{{Short description|Trinidadian-Canadian chef, musician and television host}} {{Infobox chef <!-- for more information see :Template:Infobox chef/doc --> | name = Roger Mooking | image = CNE-Roger-Mooking-2012-crop 01.jpg | caption = Mooking speaks at a demonstration at the CNE. | birth_date = | birth_place = Trinidad and Tobago | height = 1.67 m | death_date = | death_place = | style = Global and BBQ | education = George Brown Culinary Management Program | restaurants = Twist by Roger Mooking, Previously executive chef at Kultura Social Dining and Nyood Restaurant | television= ''Everyday Exotic'', ''Heat Seekers'', ''Man Fire Food'', ''Chopped: Canada'' }}
'''Roger Mooking''' is a Trinidadian-Canadian chef, musician, and television host. Mooking is the host of the television series ''Man Fire Food'' (2012 to present).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Struble |first1=Cristine |title=Roger Mooking brings even more flavorful sizzle to Man Fire Food |url=https://foodsided.com/2020/05/19/roger-mooking-brings-even-flavorful-sizzle-man-fire-food/ |website=Fansided |date=19 May 2020 |access-date=26 January 2021}}</ref> He is also the host and co-creator of ''Everyday Exotic''. Both programs aired on the Cooking Channel and Food Network Canada. He also appears on ''Heat Seekers'' with Aarón Sanchez on Food Network. Mooking has had many appearances on shows such as ''Today'', ''Good Morning America'', ''The Marilyn Denis Show'', ''Iron Chef America'', ''Top Chef Canada'', and ''Chopped Canada''.
==Early life== Mooking was born in the Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago<ref name="quillandquire.com">[http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=7471 "Everyday Exotic, the Cookbook: It’s About Flavour"]. ''Quill $ Quire''. Review by Shaun Smith</ref> into an extended family made up of food and beverage business providers.<ref name="georgebrown.ca">[http://www.georgebrown.ca/chefschool/alumni/roger-mooking.aspx "Food Network Celebrity chef Roger Mooking wins 2012 Premier’s Award for Outstanding College Graduates"] Alumni Stories, George Brown College.</ref> He moved to Canada at the age of five,<ref name="quillandquire.com"/> and grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, where his parents were in the restaurant business.<ref name=avenue>[http://avenueedmonton.com/articles/eats-beats "Eats & Beats: Edmonton-raised Roger Mooking is a hit in the kitchen — and on the mic."]. ''Avenue Edmonton'', April 2013. by Gene Kosowan</ref> He is of mixed African-Trinidadian, Dutch, British, and Chinese heritage.<ref name="theglobeandmail.com">[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/being-a-chef-was-in-my-soul/article1226722/ "Being a chef 'was in my soul' "]. ''Globe & Mail''. Aug. 09, 2010 Olivia Stren</ref> Mooking was introduced to European flavours by his mother, who prepared dishes from recipes passed on by her Ukrainian neighbours.<ref name=avenue />
==Career==
===Musical career=== Under the stage name '''MC Mystic''', Mooking spent the early 1990s as a member of the Edmonton-based hip hop group The Maximum Definitive, who received a Juno Award nomination in 1993 for their single "Jungle Man".<ref>"Chef was 'the bum-a-ride kind of guy': Roger Mooking was 32 before daughters, business led him to his Tucson". ''Toronto Star'', October 11, 2014.</ref> The group then moved to Toronto to continue their musical careers, but broke up due to creative differences before they could actually complete recording a full album, and Mooking went on to join the soul/R&B trio Bass Is Base.<ref name=remix>Michael B. MacDonald, ''Remix and Life Hack in Hip Hop: Towards a Critical Pedagogy of Music''. Springer Publishing, 2016. {{ISBN|9789463005005}}. pp. 96-97.</ref>
Bass Is Base consisted of Chin Injeti on bass, Ivana Santilli on keyboards and trumpet, and MC Mystic (Roger Mooking) on percussion.<ref name="Inc.1995">{{cite magazine|author=Larry LeBlanc|title=Canada: Who's Who|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA80|date=4 February 1995|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=80–|issn=0006-2510}}</ref> All three members contributed vocals, Injeti and Santilli as singers and Mystic as a rapper. In addition to the early single "Funk-mobile", which garnered the band a deal with A&M Records,<ref name="Inc.1995a">{{cite magazine|author=Larry LeBlanc|title=Bass is Base's Melting 'Soulshack'|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zw4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA80|date=7 October 1995|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=80–|issn=0006-2510}}</ref> their debut album, ''First Impressions for the Bottom Jigglers'', won a Juno Award in the Best R&B/Soul Recording category in 1995.<ref name="Inc.1996">{{cite magazine|author=Douglas Reece|title=Loose Cannon Ready to Lob Multiethnic Bass is Base|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Og8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA19|date=2 March 1996|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=19–|issn=0006-2510}}</ref> A year later, the second consequential album, ''Memories of the Soul Shack Survivors'', gave the band its first Top 20 hit, “I Cry.”
Mooking has since released two solo albums, ''Soul Food'' in 2008 and ''Feedback'' in 2013.<ref name="music.cbc.ca">{{cite news| url=http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/Roger-Mooking | work=CBC News|title=artist Roger Mooking|access-date=2015-12-27}}</ref><ref>[http://www.news1130.com/2013/07/08/rapperchef-roger-mooking-serves-up-wide-ranging-emotions-on-album-feedback/ "Mooking serves up wide-ranging emotions on album 'Feedback'"]. by Victoria Ahearn, ''The Canadian Press'', via News 1130 Radio. Jul 8, 2013 1</ref>
===Chef===
Mooking studied culinary arts at George Brown College, and still continues to operate as the chair of the professional advisory committee.<ref name="georgebrown.ca"/> Mooking worked at Toronto's Royal York Hotel before co-owning and consulting on many food and beverage operations in Ontario.<ref name="marilyn.ca">[http://www.marilyn.ca/About/Bios/RogerMooking] "The Marilyn Denis Show|Roger Mooking Resident Chef".</ref>
During his years as a restaurateur, Mooking was the executive chef and co-owner of Kultura Social Dining and Nyood Restaurant.<ref name="theglobeandmail.com"/>
Currently he is the executive chef at ''Twist by Roger Mooking'', located in Terminal 1 at Toronto Pearson International Airport.<ref>Ouzounian, R. (2015). Many ingredients in Roger Mooking's success | The Star. [online] thestar.com. Available at: https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2015/01/15/many-ingredients-in-roger-mookings-success.html [Accessed 9 Jan. 2019].</ref> Mooking claims that Twist is his favorite of his restaurants and is home to his favorite recipe - Egg and Nori.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Semancik |first=Emilea |date=2025-06-03 |title=My Digital Life: Cooking Show Host Roger Mooking |url=https://torontoguardian.com/2025/06/toronto-content-creatot-roger-mooking/ |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=Toronto Guardian |language=en-CA}}</ref>
===Television appearances=== Mooking is the host of several television shows, including ''Heat Seekers'' and ''Man Fire Food''.<ref name=cbc>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2008/10/100508_7.html |title=Sunday Spotlight |accessdate=2008-10-05 |year=2008 |work=cbc.ca |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106135900/http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2008/10/100508_7.html |archivedate=January 6, 2009 }}</ref> He is also the co-creator and host of ''Everyday Exotic'',<ref name="cbc"/> a television show in which he features spices and other flavourful ingredients from around the globe and shows viewers how to use them in everyday cooking.<ref name="theglobeandmail.com"/> As the host of ''Man Fire Food'' on Cooking Channel, Mooking travels around the U.S. exploring different ways to cook with fire and smoke, from small campfires to creative custom-made grills and smokers. ''Man Fire Food'' is in its eighth season. Mooking served as a recurring judge on Food Network's ''Chopped Canada''. He served as a judge on two episodes of season 10 ''Guy's Grocery Games''.
Mooking has also been the subject of an hour-long biography titled ''Chefography'' for Cooking Channel.<ref>“Chefography | TV Guide.” TVGuide.com, TV Guide, 13 May 2012, www.tvguide.com/tvshows/chefography/episodes/451396/.</ref>
Mooking has appeared on ''The Today Show'', ''Good Morning America'', ''Iron Chef America'', ''Top Chef Canada'', ''The Marilyn Denis Show'', ''Wendy Williams'', ''Martha Stewart Radio'', ''Unique Eats'', and ''Steven and Chris''. Mooking has also made regular appearances at various food and wine festivals, including New York Food and Wine Festival, South Beach Food and Wine Festival, Gourmet Escape<ref>“5 Minutes With...Roger Mooking.” Margaret River Gourmet Escape, gourmetescape.com.au/news/5-minutes-roger-mooking/</ref> and The Essence Music Festival.
He appeared in the 2021 edition of ''Canada Reads'', advocating for Francesca Ekwuyasi's novel ''Butter Honey Pig Bread''.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/meet-the-canada-reads-2021-contenders-1.5869833 "Meet the Canada Reads 2021 contenders"]. CBC Books, January 14, 2021.</ref>
In June of 2025, he launched "podcasty cooking-show" ''Breaking Bread with Roger Mooking'' on Amazon Prime.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Semancik |first=Emilea |date=2025-06-03 |title=My Digital Life: Cooking Show Host Roger Mooking |url=https://torontoguardian.com/2025/06/toronto-content-creatot-roger-mooking/ |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=Toronto Guardian |language=en-CA}}</ref>
===Author=== Mooking's cookbook, "Everyday Exotic: The Cookbook", was published 2011,<ref name="quillandquire.com" /> and won a Gourmand World Cookbook award. The book explains how to add unconventional ingredients to traditional dishes to experience the flavors developed by cultures from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas.<ref name="quillandquire.com" />
===Filmography=== {| class="wikitable" ! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Television |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 2008–2009 | ''Everyday Exotic'' | Himself/host | |- | 2012–present | ''Man Fire Food'' | Himself/host | |- | 2014–2017 | ''Chopped Canada'' | Himself | Recurring judge |- | 2015 | ''Chopped'' | Himself | Judge<br/>Season 24 episode 9 and 11: "College Challenge" and "Tailgate Fate"<br/>Contestant<br/>Season 24 episode 13: "Holiday Cooking" |- | 2016 | ''Guy's Grocery Games'' | Himself | Judge<br/> Season 10 episode 1 and 7: "Guy's Summer Games" and "Spice Masters" |}
==Charitable work== In 2011, Mooking partnered up with World Vision Canada and made a trip to Cambodia to exchange information and ideas about child nutrition, and to bring awareness to the issues of healthy food and clean water for families in all countries.<ref name="worldvisionmedia.ca">[http://worldvisionmedia.ca/connect/blog/a-10000-dollar-sandwich/] "WorldVision Media"</ref>
In fall 2012, Mooking traveled to Bangladesh to visit nutrition-related programming run by Save the Children and to meet with community groups, medical clinics, and local families and explore ways to create sustainable health and nutrition programs so that successful concepts can be applied worldwide. He has continued to work with Save The Children and their programming and has since traveled to Peru as well as worked with the organization locally.
Mooking is also committed to Toronto-based charity Second Harvest, co-hosting its annual charity Toronto Taste, for providing rescued food to families in need.
==Personal life== Mooking is married and has four daughters. He has claimed to have "never [cooked] the same thing twice."<ref>[http://www.williams-sonoma.com/pages/roger-mooking.html] "Williams Sonoma: Meet Chef Roger Mooking"</ref>
He lists Martha Stewart, Mike Tyson and Bruce Lee as some of his influences. Bruce Lee because of his dedication and discipline and the common ground he shares with him as an immigrant who broke down barriers, Mike Tyson for his drive to never give up and ability transform and evolve significantly in one lifetime and Martha Stewart for he dedication to sharing excellence, her steadfastness and her meticulousness.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Semancik |first=Emilea |date=2025-06-03 |title=My Digital Life: Cooking Show Host Roger Mooking |url=https://torontoguardian.com/2025/06/toronto-content-creatot-roger-mooking/ |access-date=2026-02-03 |website=Toronto Guardian |language=en-CA}}</ref>
==References== <references />
==External links== *[http://rogermooking.com/ Official website] *[http://torontotaste.ca/ "Toronto Taste"]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mooking, Roger}} Category:Living people Category:20th-century Black Canadian male singers Category:20th-century Canadian male singers Category:20th-century Canadian rappers Category:21st-century Black Canadian male singers Category:21st-century Canadian male singers Category:21st-century Canadian rappers Category:Black Canadian broadcasters Category:Canadian male rappers Category:Canadian male singers Category:Canadian philanthropists Category:Canadian rhythm and blues musicians Category:Canadian television chefs Category:Canadian television hosts Category:George Brown Polytechnic alumni Category:Musicians from Edmonton Category:Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to Canada Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Canadian people of Chinese descent Category:Canadian people of Trinidad and Tobago descent