She is similar to Emeril with her out-going personality, but she also gives off a sort of home-like and comfortable feeling because of her Southern hospitality. These characteristics of Paula are strongly displayed in her television programs and on her website, which states, “In Paula Deen’s kitchen, no one is a stranger and she likes to keep it that way” (“Paula Deen”). As the author of 14 cookbooks with each selling more than 8,000,000, she has received multiple awards for her traditional home-styled Southern recipes displayed in them (“Paula Deen”). Along with this, she has become a Southern lifestyle icon. According to her biography, “Paula has become an American phenomenon, overcoming poverty, doubt and agoraphobia to achieve success and acclaim she could never have imagined” (Paula Deen). In contrast to Emeril Lagasse, Paula Deen struggled in her journey to become a successful chef by going through a large amount of troubled times at the beginning of her career. Even after her acquiring fame and becoming successful, she still remains as genuine and full of love with her authentic Southern attitude as she did in the …show more content…
Both of them have written successful cookbooks, created multiple restaurants, and stared on many television programs throughout their career. Although when it comes to agreeing on the matter of the best representative of Southern cooking, I believe that Paula Deen is a much better fit then Emeril Lagasse. I agree on the fact that Emeril Lagasse is a successful Southern chef, but I believe that he escapes the category of Southern cooking. Emeril has such a wide variety of recipes and restaurants that lack traditional Southern cooking because of his dishes being altered and influenced by other cultures and him placing more emphasis on certain styles of food. I do not view the characteristics of Emeril’s cooking in a bad manner, but instead complement and acknowledge the diversity of his created dishes. This leads me to believe that he is a prospering Southern chef, but he is not the best representative of Southern cooking because he strays from traditional Southern food. Unlike Emeril Lagasse, Paula Deen remains loyal to the traditional Southern cooking characteristics by not allowing influences of other cultures to alter her recipes. She relies only on Southern foods with the addition of multiple accessories and toppings to make her recipes extravagant and superior over the