Ina Garten.Photo: Noam Galai/WireImage
Ina Gartenmay be a beloved cook now, but her skills didn’t start at a young age.
The cookbook author, 73, appeared on an episode of Al Roker’s new podcast,Cooking Up a Storm, where she revealed that despite her profession, she wasn’t allowed to be in the kitchen or cook while growing up.
“I don’t know, I think my mother just wanted me in my room and she wanted the kitchen to herself,” theBarefoot Contessastar said of her late mom, Florence. “She said, ‘It’s your job to study, it’s my job to cook. Get out of the kitchen.’ So I kind of always wanted to do it.”
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Garten — who marriedher husband Jeffreyin 1968 — explained to Roker that her love for food and cooking has always been rooted in her desire to connect with people.
“I think what I was craving as a child was connecting with people and I felt that if you feed them, they always show up and you have a good time together,” she explained on the show. “That was the connection I loved so, I kept doing it over and over again.”
Back in 2017, Garten joked that her career was “the ultimate rebellion” against her mother.
The Food Network star explained during anepisode of Katie Couric’s podcastNext Question, that along with banning Garten from cooking, her mother, who was a dietician, would even restrict foods from her diet.
“My mother was obsessive about food,” Garten said at the time. “So we weren’t allowed any carbs, we weren’t allowed any butter. We had margarine. And her idea of a great dessert was an apple.”
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Garten is currently working on a memoir about her life, which she announced is in the works in 2019 and set to be released in 2023.
“By finding a way to do what I love for a living – cooking – I’ve been fortunate to build a career that has not only been incredibly rewarding but has brought people together through the power of home cooking,” she said in a press release at the time. “I hope my book will inspire readers to find their own unique story.”
All seven episodes of Roker’s podcastCooking Up a Stormare available now. Each one features a different chef who walks listeners through their favorite Thanksgiving recipe.
source: people.com
