# Actors who wrote good cookbooks



## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Vincent Price wrote a couple of high culture cookbooks in the 60s.   A Treasury of Great Recipes, Come into the Kitchen. Any others?

Vincent Schiavelli wrote Many Beautiful Things and won a James Beard Award. Magazine articles on cooking and allegedly some other books. But I can't find their names at the moment. i remember when he appeared on the Frugal Gourmet or was it with Nick Stellino. I guess I don't remember as well as I think I do.

Dom Delouise had Eat This Too, Eat This Again, Father Orsini's Italian Kitchen and probably some others.

I've never looked at any of these but I should see what I can find.

Who else?


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Several country singers have written cookbooks in the past few years. Most of them are said to be pretty good, but I haven't personally read any of them.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

Madhur Jaffrey has written lots of excellent cookery books - and is no mean actress, either!


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## the-boy-nurse (Aug 9, 2010)

Ishbel said:


> Madhur Jaffrey has written lots of excellent cookery books - and is no mean actress, either!


Didn't know she was an actress, love her books though. Particularly fond of "From Curries to Kebabs..." I like the infusion of anthropology, geography, and history.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

I remember her in many of the Merchant/Ivory films - and then saw her BBC TV programmes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhur_Jaffrey


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Daisy Martinez should be added to the list. She was in Scent of a Woman and Carlito's Way and a number of commercials. And she certainly knows how to cook.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Does that really count, Phil? I mean, if we count cooks who happen to appear in a film or two, we'd have to include all of Paula Deen's books as well.

Come to think of it, didn't James Beard have a couple of walk-ons too?

Just seems to me that on a thread like this acting (or at least entertaining) should be the person's primary career, and writing a cookbook or two the sideline.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

She started out as a model/actress, then went into cooking. I've not actually seen either of the movies she was in to know how big a role she had to judge really.


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## kcz (Dec 14, 2006)

I've wanted to try_ Morgan Freeman And Friends: Caribbean Cooking For A Cause. _The actors donated all the proceeds to relief efforts in Greneda after a hurricane there.

Tony Danza also wrote a cookbook but I'm not sure it qualifies as a "good" cookbook.

Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry have written several travel books and memoirs that include recipes.

And perennial film sidekick and bad guy, Vincent Schiavelli, who wrote several Italian cookbooks and got a James Beard award.


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## theunknowncook (Dec 17, 2009)

I like *Suzanne Somers*. She is an ardent health proponent. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif


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## bigaengus (Jul 27, 2010)

Dom Deluise- Eat This... It'll make you feel better!

My sides still hurt from reading the anecdotes.


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

Lindsay Wagner..... you know, The Bionic Woman.... she wrote a vegetarian/vegan cookbook. I cooked for her on a movie for about two months in the 90's.

My version of a vegetarian plate at the time was steamed veggies, brown rice and salad. That was not going to fly with her. I honed my veggie/vegan skills on her, she would come out to the catering truck and chat about what I was planning to make her for the day. In the end, she was happy with the food!

This also led to regular work with her when she landed the Ford campaign and any other studio work she did. She always requested my company to provide the location catering.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

Jane Asher, an English actress, owns a thriving cake business - and I used to use her children's birthday cake recipes and designs all the time when I was forced to come up with new ideas for my kids' parties!


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## susan brown (Apr 26, 2011)

I never knew actors were so good cooks...............................


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## gjcwalker (Jul 10, 2010)

I concur entirely about Vincent Price's _Treasury_. It is truly what it claims to be. I have a signed first edition, and I even use it periodically!


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Bin Laden .....  The last supper.

Charlie Sheen.....  Meals for uppers and downers.

Food Network.........  Cooking in High Heels

Staff of Chopped........How to judge a cooking contest

George Busch................Cooking with alcohol


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## easy paninis (Sep 17, 2011)

Well, I really like Sheryl Crow's book "If it Makes You Healthy", although she did it with a professional chef, so I guess it's not technically her cooking. And she's not an actress, but I wanted to mention it because I really like it.


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## peixeescorpiao (Jun 22, 2011)

people, in his last visit to Brasil Antonio Banderas did a good paella, live. But I don`t know if he wrote a book, and recently I found a movie with Gordon Ramsay, I think is* Love`s Recipes*.

There is a strange connection between both careers that I don`t how to explain very well, and sometimes I watch some Chefs on TV and don`t know exactly if they are Chefs or actors, or both.

It`s good to know about Vincent Price book, I saw him in Edward Scissor Hands.


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## margcata (Sep 18, 2011)

Though this post is dated Setember 2011, Gwyneth Paltrow´s New Cookbook, My Father´s Daughter ( family recipes ) ( I believe it is title ) could be a nice addition to a collection.

To my knowledge, ( Living in Madrid ), Antonio Banderas has never written a cookbook. However, he is a partner and investor in a Ribera de Duero Winery ( reds ), and the Tempranillo 100% grape variety is called Antabanderas. Addtly, he is involved in film directing and future tv projects and voiceovers. If he writes a cookbk, it would of be in shops here in Spanish and there aren´t any yet.


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## ferryman (Feb 20, 2010)

I love Sophia Loren's cookbook, *Recipes & Memories*. Along with very basic-but-great recipes, her life in film is also woven amidst the culinary. She is one great actress who insists on cooking while on-location; rumor has it she always had a kitchen included in her dressing trailer. *AND*, she was not above scrubbing the kitchen floor when it did not meet her approval for cleanliness!

I use her cookbook as an inspiration for classic but simple Italian dishes that I may want to alter to suit a particular ingredient or situation. I've owned this book for ten-plus years and this book has yet to disappoint me! Her risotto recipes can be easily adapted as the basic recipe is always the same; what you add is what makes the difference. I cook risotto in a pressure cooker and the results are superb.

For an easy tomato-based sauce, you must try her _puttanesca_ recipe as it is a fast way to dress pasta when time is "of the essence". By the way, _puttanesca_ means whore in Italian; "ladies of the evening" are always in a rush! ;-)

Bon appétit!


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## margcata (Sep 18, 2011)

Sounds fab. Is Sophia Loren's cookbook in print


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## x86bsd (Dec 9, 2011)

Not exactly sure they counts as "actors", but I remember fondly my "The sesame street cookbook" published in 1978. Probably my first cookbook


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## margcata (Sep 18, 2011)

Sounds like alot of fun ... 

Happy Holidays.


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## happy cooker (Mar 4, 2011)

Gwyneth Paltrow wrote a cookbook called "Notes from My Kitchen Table." I don't care for her, never seen her in anything and read a brief article about it in the Sunday Parade Magazine.

Nothing there tripped my trigger.

Here's a link for Paltrow fans for a review of her book: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/hom...gwyneth-paltrows-cookbook-20110602-1fhd8.html


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## happy cooker (Mar 4, 2011)

I've always liked Sophia Loren and didn't know until reading the posts that she had a cookbook. To answer Margcata's question, yes it's available. Here's the link:


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## margcata (Sep 18, 2011)

@Happy Cooker,

Thanks so much for website. 

Happy Holidays.

Margcata


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## margcata (Sep 18, 2011)

My Fathers Daughter is Paltrows latest cookbook which focuses on family meals for her 2 children and husband. When I browsed through the book at Fnac in Madrid,  there are a couple of interesting Pasta dishes, however, I had not purchased. I purchased a few others instead which I shall write about as soon as I return home.


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## happy cooker (Mar 4, 2011)

You're welcome - I ordered one and will have it tomorrow!  Italian food is my favorite and I've always though Sophia Loren is a class act and such a beautiful woman.  Can't wait to prepare some of her dishes.  The price was sure right - $6+ and free shipping!

Thank you & Happy Holidays to you and your family, too.

Happy


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