Rachel Khoo

Rachel Khoo (born 28 August 1980[1][2]) is a British cook, writer and broadcaster, with her own BBC and Food Network television cooking series. She is also founder and editor-in-chief of online lifestyle magazine Khoollect.[3]

Rachel Khoo
Born (1980-08-28) 28 August 1980
Croydon, South London, England
Alma materCentral Saint Martin's College of Art and Design
Occupation
  • Cook
  • Writer
  • Broadcaster
Years active2010–present
Television
  • The Little Paris Kitchen: Cooking with Rachel Khoo
  • Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook: London
  • Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook: Cosmopolitan Cook
  • Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook: Melbourne
  • Rachel Khoo My Swedish Kitchen
  • Zumbo’s Just Desserts
  • Rachel Khoo's Simple Pleasures


Spouse(s)Robert Wiktorin
Children2
Websitewww.rachelkhoo.com

Early life

Khoo was born in Croydon, South London. She has a younger brother named Michael and attended primary school in Bromley.[4] Her paternal family were Chinese immigrants to Malaysia and were part of the Khoo Kongsi clanhouse located in George Town, Penang. Her father is Malaysian Chinese and emigrated from Ipoh, Perak to the UK at aged 16 in 1968. He later met and married her mother, an Austrian native.[5] When she was 12, her father's job in IT took the family to Bavaria, where they lived in the countryside outside Munich for four years. They returned to the UK when Rachel was 16.[6][7][8][9] She attended Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, and earned a degree in art and design.[8]

Career

Early career

After graduating from university, Khoo initially worked in public relations for the shirt-maker Thomas Pink for two years.[5] Looking for "adventure" in her life and with no knowledge of French, she quit her job at Thomas Pink and undertook a three-month patisserie course at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris in 2006. While living in Paris, she worked part-time as an au pair and sold perfume at the upscale department store, Printemps. After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, she worked at La Cocotte, a Parisian cookbook store and café, where she ran baking workshops and served as the store's pastry chef .[1]

In 2010, Khoo received her first publishing deal for two French-language cookery books: Barres à céreales, muesli et granola maison and Pâtes à tartiner which were published by Marabout. Both of these were later translated into English as Rachel Khoo's Muesli and Granola, and Rachel Khoo's Sweet and Savory Pâtés. During this time, she also worked briefly in Germany as a freelancer for Volkswagen where she ran food-related events.[10]

After successfully pitching UK publishers her concept for a new cookbook, Khoo opened a small restaurant to test recipes for her first English-language cookbook, The Little Paris Kitchen. Fit for just two diners at a time, she prepared and served food out of her Paris flat in the Belleville neighbourhood. Using social media to advertise the restaurant, she quickly attracted a large fan base.[11] Later, The Little Paris Kitchen: Cooking with Rachel Khoo, was commissioned by the BBC as her first TV series. Her restaurant closed before production began on the series. The six episode series was filmed in Khoo's Paris kitchen and around the city. It began airing on British TV on 19 March 2012. Eventually, the series was aired in international markets.[12][13] The book, The Little Paris Kitchen, was released in 2012. It has been translated into several languages. Both the cookbook and television series received critical and commercial acclaim. The cookbook became a bestseller, selling more than 120,000 copies. The television series was watched by over 1.5 million viewers in the UK.[14]

2013 to 2016

Khoo released her second English-language cookbook, My Little French Kitchen, chronicling her travels across France, in September 2013, which was published by Michael Joseph. My Little French Kitchen sold upwards of 1,000 copies a week.[14] In 2014, she completed filming two new cooking series for BBC Worldwide: Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook: London and Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook: Cosmopolitan Cook. Both series aired in the UK and internationally. In Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook: Cosmopolitan Cook, she visited various European and Eurasian cities, including Stockholm and Istanbul, and cooked dishes inspired by her travels.[15] Her cookbook, Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook, was released in the UK on 12 February 2015.[16] In November 2014, she travelled to Malaysia to film an episode of the series A Cook Abroad.

On 9 March 2015, BBC television aired A Cook Abroad: Rachel Khoo's Malaysia, where she visited the home of her father's extended family and explored the cuisine of the country.[15] Khoo's fourth television series, Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook: Melbourne, premiered in Australia on 23 July 2015 on the network SBS.[17] In February 2016, she was announced as a new judge on the Australian cooking competition, My Kitchen Rules, for the series' 7th season. Khoo filmed the program in 2015 while traveling throughout Australia. The new season began airing on Seven Network beginning on 1 February 2016. Khoo appears in 6 episodes of the program.

Khoo launched "Khoollect", a lifestyle, fashion, and food-oriented online blog in February 2016. The blog is defunct as of 2020.[18][19]

In April 2016, Khoo filmed Zumbo's Just Desserts in Sydney, alongside pastry chef Adriano Zumbo. The television series was commissioned by the Seven Network, and Khoo served as one of the judges. The program premiered in Australia on 22 August 2016 and streamed on Netflix in the U.S. in 2018.[20][21]

2018 to present

Her sixth cookbook, The Little Swedish Kitchen, was released on 26 July 2018.[22] In 2018, Khoo began filming her new television series, My Swedish Kitchen, in the Swedish countryside. The program features recipes from the cookbook'. The show premiered for Food Network UK on 22 August 2019. It is expected to air in Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and on BBC Asia.[23]

On 7 February 2021, it was announced that Rachel Khoo would be joining as a new judge on Great British Menu when the series returns in spring 2021.[24]

Personal life

In 2006, Khoo moved to Paris, where she lived for eight years. In 2014, she returned to London, settling in Hoxton,[25] a section of Hackney. She moved to Stockholm in 2016, and previously owned a flat in Kensal Green in north-west London, which served as the headquarters of her now-defunct lifestyle blog/studio, Khoolect.[25] She speaks English, French, German, and some Swedish.

In 2014, she became engaged to Swedish man Robert Wiktorin, and they married in 2015.[26][27] She gave birth to her first child, a boy, in early 2017.[28][29] Her second child, a son, was born in early 2019.

Filmography
YearTelevision seriesNotes
2012 The Little Paris Kitchen: Cooking with Rachel Khoo 6 episodes
2014 Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook: London 10 episodes
Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook: Cosmopolitan Cook 10 episodes
Tom Kerridge's Spring Kitchen Series 1, Episode 8
2015 A Cook Abroad: Rachel Khoo's Malaysia 1 episode
Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook: Melbourne 8 episodes[30]
2016 My Kitchen Rules Season 7 judge (6 episodes)
The TV That Made Me Series 2, episode 18
Zumbo's Just Desserts Co-host (12 episodes)
2019 My Swedish Kitchen 8 episodes
2020 Zumbo's Just Desserts Co-host (10 episodes)
2020 Rachel Khoo's Simple Pleasures Host (8 episodes)
Rachel Khoo: A Chocolate Christmas Host (1 episode)

Bibliography
  • Barres de Céréales - Muesli et Granola maison. Marabout. 2010. ISBN 978-2501064194.
  • Je fais mes Pâtes à Tartiner. Marabout. 2010. ISBN 978-2501067775.
  • The Little Paris Kitchen. Michael Joseph. 2012. ISBN 978-0718158118.
  • My Little French Kitchen. Michael Joseph. 2013. ISBN 978-0718177478.
  • Rachel Khoo's Muesli and Granola. W&N. 2013. ISBN 978-0297868934.
  • Rachel Khoo's Sweet and Savoury Pâtés. W&N. 2014. ISBN 978-0297868958.
  • Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook. Michael Joseph. 2015. ISBN 978-0718179465.
  • The Little Swedish Kitchen. Michael Joseph. 2018. ISBN 978-0718188917.

References
  1. Scott, Chloe (14 March 2012). "How Brit Rachel Khoo seduced the French with Paris' smallest restaurant". Metro. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  2. "England & Wales birth index 1916-2005". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 13 June 2013..
  3. "At home with Rachel Khoo". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  4. Hind, John (21 October 2013). "Rachel Khoo: 'Chocolate I'm not fussed about, but cheese: wow'". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  5. Shaitly, Shahesta (18 March 2012). "Why we're watching… Rachel Khoo". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  6. Armstrong, Stepheh (11 March 2015). "Rachel Khoo: 'Some chefs have a few issues with my image...'". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  7. "If you consume more calories than you burn off, what do you expect?". The Telegraph. 15 May 2015.
  8. Day, Elizabeth (15 July 2012). "Rachel Khoo: 'My parents thought I was mad to go off baking cakes in Paris'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  9. "Rachel Khoo cooks up a Parisian feast". BBC. 27 January 2012.
  10. Rowbotham, Jill (25 July 2015). "Rachel Khoo, food writer, 34". The Australian. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  11. Day, Elizabeth (14 July 2014). "Rachel Khoo: 'My parents thought I was mad to go off baking cakes in Paris'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  12. "The Little Paris Kitchen: Cooking with Rachel Khoo". BBC. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  13. "La Petite Cuisine a Paris". Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  14. Wright, Jade (15 September 2015). "Liverpool Food and Drink festival: Rachel Khoo on why she can't wait to cook for Liverpool". liverpoolecho.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  15. Chiam, May. "Guess Khoo's here? - Features". The Star Online. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  16. "Rachel Khoo: I'm no kitchen minx". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  17. Smith, Annabel (4 July 2015). "Cooking with Rachel Khoo in my Little Melbourne Kitchen". goodfood.com.au. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  18. Shrivastava, Vipra (18 February 2016). "TLC's celebrity chef Rachel Khoo wishes to explore the food scene in India". India Today. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  19. Byrnes, Holly (14 February 2016). "My Kitchen Rules judge revealed - and she helps you cook up love on Valentine's Day". news.com.au. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  20. "Why Channel 7's Zumbo's Just Desserts falls flat". thenewdaily.com.au. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  21. "Just Desserts: Rachel Khoo and Adriano Zumbo's puddings rule". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  22. "Rachel Khoo recipes from The Little Swedish Kitchen". you.co.uk. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  23. "Rachel Khoo: My Swedish Kitchen cooks up first sales". 19 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  24. "Rachel Khoo revealed as new Great British Menu judge". bbc.co.uk/mediacetre. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  25. "Clever design: inside Rachel Khoo's multi-tasking Kensal Green kitchen — a chic masterclass in maximising space". homesandproperty.co.uk. 13 July 2018.
  26. "My Kitchen Rules judge revealed - and she helps you cook up love on Valentine's Day". News.com.au. 14 February 2016.
  27. "Rachel Khoo, food writer, 34". The Australian. 25 July 2015.
  28. "Rachel Khoo recipes from The Little Swedish Kitchen". you.co.uk. 15 July 2018.
  29. "A Bun in the Oven". rachelkhoo.com. 2 February 2017.
  30. "Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook: Melbourne Episode Guide". SBS Australia. 3 August 2015.
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