What Woman Most Informed Your Cooking Outlook?

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Friday, March 27th, 2009

The Women’s Show is coming to town next weekend, and we’ve got a bunch of tickets to give away (corporate sponsorship has its privileges).

A quick scan of the chefs participating in the Cooking Stage–an interactive showcase tapping the talents of local toques like Liam LaCivita of The Liberty Tavern, Aaron McCloud of Vintage 50, Chris Clime of PassionFish, Carmen Piazza of Extra Virgin and Alison Swope of M&S Grill–obliterates the outdated stereotype of cooking being strictly women’s work.

But it did get us thinking about the lovely ladies that helped shape our own culinary worldview.

The question is: what iconic female would be at the top of your list?

Alice Waters?

(Photo: Evan Sung)

Julia Child?

(Photo: Arnold Newman)

Aunt Jemima?

(Image: FDA)

Your gray-haired granny?

(Did anyone actually expect to see their sweet, grinning meemaw in this spot? That would’ve been WAY creepy.)

So, let us in on what lady helped bring the kitchen alive in your life in the comments below, and we will see about getting you into the Women’s Show free of charge.

But don’t just spit out a name and some ho-hum praise.

We want details: lovingly prepared birthday meals you’ll never forget, bizarro baking catastrophes that have become the stuff of family lore, invaluable cooking tips that have saved countless meals/your marriage from utter ruin. Well, you get the idea.

We’ll reward the 10 most interesting responses (be they heartfelt, hilarious or horrific) with a pair of passes to the upcoming show.

But you’ve got to reply by noon on Tuesday, March 31 to qualify.

–Warren Rojas

Tags: Aaron McCloud, Alice Waters, Alison Swope, Aunt Jemima, baking, Carmen Piazza, Chris Clime, cooking, Extra Virgin, Gut Check, Julia Child, Liam LaCivita, M&S Grill, Northern Virginia Magazine, PassionFish, The Liberty Tavern, Vintage 50, Warren Rojas, Women's Show of Northern Virginia