If you have to ask who Ted Allen is, then I think you may not be following your celebrity chef world as much as you should! Or maybe you’re new to this world…in any case, take a quick look at that photo and you should instantly recognize the face behind the name. I suppose the most common association would be Iron Chef America, for Ted Allen has been appearing as a judge regularly on that show.

So who is Ted Allen? How did he become famous? What does he do?

As I mentioned, he is a regular in Iron Chef America, but he actually started out as one of the guys in Queer Eye for a Straight Guy. He’s also made regular appearances in Top Chef. His career has skyrocketed like a firecracker on the 4th of July and he has now two shows on The Food Network: Food Detective and Chopped.

More than his busy schedule on the boob tube, Ted Allen also has his hands full with writing gigs. He has been contributing to the magazine Esquire. He used to be a food critic and editor.

He does have a lot on his plate, and he has degrees to back everything up too! He has a Bachelors in Psychology (Purdue University) PLUS a Masters in Journalism (New York University). Ted Allen is not just your run-of-the-mill food critic or cooking show judge – he adds a plus factor to everything he touches. For more of Ted Allen, watch out for those shows I mentioned above.

The much celebrated cooking show, Iron Chef America, is making history – it just filmed an episode at the White House, no less! The news is that First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed the cast and crew with open arms. She was even the one who introduced the secret ingredient at the beginning of the show, sidelining the Chairman. Another important aspect of the episode is that the food that the chefs prepared came from the vegetable garden of the White House. In addition to this, this is the first time ever that a First Lady is going to appear on a TV show. Talk about breaking new grounds!

CNN tells us more about the show, which is going to air in January:

The episode will feature White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford as well as celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse.
Cook-off judges include British chef Nigella Lawson, actress Jane Seymour and U.S. Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin.

During her appearance, Obama spoke about the influence that cooking shows like “Iron Chef” have on the American perception of healthy foods. “It’s going a long way to help change the way this country thinks about food,” she told the chefs.

So is this just a stunt for the TV show? I think it’s also more of an attempt on the part of the First Lady to get the word out about her efforts to promote healthy eating in the country. I say it’s a great way to attract the attention of people!

Photo courtesy of Diet Food Pyramid