Roger Mooking is a Trinidadian-Canadian chef, musician, and television host. Mooking is the host of the television series '' Man Fire Food'' (2012 to present). He is also the host and co-creator of '' Everyday Exotic''. Both programs aired on the

Cooking Channel Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by and spin-off of Food Network. Both are owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media ...

and Food Network Canada. He also appears on '' Heat Seekers'' with Aarón Sanchez on

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

. Mooking has had many appearances on shows such as ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'', ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', ''

The Marilyn Denis Show ''The Marilyn Denis Show'' is a Canadian daytime television talk show which debuted on January 10, 2011, on CTV and CTV 2 (formerly A-Channel). Hosted by Marilyn Denis, the show airs weekdays at 10 a.m. on CTV and 11 a.m. ET on CTV 2 (timeslot ...

'', ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...

'', ''

Top Chef Canada ''Top Chef Canada'' is a Canadian reality competition television series. The show premiered on April 11, 2011, on Food Network Canada (now Flavour Network). The first season consisted of 13 episodes, with 16 contestants vying for a grand prize o ...

'', and '' Chopped Canada''.

Early life

Mooking was born in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

"Everyday Exotic, the Cookbook: It’s About Flavour"
''Quill $ Quire''. Review by Shaun Smith into an extended family made up of food and beverage business providers. "Food Network Celebrity chef Roger Mooking wins 2012 Premier’s Award for Outstanding College Graduates"
Alumni Stories, George Brown College. He moved to Canada at the age of five, and grew up in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, where his parents were in the restaurant business."Eats & Beats: Edmonton-raised Roger Mooking is a hit in the kitchen — and on the mic."
''Avenue Edmonton'', April 2013. by Gene Kosowan He has African, Dutch, British, and Chinese ancestry."Being a chef 'was in my soul' "
''Globe & Mail''. Aug. 09, 2010 Olivia Stren Mooking was introduced to European flavours by his mother, who prepared dishes from recipes passed on by her Ukrainian neighbours.

Career

Musical career

Under the stage name MC Mystic, Mooking spent the early 1990s as a member of the Edmonton-based hip hop band The Maximum Definitive, who received a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

nomination in 1993 for their single "Jungle Man". The band then moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

to continue their musical careers, but broke up due to creative differences before they could actually complete recording a full album, and Mooking went on to join the soul/R&B trio Bass Is Base.Michael B. MacDonald, ''Remix and Life Hack in Hip Hop: Towards a Critical Pedagogy of Music''.

Springer Publishing Springer Publishing Company is an American publishing company of academic journals and books, focusing on the fields of nursing, gerontology, psychology, social work, counseling, public health, and rehabilitation (neuropsychology). It was estab ...

, 2016. . pp. 96-97. Bass Is Base consisted of

Chin Injeti Pranam "Chin" Injeti (born April 9, 1973 in India) is a Canadian singer, musician, and music producer. He got his start as a founding member of Juno Award-winning group Bass is Base. He frequently collaborates with producer DJ Khalil; together t ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

Ivana Santilli Ivana Daniela Santilli is a Canadians, Canadian Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and multi-instrumentalist, who has recorded as a solo artist and as a member of the 1990s R&B/pop trio Bass is Base. Early life and career Santilli was born to an Ital ...

on keyboards and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

, and MC Mystic (Roger Mooking) on

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

. All three members contributed vocals, Injeti and Santilli as singers and Mystic as a

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

. In addition to the early single "Funk-mobile", which garnered the band a deal with

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

, their debut album, ''First Impressions for the Bottom Jigglers'', won a

in the Best R&B/Soul Recording category in 1995. A year later, the second consequential album, ''Memories of the Soul Shack Survivors'', gave the band its first Top 20 hit, “I Cry.” Mooking has since released two solo albums, ''Soul Food'' in 2008 and ''Feedback'' in 2013.

Chef

Mooking studied culinary arts at

George Brown College The George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology is a public, fully accredited college (Canada), college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, George ...

, and still continues to operate as the chair of the professional advisory committee. Mooking worked at Toronto's Royal York Hotel before co-owning and consulting on many food and beverage operations in Ontario.
"The Marilyn Denis Show, Roger Mooking Resident Chef". During his years as a restaurateur, Mooking was the executive chef and co-owner of Kultura Social Dining and Nyood Restaurant. Currently he is the executive chef at ''Twist by Roger Mooking'', located in Terminal 1 at

Toronto Pearson International Airport Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surrounding region known as the Golden Horseshoe. Pearson is the ...

Television appearances

Mooking is the host of several television shows, including '' Heat Seekers'' and '' Man Fire Food''. He is also the co-creator and host of '' Everyday Exotic'', a television show in which he features spices and other flavourful ingredients from around the globe and shows viewers how to use them in everyday cooking. As the host of ''Man Fire Food'' on

, Mooking travels around the U.S. exploring different ways to cook with fire and smoke, from small campfires to creative custom-made grills and smokers. ''Man Fire Food'' is in its eighth season. Mooking served as a recurring judge on

's '' Chopped Canada''. He served as a judge on two episodes of season 10 ''

Guy's Grocery Games '' Guy's Grocery Games'' (often nicknamed ''Triple G'') is an American reality competition television series hosted by Guy Fieri and his son Hunter on Food Network. Each episode features four chefs competing in a three-round elimination contest ...

''. Mooking has also been the subject of an hour-long biography titled ''Chefography'' for Cooking Channel. Mooking has appeared on ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'', ''

Wendy Williams Wendy Williams Hunter (; born July 18, 1964) is an American former broadcaster, media personality, and writer. Prior to television, Williams was a radio DJ and host and quickly became known in New York City as a shock jock. She gained notori ...

'', '' Martha Stewart Radio'', ''

Unique Eats ''Unique Eats'' is a TV series on Cooking Channel about various restaurants across the United States and their signature dishes. The show features talking head interviews with various chefs and food critics who give their judgement about the foo ...

'', and ''

Steven and Chris ''Steven and Chris'' is a Canadian television talk show that aired on CBC Television from 2008 to 2015. The show was hosted by Steven Sabados and Chris Hyndman, formerly of the home renovation shows '' Designer Guys'' and '' Design Rivals'', who ...

''. Mooking has also made regular appearances at various food and wine festivals, including New York Food and Wine Festival, South Beach Food and Wine Festival, Gourmet Escape and The Essence Music Festival. He appeared in the 2021 edition of ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Fre ...

'', advocating for Francesca Ekwuyasi's novel '' Butter Honey Pig Bread''.

Author

Mooking's cookbook, "Everyday Exotic: The Cookbook", was published 2011, and won a Gourmand World Cookbook award. The book explains how to add unconventional ingredients to traditional dishes to experience the flavors developed by cultures from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas.

Filmography

Charitable work

In 2011, Mooking partnered up with

World Vision The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

Canada and made a trip to Cambodia to exchange information and ideas about child nutrition, and to bring awareness to the issues of healthy food and clean water for families in all countries.
"WorldVision Media" In fall 2012, Mooking traveled to Bangladesh to visit nutrition-related programming run by

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

and to meet with community groups, medical clinics, and local families and explore ways to create sustainable health and nutrition programs so that successful concepts can be applied worldwide. He has continued to work with Save The Children and their programming and has since traveled to Peru as well as worked with the organization locally. Mooking is also committed to Toronto-based charity Second Harvest, co-hosting its annual charity Toronto Taste, for providing rescued food to families in need.

Personal life

Mooking is married and has four daughters. He has claimed to have "never ookedthe same thing twice."
"Williams Sonoma: Meet Chef Roger Mooking"

References

External links

Official website"Toronto Taste"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mooking, Roger Living people 20th-century Black Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian rappers 21st-century Black Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singers 21st-century Canadian rappers Black Canadian broadcasters Canadian chefs Canadian male rappers Canadian male singers Canadian people of Caribbean descent Canadian philanthropists Canadian rhythm and blues musicians Canadian television chefs Canadian television hosts George Brown College alumni Musicians from Edmonton Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to Canada Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian people of Chinese descent