Emeril Lagasse

By: Rebekah Cianfaglione

Emeril’s Infanthood

Emeril Lagasse was born on October 15, 1959, and still lives to this day.

He was raised in the small town of Fall River Massachusetts. His mother, Hilda, is Portuguese, and his father, Emeril Jr., is French-Canadian.

The Late Teens

As a teen, Emeril worked in a local Portuguese bakery, where he quickly learned to appreciate, and love cooking.

In 1973, he was enrolled in the culinary arts program at Diman Vocation High, and learned

even more about his beloved passion. During his time there, he was a very talented

percussionist, and lead the high school drum-squad; also playing in many carnivals, and religious festivities.

Collage Time!

After graduating high school, Emeril was offered a full scholarship at New England conservatory of Music.

But, as impressed as he was, he turned them down, and went to Johnson and Wales University in Providence Rhode Island to pursue his long-lived dream of becoming a professional chef

To pay for his schooling, he worked, again, at a local restaurant, where he met a fellow student, and later his first wife: Elizabeth Keif.

Ahh, the Married Life.

Emeril and his new beloved, Elizabeth, got married in Oct. 1978, some months after he finished his courses

Emeril finished of his schooling in Paris, and Lyon, France, before he returned with his wife to the U.S., and spent a few years working in fancy restaurants through out the North East.

The Becoming of Adulthood

Lagasse later continued to replace a man named Paul Prudhomme at New Orleans restaurant, Commander’s Palace as executive Chef.

It being a demanding position, he worked 18 hours a day; and putting difficulty in his marriage.

So when the two divorced, and went their separate ways, Elizabeth took their two children, and went back home to Massachusetts.

Moving On…

While getting over his rough times, he continued worked at Commander’s Palace for seven years

Then, deciding to official move on, he opened his first restaurant, Emeril’s, in 1990,which is located in New Orleans’ undeveloped warehouse district. It includes tastes of French, Spanish, Caribbean, Asian, and, his native, Portuguese cuisine.

Starting to Hit Success.

In 1992, Lagasse was riding on the heels of success, with well received comments by patrons and critics, and Emeril’s named Best New Restaurant by Enquire magazine.

He opened a second establishment called NOLA (acronym for New Orleans, Louisiana). With its rustic cuisine and ornate décor, it got a good reputation too.

Getting Creative

Within the following year, Emeril wrote his first book, called, Emeril’s New, New Orleans Cooking, which started showing his new Creole cuisine.

A New Discovery!!

Later on in the year, in 1993, the Food Network noticed Emeril, and started him off with two different shows. How to Boil Water, and Emeril and Friends.

(a picture of E&F.)

Well, Try, Try Again

Even though his first television shows didn’t work out to well, the Food Network decided to give it a second chance.

In 1995, They started a new Series, Essence of Emeril. The viewers, absolutely loved it, and Time Magazine classified it as one of the best 10 shows on T.V.

As Good as it Gets!!

The next chapter in Lagasse’s life was a new T.V. show called Emeril Live!. He has his own 4-person band, a live audience, and some famous personal catch phrases. If you watch his show, you’ll hear things like, Bam!, or, Kick it up a Notch!

He has become a well-known celebrity, which is not at all common for a professional chef.

Even Better than Before!

The popularity of his new show led the Food Network to taking everything to the next level.

New sets were created in Chicago, and Philadelphia, literally, area-sized crowds came.

The Books.

Emeril has written many books. In 1996, Louisiana: Real & Rustic was published.

Emeril’s Creole Christmas was his second book, that was published in 1997.

Then in 1998,Emeril’s T.V. Dinners came out. Then, until this year, Every day’s a party was

his last published in 2000. A few months ago, Emeril released his latest

book, 20-40-60.

Good Publicity

Even from his early career, Lagasse has been on numerous episodes of Good Morning America.

Showing quick and very easy dishes to make, while incorporating his special flair, Emeril has pleased many viewers of the show.

Yes, its Real

Because of the great success that Emeril Live, has shown, the Food Network signed Mr. Emeril Lagasse to a five year multi-million deal, for filming 90 episodes a year.

Personal Gain

Now in the middle of his glorious career, Emeril has six establishments of his restaurant.

Spread out all over the country, he can share his love for food on the screen, and one on one when you let that first bite of Emeril cuisine melt on your taste buds.

It just Keeps Getting Bigger.

Now, if you were to walk into the cooking department of a store, you could find Emerilware. Yep, that’s right. Emeril Lagasse has his own cookware now, too.

So while you watch his show, get out the ingredients for his main course of the day, you can also pull out his pan to cook it all in.

Cool Videos!

For more action on Emeril, go to the following web addresses----

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvazQUYG1kE&NR1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMUDohpjW648feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJubEqu7E8feature=related

Bibliography

http://www.biography.com/articles/Emeril-Lagasse-9542380

www.google.com/imageswww.youtube.com ---- the three

Emeril Lagasse videos