ABOUT NINA
At the age of nineteen, Nina Simonds traveled to Taipei, Taiwan to study Chinese cuisine and culture. She lived and studied there for three and a half years under the direction of Chinese master chefs and Huang Su Huei, a recognized authority on Chinese cooking in the Far East. While in Taiwan, she also apprenticed in restaurant kitchens specializing in the cuisines of Chekiang-Kiangsu (eastern), Hunan, and Cantonese. Nina is fluent in the Mandarin dialect.

Her background is not limited to Chinese cooking; she apprenticed for a year at LaVarenne, Ecole de Cuisine, in Paris and received a Grande Diplome in classic French cuisine. During her stay in France, she also taught Chinese cooking in classes sponsored by LaVarenne. For the past 28 years, Nina has taught classes in cooking schools across the United States. She returns to Asia once a year for further research.

In 1990, Newsweek magazine named her one of America's Top Twenty-Five Asia Hands. She is the author of nine books on Chinese cuisine and culture, including the best-selling Asian Noodles and A Spoonful of Ginger, which won both the IACP Julia Child Book Award and the James Beard Foundation Book Award for health. Nina has appeared on television programs throughout the United States, including local shows in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Seattle, Toronto, New York and Boston. She has appeared on the Television Food Network since its inception and has. been a guest on the Today Show and the Martha Stewart Show.

Simonds is a member of the Nutrition Roundtable at Harvard University’s School of Public Health. IN 2001, she hosted a food/health/lifestyle special “A Spoonful of Ginger: Food as Medicine for Public Television which received a James Beard Award for Best Television Special. She recently returned from a 2-year sojourn in London.

Simonds is a Contributing Editor/ Correspondent to Gourmet Magazine and a regular contributor to the Sunday New York Times Travel section. Her articles have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Health magazine, Cooking Light, Harper's Bazaar, Bon Appetit, Family Circle, Self, and The Washington Post. Simonds' latest book, Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragon Boats: Chinese Folktales and Activities for Children, was published by Harcourt Brace last year and won a "Parent's Choice" award and a Chapman Award for Best Classroom Read-Alouds. Her latest book, "Spices of Life: Simple and Delicious Recipes for Everyday Great Health" was published by Knopf in 2005.