Les Dames d’Escoffier International to Present the 10th Biennial Grande Dame Award to Shirley Corriher of Atlanta

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LDEI), an organization of leading professional women in the fields of food, fine beverage and hospitality, will present its prestigious Grande Dame Award to Shirley Corriher of Atlanta. The award, which honors the lifetime achievement and contribution of a LDEI member to the culinary industry, is bestowed biennially and will be presented at a gala dinner during the LDEI annual conference in Philadelphia on October 3, 2009.

“When you have attended one of Shirley Corriher’s presentations or cooking classes, the experience is memorable. She has the extraordinary talent of providing listeners with a deep knowledge of food science mixed with the performance of a humorous entertainer.”

Commenting on her friendship with Corriher, Suzanne Brown, international president, LDEI, said, “When you have attended one of Shirley Corriher’s presentations or cooking classes, the experience is memorable. She has the extraordinary talent of providing listeners with a deep knowledge of food science mixed with the performance of a humorous entertainer.”

Shirley Corriher, one of the culinary world’s icons, is truly a unique woman. She is a noted food scientist, culinary authority, chef, and cookbook author and problem solver.

A well respected biological chemist, Corriher has a B.A. in chemistry from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she was also a biochemist at the University Medical School. She is classically trained in French culinary traditions.

She is well-known for appearances on the Food Network, PBS, NPR, network and cable television (including with Alton Brown, Sarah Moulton and Nathalie Dupree) and even the ‘campy’ Dinner and a Movie. She has written for all the culinary magazines.

Cookwise: the Secrets of Cooking Revealed, published in 1997, received a James Beard Award for Best Reference and Technique Book in 1998 and is considered a cookbook classic. Bakewise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking was published in 2008 and won a James Beard Award in 2009. Shirley received Bon Appetit’s ‘Best of the Best’ annual food and entertaining awards, for Best Cooking Teacher of the Year in 2001.

Both members of LDEI Atlanta, Brown said, “Shirley’s enthusiasm fills the room; she is one in a million.”