Consultant Chef:

Emma Sharp was born and raised in Jamaica. She went to school in her home town, May Pen, and then attended boarding school in England. Emma went on to study Philosophy at the London School of Economics and spent most of her free time catering parties for her friends. After completing her degree she continued to pursue her culinary passion by obtaining her diploma at the Leith’s School of Food & Wine in London, in June of 1999. 

In the last nine years Emma has cooked in Director’s Dining Rooms in London, including a fifteen month stint as second chef at Lazard, she has been head chef at the Museum of London, and the relief head chef at the Dinton Hermit restaurant. Emma has catered for high-profile families like the owners of Bulmer cider in Hereford, and the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn in Northern Ireland. Her interest in healthy eating led her to cater for yoga retreats in England; through these contacts she gained several clients in London for whom she has done private cooking demonstrations, cocktail parties and dinners. She has subsequently completed and received grade A in her diploma in the Professional Nutrition, Diet and Health Program at the School of Allied Heath, Professional Career Development Institute.

In November 2001 Emma landed a job cooking at the BBC Good Food show. The channel executives at UK Food, impressed by her style and comfort in front of an audience, invited her to be a guest chef on their daily cooking show, Good Food Live. She cooked Jamaican food regularly on the show for the next few years. In July 2003 they filmed her cooking and presenting a series of seven video inserts in Jamaica for Good Food Live.

Emma has performed live demonstrations for the BBC Cookery School at the BBC Good Food show in December 2002 and 2003 as well as in the Mark Wilkinson Celebrity Theatre at the House and Garden Fair in June 2003. She has also interviewed and cooked on BBC World Service radio.

After a five year hiatus from the culinary ‘performing’ world, when she had to move back to Jamaica due to a chronic illness, Emma has managed to get her foot back in the door, but this time in the United States. In June this year, Emma met a couple of well-known American television producers and a director, who were blown away by her ability and ease to make everything from scratch, including hot dog buns! They were drawn by her friendly and engaging personality, and told her that she ought to have her own cooking show. Of course, they had no idea that Emma had some experience in this field, and when they watched her previous reels from the UK, they were convinced that she should return to television, with their help.

In the last couple of months, Emma has procured enough sponsorship to film the pilot of a cooking series in Jamaica, which the production team are hoping to sell to a USA network next year. The pilot will be shot in the last week of January 2009 on the North coast of Jamaica.

Five years ago, Emma obtained the Certificate in Journalism at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. She has written articles for BBC Good Food and Best magazines in the UK. She currently lives with her husband in Kingston, where she teaches private cooking classes; caters cocktail parties, dinners and lunches; writes menu plans and recipes for people with chronic health problems; and has four columns in Jamaica’s national newspaper, the Gleaner. She has recently started working on projects for Neysha Soodeen of Maco magazine.

For more information:
Emma Sharp, 876-702-0051or 876-856-1078 (Cell)
emma@sharpactionfood.com