Emel Başdoğan (born 26 March 1960) is a Turkish celebrity

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

, author of cooking and baking books, and media personality known for her television shows and publications. She was a judge on the television programme Ver Fırına, the Turkish version of

the Great British Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, atte ...

for 170 episodes.

Early life

Emel Başdoğan was born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. She graduated from

Deutsche Schule Istanbul Deutsche Schule Istanbul (, shortened as DSI), with formal Turkish language, Turkish name Özel Alman Lisesi () or İstanbul Alman Lisesi () or simply Alman Lisesi () is a Private school, private international high school in the Beyoğlu district o ...

and continued her further education in biology and sociology at

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Boğaziçi Üniversitesi''), also known as Bosphorus University, is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey, historically tied to a former American educational insti ...

, Istanbul and Nanterre University in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, As well as philosophy and cinema at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. For the last twenty years she has been the host and the editor of various TV shows focused on cooking, baking and weight control which are broadcast at major TV channels of Turkey.

Career

She has been the host and editor of a variety of TV shows focused on cooking, caking, and weight loss, which have been broadcast in Turkey. In 1994, Emel Başdoğan became the gastronomic editor for the first cooking program in Turkey “A La Luna”. In 1995, she published and co-owned the first cooking magazine of Turkey, in cooperation with Gruner Jahr/Prizma Press of Germany. Again in 1995 she published a baking encyclopedia, viz. “Proser Akademi” in cooperation with Teubner Publication House, which aimed at training bakers. In 1997, she attended the

Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singapore. The college, which was the first to ...

, and became one of the first eight certificated food stylists in the world. She founded "Foodie by Emel Başdoğan" in 1997, the boutique bakery of which she is the chef and the owner. “Foodie by E.B. “ introduced Turkey the concept of special occasion cakes besides tea-time treats with non-industrial ingredients. The differentiation point of "Foodie by Emel Başdoğan" is less sugar, no artificial additives. In 1998, she founded Başdoğan Publications, which specializes in gastronomic books. In cooperation with companies like Marsa, Suchard,

Kraft Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

Tefal Tefal S.A.S. (a portmanteau of TEFlon and ALuminium.) is a French cookware and small appliance manufacturer, owned by Groupe SEB (a global manufacturer of cookware) since 1968. The company is known for creating the non-stick cookware category a ...

and Anadolu Holding, she has written eight cook books. In 2005, she wrote the first special occasion cakes book in Turkey, published by one of the oldest and prestigious publication houses of the country, İnkılâp Publishing House. In 2011 she worked with

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

, in efforts to raise awareness about

weight management Weight management comprises behaviors, techniques, and Physiology, physiological processes that contribute to a person's ability to attain and maintain a healthy Human body weight, weight. Most weight management techniques encompass long-term li ...

TV shows

1997-2000- she produced the gastronomic content, and presented the daily show about nutrition and lifestyle "Sen Herseyi Düşünürsün" in collaboration with Tefal. 2000-2001- she produced the gastronomic content and presented the daily show about nutrition and life style "Yoksa Siz Hala?" in collaboration with Marsa. The main focus of the show was weight control. 2010- she designed the content and presented the daily cooking and baking show "Emel Başdoğan ile Tam Tadında". 2014-2015- she was the judge of the Great British Bake Off/Turkey for the first 170 episodes. Controlling weight while eating healthy and tasty have been the main themes of her TV shows, focusing on topics such as family life, parenting, partnership and relations at the same time.

Books

* A La Luna Yemekler 1 (November 1995) * A La Luna Yemekler 2 (September 1996) * Sen Her Şeyi Düşünürsün 1 (March 1998) * Yudum'la Hafifleyen Yemekler (August 1998) * Sen Her Şeyi Düşünürsün 2 (August 1998) * Birali Yemekler (1998 ) * Sen Her Şeyi Düşünürsün 3 (May 1999) * Sen Her Şeyi Düşünürsün 4 (August 2000) * Foodie Emel Başdoğan'la Pasta Yapımı (2005) * Hayat Zayıflarken de Güzel (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basdogan, Emel Turkish television chefs 1960 births Living people Deutsche Schule Istanbul alumni Culinary Institute of America alumni People from Istanbul