Gourmet specialist Karen Anand is a woman of many attributes. She is a Food Consultant, Writer and an entrepreneur, all rolled into one. Karen was born in Bombay and grew up in London and was educated in England and Paris. She returned to India in 1984

A B.A. (Hons) in International Relations and French from Sussex University within which she spent one year at Ecole des Sciences Politiques in Paris and three months in Russia. She is fluent in French and has a working knowledge of Russian and Hindi. She also has a Diploma in French language and literature (Sorbonne, Paris).

Her experience as a writer includes freelancing for many foreign and Indian magazines, including long standing weekly columns on Food in The Independent newspaper, the Saturday Times, Indian Today Plus, Pune Times, The Afternoon Despatch and Courier, Gentleman magazine, Madras Plus (part of the Economic Times), Deccan Chronicle and The Bombay Times. She was the first Food Editor for ELLE, India. She currently has regular columns in Maharashtra Herald and DNA newspaper. She writes regular food and travel features for the following glossy magazines - Man's World, Upper Crust and Taste & Travel.

She co-authored the best seller, Penguins 'Food Lovers Guide to India and Nepal', a selective restaurant guide and wrote the introduction to the International Periplus book, 'The Food of India'. Her second book, 'Lean Cuisine Curries', published by Harper Collins was an instant hit. Her third book, International Cooking, based on the TV Food show, was released in 2003. She has also brought out a CD ROM, 'Creative Cooking for the City Couple' for Times Multimedia. 'Simple Cooking for Smart Men', her new book on which her present TV series, Cook Na Kaho, is based, was released in March 2005 and has already gone into the second print. She is presently working on a 12 book series entitled 'Simple Cooking'.

Her tryst with gourmet food began while she was studying in Paris in the late seventies when she was introduced to the meaning of the word 'quality'. She trained briefly in Alain Sanderens' three star Michelin restaurant, 'Lucas Carton' in Paris. From then on, she has forced her way into any kitchen that let her in, whether they were in Bangkok, Bali or Sydney. In 1991 she ran a day time restaurant at the famous Bombay nightspot, the Piano Bar, known as 'The Salad Bar', the first of it's kind in the city. She left to start her own business, launching the city's first European style cheese shop and delicatessen, 'The Grand Cheese Bazaar'. She opened Karen's Gourmet Kitchen, a Gourmet food section in Contemporary Arts and Crafts, a Lifestyle store in Bombay, in January1998, which followed with another two in the Bombay suburbs. For ten years, she also ran one of Bombay's most successful catering companies specialising in International cuisine, which had an enviable corporate and private clientele throughout the country.

At the same time, she set up a professional unit in Pune, producing quality products for the upper segment, niche market in India. The range includes whole fruit Preserves and Marmalades, Salad Dressings and Mayonnaise (including a range of Eggless products) and specialty Sauces. This has grown into a full-fledged business, operated by a small team of professionals, which now supplies to several hundred retail outlets all over the country, International airlines and five star hotels. The brand is KAREN ANAND.

She anchored the popular Food program, The Good Food Guide, for Star Plus in 1998, which was repeated in 1999. In 2003, she anchored the Food & Wine segment of the weekend show Trend Mill on CNBC. Her last show in 2005 (still running) for Star One, "Karen Anand's Cook Na Kaho", which airs every Sunday at noon in India and has a global footprint.

Since, 1995, Karen Anand has been sought after as a Food Consultant, advising Multinationals and large food companies on the development of new products and recipes. She also promotes food products through endorsements, books, and recipes including food styling and supervision of books and does live demonstrations to large audiences. Companies she has worked with are Marico, Jet Airways, Domino's Pizza, Olive Tree, Venky's, Hindustan Lever, ITC Foods, Philips, Foster's, Veneta Cucine and currently Pepsi, as their flavourist for India. She has a long standing association with Britannia Industries.

She works extensively with hotels, consulting on menu planning, organising wine dinners and promotions, developing new recipes and training of staff. She has worked with Khyber, Bombay, Old World Hospitality (India Habitat Centre), Delhi, Hyatt Regency Delhi and ITC Hotels. She also conducts a regular course, Aspects of International Cuisine as part of the Management Training Program for The Park hotel group.

In 2003 Karen started her Gourmet Academy, a cookery school where she demonstrates a variety of International Cuisines and brings in well know chefs and wine makers to share their experiences.

Restaurant consultancies include, Citrus, Chennai, which was voted one of Chennai's "Top 5 Dining out places"; Merlot in Pune and a signature menu for Fine Dine, Mumbai.

In October 2006, Karen was awarded the prestigious Food & Spirit Award (Troph'e de l'Esprit Alimentaire) for Culture from the French Government. The award was created to honour four International figures every year who in their own professional field, help to promote French food culture, its values of quality, diversity, fun and openness.