Gennaro Contaldo is one of the most respected and well-known Italian chefs in the United Kingdom. Known for teaching the Italian style of cooking to today’s finest chefs like Jamie Oliver, this individual is a master of cookery with years of knowledge and expertise on traditional and cutting-edge technologies.
As a result, he is famous for his uncanny recipes in Italian cuisine.
Likewise, a talented individual such as Gennaro explores teaching opportunities outside of the kitchen by appearing in several television shows and radio as well.
Gennaro Contaldo was born on 20 January 1949 in Minori, Campania, Italy. He spent most of his childhood in the small village of Minori on the Amalfi Coast, along with his parents. He enjoyed going hunting with his father and grandfather.
Meanwhile, he used to collect herbs from his mother. Ever since his childhood days, he learned cooking from his family.
Since Italians are known for their authentic dishes, Gennaro thought of making a career in the culinary world, eventually making his way to becoming one of the world’s top chefs.
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Gennaro Contaldo’s Net Worth.
Gennaro Contaldo is one of the richest chefs in the United Kingdom and is famous for his Italian cuisine. His net worth is estimated to be around $10 million.
He is a celebrity chef whose primary source of income is from his career as a chef, published cookbooks, restaurants, and television appearances all over the world.
Initial Struggles.
Although cooking with his family did give Gennaro a brief exposure to cookery, he still had a lot to learn. Normally, one would enter college to learn the theoretical and practical lessons on culinary arts, but Gennaro decided to work in a restaurant straight away.
Moreover, he started working in a local restaurant when he was only 8 years old.
Gennaro then moved to London in the year 1969 and started working at Barnet Hospital at the age of 20.
Getting into Culinary.
Gennaro’s career took off when he started working in some of the popular restaurants in London, such as St John’s Wood and Antonio Carluccio’s Neal Street Restaurant in London’s Covent Garden, where he worked till 1998.
He became very inspired to cook in London partly due to his interest in Amalfitan cuisine, which required components of fungi, which were highly available in London and were the most important necessities for their cuisine.
Gennaro Contaldo is a very active individual in the culinary world. He is also the brand ambassador of luxurious Italian Holiday specialist Citalia.
He also has had a good relationship with Jamie Oliver since the 1990s when Contaldo mentored Oliver at Neal Street Restaurant. Oliver became the protégé of Contaldo, and both have been very close ever since then.
Gennaro himself is very close to Jamie’s projects and helps to create menus and train new chefs for Jamie’s Italian chain.
Television appearance.
The Gennaro-Oliver relationship doesn’t end there as he often makes appearances in Oliver’s television show Food Networks as well as on his YouTube channels.
He partnered with Antonio Carluccio in a four-part series for the BBC’s Two Greedy Italians in 2011, in which both chefs travelled through the Italian region to discover new recipes. The first season’s success was followed up by a second series, The Two Greedy Italians: Still Hungry, that aired in 2012.
Contaldo has also made cooking appearances on numerous other television shows and has set various records, such as on BBC’s Saturday morning show Saturday Kitchen when he set a new record for making a three-egg omelette in 16.36 seconds.
Likewise, he was also awarded a ‘Guinness World Record’ for the Most Ravioli Made in two minutes in the year 2014.
Contaldo also has his own YouTube channel and has been uploading regularly since the year 2010, where he teaches online about the Italian style of cooking.
Restaurant and locations.
Gennaro opened his very own restaurant named Passione in the street of Charlotte, London. The Tio Pepe Restaurant Awards gave the award of ‘Best Italian Restaurant’ to Passione Restaurant in the year 2005.
However, the restaurant shut down in 2009 due to the decrease in business caused by the recession of the late 2000s in London.
Cookbooks.
Gennaro published his first cookbook named ‘Passione’ in 2003, which was dedicated to his love for Amalfitan cuisine and later won the award of ‘Best Italian Cook Book’ in the same year at the World Gourmand Cookbook Awards. He was also shortlisted for the André Simon Award.
In September 2006, Gennaro went on to publish his second book named ‘Gennaro’s Italian Year’ and continued to publish more of his books, such as “Gennaro’s Italian Home Cooking,” published in September 2008, ‘Gennaro’s Easy Italian,’ published in March 2010 and his most recent book, “Panetteria: Gennaro’s Italian Bakery,” in September 2016 respectively.
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Recipes.
Recipes by Gennaro Contaldo.
Some of Contaldo’s famous recipes are featured below:
- Sea bass with tomatoes and mussels (Pesce affogato)
- Spinach and ricotta ravioli
- Focaccia with garlic and rosemary
- Meat ravioli
- Pappardelle with mixed mushroom ragù
- Tagliatelle with olives, anchovies and pangrattato
Wife and Children.
Although Gennaro is a celebrated chef in London who shares every bit of detail about cooking, he keeps his private life away from the media. As a result, there is not much information regarding his married life and children.
It came to the media’s attention that Gennaro was previously married to a woman with whom he had three children. His first wife’s name and the cause behind their divorce are not disclosed even to the present day.
His second marriage was with his current wife, Liz. The couple tied the knot in 1974 and had a twin daughter with her. Likewise, Gennaro considers Jamie to be his sixth son.
Gennaro Contaldo’s Wiki Facts.
Name | Gennaro Contaldo |
Birthdate | 20 January 1949 |
Birthplace | Minori, Campania, Italy |
Age | 74 years old |
Nationality | Italian |
Profession | Chef, Tv Personality |
Father’s Name | N/A |
Mother’s Name | N/A |
Marital Status | Married |
Spouse | N/A |
Children | 5 |
Net Worth | $10 million |
Popular Work | Passione, The Two Greedy Italians, ‘Guinness World Record’ for the ‘Most Ravioli Made in two minutes |
Awards | ‘Guinness World Record’ for the ‘Most Ravioli Made in two minutes, Best Italian Cook Book for Passione |
Social Media | website, YouTube, Instagram |