Cat Cora

About Cat Cora

Catherine 'Cat' Cora (Born January 1, 1968) , Kitty Bean. "What's cookin' with 'Iron Chef' Cat Cora", USA Today, April 5, 2006. Is a professional chef best known for her featured role as an "Iron Chef" on the Food Network television show Iron Chef America.

Cora was raised in a Greek community in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. Her grandfather and father were both restaurateurs. Cat was inspired by Julia Child, Barbara Tropp, M. F. K. Fisher, and her grandmother, Alma. Her cuisine is a blend of her Greek and Southern roots like her favorite dish Kota Kapama (Greek cinnamon chicken), and slow-cooked lamb shanks with feta salsa verde.

After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Physiology and Biology at the University of Southern Mississippi, she enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Cora has also appeared on Simplify Your Life. She was also a co-host of the Food Network show Kitchen Accomplished. She has also coined the term Hellasian, referring to a fusion cuisine combining Greek and Asian cooking. She is one of the few female Iron Chefs in its franchise history (including the Japanese version of Iron Chef). At the end of every Iron Chef competition, she shares a shot of ouzo with her team.