About Monica

Contact

• Email Address: monica@monicabhide.com
• Website: www.monicabhide.com

BRIEF BIO:

I am an engineer turned food/travel/parenting writer based out of Washington DC.  I have been published in many major national and international publications, including Food & Wine, The New York Times, Parents, Eating Well, Prevention, AARP-The magazine, Health, SELF, Bon Appetit, Saveur, and many more. I wrote a weekly syndicated for Scripps Howard Media, for a year, called Seasonings, and am a frequent contributor to NPR’s Kitchen Window. My work has garnered numerous accolades, including  my food essays being included in Best Food Writing anthologies (2005, 2009 and 2010). I have authored three cookbooks, the latest being:  Modern Spice: Inspired Indian recipes for the contemporary Kitchen (Simon & Schuster, 2009, which Padma Lakshmi called her personal – “BESTS.BOOK.EVER” in Newsweek.  I also have a spice app for Apple products. In 2012, The Chicago Tribune picked me as one of seven note-worthy food writers to watch.. (http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-04-18/site/ct-prj-0401-food-writers-20120418-24_1_food-bloggers-food-writers-lisa-ekus).  And Mashable recently picked me as one of the top 10 food writers on Twitter.

I am a monthly columnist for Cooking Channel on lucky foods.

Who is Monica Bhide?

Monica Bhide is a culinary cultivator, explorer and teacher – as well as her family’s resident chef. When it comes to food, she’s just as curious about the how and the why things are made as the influences that different cultures have in today’s kitchen.

A storyteller at heart, Monica combines her love of family, friends and food – along with personal anecdotes highlighted by her Indian heritage – to help people add an exotic, unexpected and most-welcome new element into their lives.

She’s the author of three cookbooks – “The Spice is Right: Easy Indian Cooking for Today”; “The Everything India Cookbook;” and “Modern Spice” (Simon & Schuster, 2009). Modern Spice was also customized for the Indian market and published in India by Random House.

Additionally, she has been published in national and international publications including The New York Times; Food & Wine; Cooking Light; Bon Appetit; Saveur; Parents; AARP- The magazine; Eating Well; KIWI; Four Seasons; Spirituality & Health; Prevention; Health; SELF; several “Best Food Writing” anthologies; and is a frequent contributor to NPR’s “Kitchen Window.”

Monica is a monthly columnist for Cooking Channel writing about lucky foods.

Monica was the recipient of the Susan B. Langhorne Scholarship for Food Writers at the Symposium for Professional Food Writers in 2004 and the runner up for the 2005 and 2010 award. She won the full Greenbrier Scholarship in 2011.

Monica has done recipe development for the AARP, Health, SELF, MORE, Parents and many other magazines. She has also judged the Greenbrier Food writer’s scholarships. In 2010, she was a cookbook judge fort he James Beard Awards. She has just been selected to be a judge, again, for the James Beard Awards (2013)

In early 2012, the Chicago Tribune picked her as one of the top seven food writers to watch in the country and Mashable picked her as one of the top ten food writers on Twitter.

Monica truly embraces the spice of life. Her mantra is to eat locally but cook globally. Enjoy tradition but search out change. Respect technique while adding a playful twist. And enjoy every opportunity to connect with family and friends through good food.

You can learn more about Monica, find easy-to-use tools – such as her iSPICE app, as well as delicious recipes on her blog, A Life of Spice.. Information on her press and awards can be found here.