cuisine and pastry. Later, she moved to Los Angeles, where her experience included positions at the prestigious Ritz Carlton Fine Dining Room and Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in Beverly Hills.

In addition to Everyday Italian, as the host of Behind the Bash, Giada takes viewers behind the scenes of six-figure weddings, high-rollerVegas soirees and Hollywood movie premieres to see what goes into creating the world’s most spectacular parties.

Quick Questions for Giada

1. How is it possible to be a chef and be in such good shape?
I have to say that this is by far the question I am most frequently asked, and my answer is always the same: genetics, portion control and fresh ingredients. If you’ve ever seen my mother either on the show or in photographs, you’ll notice that she is quite petite, trim. So I have her to thank for getting me off to a good start. In addition, I’ve never been one to sit down to a meal with a large plate of food and eat every morsel until I was uncomfortably full. Rather, I graze – eating small portions of food all day long. And the ingredients are clean and fresh. Yes, I absolutely love chocolate, and I do eat it, but just a bite.

2. Why did you decide to become a chef?
I grew up in the kitchen, mostly with my grandfather, my mother and my aunt Raffy. My grandfather’s family used to own a pasta factory in Naples and they would go door-to-door selling their pasta. So his love of food came from his parents, which was then passed down to my mother and then again to me. Some of my best memories growing up are being in the kitchen with my family cooking. I also spent time at my grandfather Dino’s gourmet store, DDL Foodshow, where he brought in chefs from Naples to cook. I thought of them as rock stars. I loved being there, and that made me decide to become a chef.

3. Who are your inspirations?
Definitely my grandfather, my mom and my aunt Raffy. They’ve all taught me something about Italian cooking: tradition, simplicity and creativity, respectively.

4. Where did you train to be a chef?
Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

5. What pantry items do you consider essential in Italian cooking?
There aren’t a lot but having these will definitely help make a variety of dishes and ensure they’re delicious. They are: extra-virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, red pepper flakes, assorted dry pasta in various shapes, canned cannellini beans, canned Italian tuna packed in olive oil, marinara sauce (if you choose not to make your own – but make sure the first ingredient is tomatoes and not sugar!), dried herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme and herbes de Provence), vinegars (balsamic, red and white), onions (red, Spanish, Vidalia), and capers.

6. What is your favorite cuisine other than Italian?
Definitely Japanese. I love how clean and refined the dishes are. They’re simple in their ingredients but the flavors and presentation are typically amazing. Second would be Chinese.

7. Where do you film your show, “Everyday Italian?”
In Los Angeles, in a rented house.

8. Are the necklaces you normally wear on the show a single necklace or 3 separate?
The necklaces are 3 separate.

(Sources FoodNetwork, Giada)