{"id":23802,"date":"2021-05-20T18:22:57","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T18:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=23802"},"modified":"2021-05-20T22:07:03","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T22:07:03","slug":"padma-lakshmi-top-chef","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/padma-lakshmi-top-chef\/","title":{"rendered":"Padma Lakshmi Is Focused On The Cultural Expansion of \u2018Top Chef\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Padma (Photo: John Shearer\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Padma Lakshmi navigates the culinary industry<\/a> with a distinct eye and understanding of the importance of diversity. As an Emmy-nominated<\/a> food expert, author, television host, and producer, the Top Chef <\/em>judge and Taste the Nation<\/em> host is calling out the difficulties people of color face entering the industry. Chefs and the food industry have seen a complicated expansion during the pandemic, but also an extreme amount of loss with line cooks who have the highest risk of <\/span>mortality<\/span><\/a> during the COVID-19 pandemic \u2014 even more than healthcare workers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakshmi is <\/span>The Cut\u2019s<\/span><\/i> May cover star<\/a> and is referenced as a \u201csteadfast and guiding force in the food world.\u201d Culinary creative and chef Sohla El-Waylly<\/a> sat down with Lakshmi discussing the larger aspects of culinary reality shows and the growth in knowledge surrounding different food cultures. As the executive producer and host of the <\/span>Emmy Award-winning<\/span><\/a> cooking show <\/span>Top Chef <\/span><\/i>since 2006, Lakshmi has spent a lot of time focused on diversifying the popular competition show. \u201cRegarding <\/span>Top Chef<\/span><\/i>, this is something that we\u2019ve been working on steadily for several years now,\u201d she says. \u201cI think we\u2019ve done well with gender, and I think we have more to go with ethnicities and being inclusive holistically. But the problem is that you want people who can compete on the show. Otherwise, it does no good for us to create this cast, and then they just get knocked out right away. You can tell when somebody has had the mentorship, the experience, and the skill, the training they need to compete on the show. I would never go on <\/span>Top Chef<\/span><\/i>; I would rather die than be a contestant. It\u2019s a hard thing, and it is harder than it looks on TV.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sohla suggested the reason there is a lack of diversity is due to chefs of color not being afforded the same level of mentorship as their white counterparts, nor do they have access to the same level of support. Within the show, Lakshmi has put a lot of effort into expanding the types of dishes featured on the show. Even more so the importance of normalizing cuisine that isn\u2019t just of European and American cultures. \u201cThe casting is more diverse than ever, and I enjoyed how the challenges were as well. There was a Pan-African challenge, like right off the bat, and Indigenous foods,\u201d Sohla says. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to see Indigenous food represented outside of Thanksgiving, and that\u2019s also why people love <\/span>Taste the Nation<\/span><\/i> so much because you see the breadth of culture represented in food.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For ages, the culinary field has been dominated by white men. Among chefs in the US, 25.8% of them are women, while 70.3 percent are men. The most common race among chefs is white, which makes up 57.3% of all chefs. Padma Lakshmi works closely within <\/span>Top Chef<\/span><\/i> to expand the food cultures included in the show, which in return pushes the industry as a whole in the right direction. \u201cIt\u2019s about understanding how different communities do that when they\u2019re not allowed to celebrate often or haven\u2019t traditionally been allowed. It\u2019s looking at it from that end, of being an outsider. But I hope that new people in food get to bubble up, get their chance at that,\u201d she says. \u201cI hope that more women get to helm restaurants. I think the restaurant model needs to change; I think it\u2019s a complicated business to succeed in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29095,"featured_media":23803,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[38,16],"yoast_head":"\nPadma Lakshmi Is Focused On The Cultural Expansion of \u2018Top Chef\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Padma Lakshmi, an Emmy-nominated food expert, author, television host, and producer, the Top Chef judge and Taste the Nation host, is calling out the difficulties people of color face entering the industry.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/padma-lakshmi-top-chef\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Padma Lakshmi Is Focused On The Cultural 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