History

KEN HOM:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION

At 60, Ken Hom, who resides in France and in Thailand but travels tirelessly all over the world, continues to appear regularly as celebrity chef, write new books and keep an involvement with restaurants worldwide. In June 2009 he was awarded with an honorary OBE for services to culinary arts, recognising his achievements and the impressive social and historical impact he has made on the way the UK has adopted Chinese cuisine, which has now become one of the nations favourites. In September 2007, he was awarded with an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes University for his outstanding success within the international food world and to recognise him as one of the world's most notable chefs with a highly successful career in the media, as an entrepreneur and as a supporter of charity and education. He was then appointed as Founding Patron of Oxford Gastronomica, the Centre for Food, Drink and Culture at Oxford Brookes University.

Since September 2008, he has become an ambassador for Action Against Hunger, the humanitarian charity which works in over 40 countries helping families to feed their children and build a sustainable life. www.aahuk.org

Widely regarded as one the world's greatest authorities on oriental cooking, he is also the presenter of a documentary on the origins of noodles, The Noodle Road. This new five part documentary series for KBS (Korean Broadcasting Service) was a huge success when broadcasted in early 2009 and the series has now been sold to over 25 countries around the world. In addition, he is involved in developing a number of food and drink concepts in Thailand with the Bandara Hotel Group. His first restaurant, Maison Chin in Bangkok's Bandara Hotel, opened in October 2008, has already been called the best new modern Asian cuisineand has been awarded by Thailand Tatler as one of Thailand Best Restaurants 2009.

Ken was born in Tucson, Arizona where his Cantonese parents lived after emigrating to American in the 1920's. Moving to Chicago, as he grew up he found American food unpalatable compared to his mother's cooking so she used to send him to school with a flask of hot rice and stir-fried vegetables.

Aged 11, he went to work in his uncle's restaurant, where he earned the equivalent of 30 pence per day. At 20 he headed off for California to study art history and French history. To pay for his university fees he started to give cookery lessons and quickly realised that this was where his heart really lay - especially with his native Chinese cuisine. He soon started teaching first in his home, and then at the California Culinary Academy (a school for professional chefs in San Francisco). He also travelled to France and Italy to explore gastronomy further.

His first book on Chinese cookery techniques was published in 1981 to much acclaim and then the New York Times published a major profile on him. Ken still regards the book and the NY Times article as one of the turning points in his career. From there, he landed his first television series in 1984  Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery which bore the same title as the book that many still regard as the bible. The show was an instant hit and was transmitted throughout the world. Foolproof Chinese Cookery,published in 1984, had a first printing of a then record breaking 350,000 copies. In 2009, the BBC celebrated the 25th anniversary of the book, which continues to sell after more than two decades in print. Since that first success, Ken Hom he has written 23 books, many translated in more than 12 languages, and has presented a further four television series Hot Chefs, Ken Hom's Hot Wok, Ken Hom's Foolproof Chinese Cookery, and Travels with a Hot Wok , which attracted millions of viewers. www.kenhom.com

His interests include travel, wine, cycling, British TV, reading and football events (he is a Manchester United supporter).

AWARDS AND HONOURS

• Honorary OBE by HM The Queen for services to the culinary arts 2009
• Honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes University 2007
• Appointed Founding Patron of Oxford Gastronomica: the Centre for Food, Drink and Culture 2007
• Honorary Chairperson of The Institute for the Advancement of the Science & Art of Chinese Cuisine 1993
• Inducted in the prestigious  Who of Food and Beverage in America as recognition of significant and lasting achievement in the culinary industry, 1990

KEN HOM:
ASSOCIATION WITH CELEBRITIES

Ken Hom has cooked for presidents, prime ministers and many celebrities.

SHOWBIZ CELEBRITIES

Tina Turner, Elton John, Danny Kaye, Joanna Lumley, Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G), Prunella Scales, Timothy West, Terry Wogan, June Whitfield, Terry Wake, Angus Deayton, Sir Alex Ferguson, Mel Smith, Rowan Atkinson, Richard Curtis, Emma Freud, John Cleese, Fiona Miller, Jancis Robinson, Pierre Herm, Julia Child - James Beard -Craig Claiborne (well known American foodies) Nick Hancock, Mariella Frostrup, Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Andy Cole, Katherine Helmond, Armistead Maupin, Ryan Giggs, Milos Forman, Alain-Dominique Perrin,La Toya Jackson.

PRESIDENTS, PRIME MINISTERS AND CHANCELLORS

Prime Minister Tony Blair of the UK
President Jacques Chirac of France
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin of France
President Jiang Zemin of China
Prime Minister Zhu Rongji of China
President Lee Teng-hui of Taiwan
President Cory Aquino of Philippines
Chancellor Helmut Kohl of Germany
President Johannes Rau of Germany
Prime Minister Wim Kok of The Netherlands
Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai of Thailand
Prof Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of ltaly
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai Vietnam
President of the E U Commission Jacques Santer
President of the E U Commission
Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland
Prime Minister Constantinos Simitis Greece
Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir bin Mohammed
Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen of Finland
Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen of Denmark
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan
Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene of Belgium
Prime Minister Viktor Klima of Austria
Prime Minister Goh Chol Tong of Singapore
Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei
Prime Minister Goran Persson of Sweden
Prime Minister Tony Blair
President of Indonesia Dr B J Habibie
Prime Minister of Spain Don Jose Maria Aznar Lopez
President of Korea Kim Dae-jung
Prime Minister of Portugal Eng Antonio Manuel de Oliveira Guterres
Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Donald Tsang

PERSONALITIES

Cherie Blair (QC)
Rupert Murdoch (media mogul)
Nicolas Lander (food and drink correspondent for the Financial Times and BA magazine High Life)
Chris Patten (last governor of Hong Kong and former EU Commissioner)
Alaistair Campbell (British journalist, broadcaster and author)
Jacques Pepin (award winning French chef, tv personality and author, working in the US)
Fabien Galtier (sports personality)
David Beckam (sports personality)
Dame Pauline Neville-Jones (chairs theConservative Party Group on National and International Security)

KEN HOM:
MILESTONES

• 1949 Born of Chinese immigrant parents in Tucson, Arizona
• 1960 Work in his uncle restaurant in Chicago Chinatown
• 1970 Moved to study in Berkeley, California
• 1974 First cookery classes
• 1978 Began teaching at the California Culinary Academy (a school for professional chefs in San Francisco)
• 1981 Two page profile in the New York Times
• First cookery book published by Simon & Schuster
• 1983 Commissioned by BBC-TV for major prime time series
• 1984 BBC-TV series launched to wide acclaim and first printing for the book is a record breaking 350,000 copies
• 1986 Ken Hom wok is launched
• 1995 Ken Hom Hot Wok BBC-TV series launched with another bestseller staying at No. 1 for twenty weeks
• 1998 Ken Hom Travels with a Hot wok BBC-TV series with another bestseller
• 1999 Ken Hom Easy Family Dishes: A Memoir with Recipes wins the Andre Simon Memorial Book of Year 1998 award
• 2000 Ken Hom Foolproof Chinese Cookery series is launched
• 2006 Ken Hom wok sales reaches over 6 million in over 60 countries worldwide
• 2007 Ken Hom awarded honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes University in recognition of his outstanding success within the international food world

KEN HOM:
CHARITY WORK

NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) - Ken hosted 2 Chinese New Year banquets with Cherie Blair (one of their patrons) to do fundraising for them - each raised over 30,000.

Barnados - Ken hosted a fund raiser with Cherie Blair, another children's charity for which Cherie is a patron.

Shado - Ken hosted a fund raiser with Cherie Blair of which she is a patron, we did a fund raiser forChinese New YearinLiverpool (a charity to help families of drug addicts and other unfortunate addicts).

ROC (Research into Ovarian Cancer) - Ken hosted a fund raiser for this at Imperial City restaurant.

Action AgainstHunger - Ken hosted a Chinese New Year Dinner benefit for the victims of the Tsunami disaster which raised over £33,000 net for the evening - Jan2005.

Another charity benefit for Action Against Hunger raised over £20,000 in May 2006.

He has been an Action Against Hunger Ambassador for this charity for more than three years.

Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow - Ken was asked to do this in Chinese New Year and hosted an evening at a big centre in Glasgow.

Jersey Hospice - Ken hosted two fund raisers in consecutive Chinese New Year dinners in Jersey

The Elizabeth Hardie Ferguson Charitable Trust. Launch Dinner for Alex Ferguson private charity  he has also raised funds for the Trust over the years through many other events.

The above are the main charities. Ken has hosted events for many smaller charities such as the Islington Chinese Association and The Newcastle Chinese Association, and makes small but regular donations of his books to countless charities and events.

Ken has also recorded a message to raise awareness for the Environmental Justice Foundation which is exposing the exploitation of workers in the tiger prawn industry in Bangladesh and other Eastern prawn farms, as well as recording a message in support of blind children.

KEN HOM:
CONSULTANCIES AND PROMOTIONS

IN THE AIR

Cathay Pacific Airlines (menu advisor for in-flight meals in all classes) (1990-1992)

ON LAND - Food Promotions at hotels world-wide, including:

The Oriental, Bangkok (8 promotions)
The Peninsula, Hong Kong
The Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco (Silks for 2 years)
The Hilton, Singapore
The Regent, Auckland (2 promotions)
The Langham Hilton, London (2 promotions)
The Merrion, Dublin (2 promotions)
The Goodwood Park, Singapore (2 promotions)
Chewton Glen, Hampshire, England
Sherwood, Taipei, Taiwan
The Landmark, London (1 year)
The Regent, London (1 year)
The Shilla, South Korea (2 promotions)
The Regent, Sydney (2 promotions)
Burj al Arab, Dubai
The Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok
Sandy Lane, Barbados
The Boathouse, Phuket
Le Touessrok, Mauritius
The Orient-Express train in the UK

ON THE SEA

The QE2 (2 promotions)
The Regent Seven Seas Voyager
The Royal Viking
The Regent Seven Seas Navigator

NOBLE HOUSE LEISURE (UK), GROUP CONSULTANT CHEF

(Director of previous restaurant group: Oriental Restaurants)
1990-2006
Sri Siam City
Sri Siam Soho
Sri Thai
Gatwick Oriental
Pacific Oriental
Imperial City, London
Sri Nam
Including seven Yellow River Caf

MAISON CHIN RESTAURANT IN BANGKOK, CONSULTANT CHEF

2008-present

SPECIAL DINNERS AND LAUNCHES

Chateau Suduiraut
Chateau Yquem (150^th anniversary of the classification Bordeaux wines)
Chateau La Louvire (Vin Expo)
Krug Champagne (launch of 1990 vintage)