I grew up in the UK and the person I really owe my interest in food to is Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet. He wasn't the first TV cook, but he was definitely the first to make cookery fun and interesting. Before that we had pretty dull presenters like Phillip Harbin, and the unspeakable Fanny Cradock. It's interesting to note that a few years ago there was a TV program in the UK which interviewed prominent British chefs about what had made them interested in food, and almost all of them cited the Galloping Gourmet. With hindsight he wasn't a particularly good cook, but he was enthusiastic and entertaining.

He's still around and still cooking, I believe, but has sadly become serious.

While instinctively I would say my mom, I would also have to say that my interest was piqued and influenced via a summer job I had almost 20years ago at a small cafe. For its time, it was revolutionary in our then small town as a place with good, honest food made with the freshest of ingredients: lots of vegetables, fresh herbs and beautiful cheeses. I'll never forget my first day there-I had to pit a large jar of kalamata olives. It took forever, was cumbersome and I was a mess afterwards. My mom then encouraged me along as only a mother does and she's been my biggest inspiration ever since. The cafe is since long gone but luckily my mom is still around.

My mother may disagree, but I inspired the way she cooked.

My first year of high school I took a Nutrition & Wellness class wherein we cooked something different every week. I learned the values of fresh & organic foods which I brought home my learning to my mom.

I don't cook often, mostly I bake. But the foods I do cook are light & fresh and that is learned from my teacher. And i'm glad my mother was inspired, she's an awesome cook now!

These are such wonderful photos! I love that you've chosen ones where both woman are smiling.

My mom taught me to cook, but my dad taught me to experiment with cooking.

I remember learning to peel potatoes with my mom, when I was just a very little girl - maybe six years old - and being incredibly frustrated because of how fast she could go and how slow I was. And she told me that when I'd had thirty years of practice, I'd be able to peel potatoes fast, too. I'm not quite at thirty years of practice, but I think I do ok.

My dad taught me to make an omelette like Julia Child, with one tablespoon of ice water for each egg, and no milk (and it's still foolproof). But he also taught me to think about making up a recipe with what's in the fridge, and to throw some spices in if I felt like it. What's the worst that could happen, after all? No one minds eating pizza.

I owe them both for a lifetime of good food.

When growing up, I used to watch Julia Child on the French Chef (PBS) everyday after school. Then later, I used to visit my grandmother every Saturday afternoon to watch cooking shows (PBS) and as I got older my parents taught me how to get dinner started so it would be nearly ready by the time they got home from work. Been hooked ever since.

Most of my mom's side is foodies. We are also the ones with food allergies and intolerances. As a result, we all had to learn a lot about food and cooking, both in terms of the chemistry and the flavors, in order to make the things we like.

I've also always been a Jacques Pepin fan. His shows were produced by my local PBS station, so I grew up watching him.

My Nana. She is a great southern cook who puts all her love in to every meal she makes for the people she cares for. Growing up, I always looked forward to holiday meals especially. I didn't know it as a child, but she selflessly gave all she had to make sure everyone has their favorite item on the table. No matter the sleep she lost...

It was the love that exuded from her kitchen on so many occasions that sparked my desire to carry on that form of loving those around you. While I don't cook the same type of food she does, I find I think of her each time I'm preparing meals for our friends and family.

It's such an honor to have had my Nana as an teacher. She taught me numerous skills in the kitchen, but my fondest food memories when I was growing up would have to be visiting the farms in the summertime. She would take me to pick strawberries, string beans, blueberries, etc. early in the morning, then we'd spend the afternoon snapping off string bean ends, shucking corn, washing and hulling strawberries to get everything ready for the freezer. Those are the times I miss the most. It was simple. It was slow. It was peaceful. It was how life should be.

Thanks for this post, and everyone for sharing such wonderful remembrances.

My grandmother was an amazing woman. She grew up the youngest in a poor family, and their city-limits home with large garden was descended upon each weekend by family members who wanted meals, especially during the depression -- she learned early how to turn odds and ends and scraps into good meals and how to make them stretch and still be enjoyable. While my grandfather was in medical school, she cooked for his classmates to help make ends meet, and when his stipend was $90 and their rent was $70 she kept them happily fed and healthy. She did this so well that even after 62 years of marriage my grandparents still laughingly remembered the single meal that didn't work out. My brother and I used to joke that she hadn't so much as burnt a slice of toast since she was eight; my grandmother, when she heard this, chuckled and said, “Actually, I was seven.”

She was determined that nobody would go hungry, ever, and especially not in her home. She always fed us to bursting, and everything was always delicious. My grandfather, an Army doctor, was an officer, and she would host major army functions with homemade amuse-bouches through eclairs and everything in between. Her marble cake was legend. Amazingly, she did this while earning her master's degree, raising two kids, and working full time.

She taught me much about how to cook, how to make food work, and how to make it stretch and be wonderful. When she died at age 91, there was a huge spread at her memorial, and I cried when I saw it; I explained to my partner that it was the last time she would get to feed us. He held me close, and gently said, “You have her recipes. She'll be feeding us for a long, long time.”

Julia Child, particularly when she pulled the guts from a whole sea bass. You could say I was " hooked ".

I didn't really get interested in cooking until I was living on my own in college. But I have very fond memories of making homemade applesauce with my mom and big family dinners around holiday time. My mom was also constantly adding vegetables to the favorites of my little sister and I like macaroni and cheese and spaghetti and tacos. I didn't like it at all at the time, but now I do it, too! Except my meals are sometimes mostly vegetables all tossed together.

I'm also pretty influenced by the Scandinavian food I grew up with culturally. Dairy, eggs, fresh veggies, and odd fruits were hallmarks of summer eating around Scandinavian holidays and an annual festival. Not to mention lefse and rommegrot.

But the biggest source(s) of inspiration for me these days? Fresh, seasonal produce and historic and ethnic recipes.

My mom never liked cooking or baking that much. In order to learn my way around the kitchen, I watched hours and hours of Martha. I guess you could say I learned from the best ;)

My mother and my maternal grandmother weren't fabulous cooks, but they got dinner on the table. My mother remarried when I was six and I remember instantly being pulled into the craze of my step-grandmother's (Gram's) kitchen. If you weren't chopping, stirring, grating or washing, you were drying and putting away. There was always a job for someone to do, and it was a huge family. On Saturday nights I would sleep over her house so I could cater to her friends during their weekly card games. I'd make them nachos and mini pizza's and make sure they had ice tea and anything else they wanted. In the morning before breakfast I'd be sitting in the kitchen with a big pot of green beans, popping the ends off in preparation for Sunday dinner. After church my cousins and I would race to her house hoping we would get the favorite chore, grating the cheese for the macaroni and cheese. Everyone loved to grate because you could pop a chunk of cheese in your mouth here and there. My Gram cooked for everyone and everyone was always welcome. On Sundays we ate like it was Thanksgiving and she was never afraid to try out something new. I was there when she attempted new dishes and even when she was bottling her home made Kahlua. She taught me that I shouldn't be afraid to experiment in the kitchen, but if I made something great, I shouldn't be afraid to serve it again and again. Gram passed her love for cooking on to me and I share it with anyone who sits at my table.

My mother was an avid Julia Child fan and cooked many of her recipes. For our birthdays, she would cook our favorite meals. I would ask for Thanksgiving Dinner in May, my bro would ask for Fruit de Mer and my sister, Coq au Vin. Lucky us. This week we commemorated the 5th year of her death. Thanks, Vida.

Growing up, I didn't really cook. But when, at 20, I got married, I found myself in the cooking hot seat. My husband has been my greatest cooking inspiration. I've had to feed this man (and myself) for nearly a decade now. Every time I get him to try something new, it's an achievement. Whenever I make a dish that has him asking for seconds, I feel like I've really accomplished something.

I love you babe!

Both of my parents cooked and are, most definitely my influence.

My mom did the day-to-day cooking, and I can honestly say that, in the 23 years I lived at home I NEVER saw anything come out of a box or package. Everything was scratch cooked. She was also a big proponent of organic foods LONG before most folks had a clue. Time and again when news stories come out these days about various health/food concerns, I find myself saying "damn.....mom was right....again"

My dad's specialty was breakfast. To this day, I still cannot duplicate his pancakes or his awesome homemade applesauce.

Not my mom, but my first caretaker and all the brilliant food bloggers in the world.

My parents were busy working most of the time, and my siblings and I were under the care of a maid. Although my parents do cook, its really the once in a blue moon occassion.

The first maid I grew up with since I was a baby was a Philippino and the things she cooked were interesting, at most times they were simple and delicious. She would be inspired with the meals she ate when my parents took us all out for weekend dinners. Since young I always watched her cook in the kitchen and gave a helping hand. Even at 5, she allowed me to chopped the garlic.

She went back when I was 8 and thats where it all stopped. The following maids cooked food that were dull, tired and repetitious. I endured this for another 8 years and decided that I could not live eating like this forever.

The internet inspired me with food porn, glorious pictures of food offered for me to see 24/7. I grew obsessed and I was tired of never knowing or fully understanding food. Everyday, I learned something new about food from writers and bloggers around the world.

At age 18, I enrolled in Culinary Arts, and at 20, I am now pursuing my degree in Restaurant Management.

Even with the lack of cooking in my family background, I have grown to become capable in a kitchen and understand many how, whys and whats regarding food.

I suppose it sparks from something I dearly missed. Knowing that I can cook, reassures me about everything in life.

My mom may have taught me how to cook, but it was James Barber (aka the Urban Peasant) who taught me to relax and have fun in the kitchen. Mom said cooking is like chemistry class, but didn't realize what an uptight drill sergeant my lab supervisor was. The Urban Peasant shows taught me that substitutions are okay, that dried herbs can be used instead of fresh and that quantities are suggested, unlike titrations!

My dad. He was a professional chef at a hof brau, so our family was treated to lots of lovely meats (roast beef is a favorite) along with our ancestral Chinese foods. When I was a teen, I also took an interest in baking, and he was very patient and showed me how to sift flour, beat egg whites, and measure ingredients correctly. He'd tell us we should never eat steak with ketchup.

In the last few years, he's developed Alzheimer's so I've had to take over many of the family's big meals (Thanksgiving & Christmas) but I'm so glad he showed us (and we took notes) how to make good food. Now I can give back. Thanks dad.

My mom, who has cooked nearly every day for the past 30 years. Our palates may not always agree but I admire that type of commitment.

My brief experience working in a restaurant with a chef who used local and fresh ingredients. In 2005, this was completely new and inspiring to me. I wanted to learn how to cook fun and exciting food.

And all of the other women in my life - grandmas, aunts, family friends - who cooked every day without complaint. I am forever grateful for their love and dedication.

My Mother was a terrible cook, absolutely unimaginative. I love food and i love cooking. I learned cooking from cookbooks and in particular from the Vegetarian Epicure

I have to agree with arietia, my mother is no Martha Stewart. She was an inspiration of a kind though- as soon as we were old enough to reliably not burn the house down we frequently had what we called "fend for yourself night" at my house. Everyone had to eat something with a vegetable, but other than that you were expected to make it yourself. It taught me not to be afraid in the kitchen. It taught me that mistakes were often edible enough and really a good learning experience. I giggle when someone talks wistfully about "the food mom used to make"...for me, that's lean cuisines and entemanns coffee cake. I'll take my cooking over that any day. :)

Two women in my life played major roles in encouraging and inspiring my cooking. My mother and grandmother. My mother taught me to peel potatoes, cucumbers and slice an apple when I was in kindergarten. I learned how to read from a cookbook. My grandma was always a willing audience to my kitchen experiments and some of my earliest ideas of cooking with whatever was in the pantry came straight from her. She taught me the difference between baking soda and baking powder when I mistakenly doubled the baking soda in a chocolate cake recipe. She taught me to use bacon grease to refry pinto beans. she taught me how to make a pot of white rice, the importance of being patient. My mom taught me to measure, read through an entire recipe and to be conscious of time when embarking on a new recipe. They both imparted in me the values of being a happy cook: quality ingredients, cooking meals that I enjoy eating as much as I enjoy preparing, Keep my fingers out of the pot, use a potholder, wear an apron, keep the table clothed and pour a drop or splash of the wine I am drinking into the food I am cooking.

My mom taught me how to bake cookies and jam bars and the like. My boyfriend's mom taught me how to make gravy and mashed potatoes. Everything in between I've had to learn through trial, error and the internet. I'm not an intuitive cook at all -- I still have to follow recipes, maybe that's why I like baking so much? -- but I am very proud of how I can now find appropriate recipes and plan out a week's worth of home-cooked food using mostly fresh ingredients. And what's more, it's usually pretty darn tasty, too. It even passes the boyfriend test. :)

I find the "my mom didn't cook" comments interesting. My mom didn't like cooking, but as I sat here thinking about it, I realized that I did learn quite a bit from all our baking together. Like breaking eggs, measuring dry ingredients, reading recipes, etc.

Julia Child.... the food in my house when I grew up was pretty...seeing Julia changed all that for me.

Julia Child......food was pretty simple in my house when I was growing up.....seeing Julia changed all that.

My mother inspired me to cook, but not in the usual way. She's not much of a cook (and she would agree with this--she always says she only learned how to make 7 things when she got married, so she'd have one for each day of the week), but she saw the effects of poor nutrition on people in her family, so she always emphasized nutrition and eating whole, natural foods. So when I grew up and wanted to eat healthy, I knew the only way to do that was to cook for myself; I taught myself to cook with good cookbooks and the internet. I think I started with "Laurel's Kitchen," when I was a teenage vegetarian, a cookbook my mother probably bought me.

My mother-in-law (French classics like poulet à l'estragon); an uncle (Chinese soya chicken); my mother (Chinese classics like chicken rice and steamed fish with ginger and scallions); an Iranian friend (rice); and a Japanese friend (sushi). I still try to learn from all of my talented friends and family.

Both my grandmother and my mom. I might also add in my dad who was also quite the cook.

Puerto Rican and Colombian food, scrumptious savory dishes that has taken me years to master but so well worth it. My favorite dish and not at all difficult is steak w/onions, platanos maduros w/garlic and olive oil. Served w/salad (iceberg lettuce, sweet onion, & tomatoes w/advocados seasoned w/oregano. drizzled w/goya olive oil. I'm not afraid to try different dishes and enjoy eating foods from just about every country. I love to cook & hope to never ever stop learning something new in the kitchen! I also love to share my love of cooking with my daughter!

My mother... she was a brilliant cook who could make pantry scraps into a feast and once she'd shown me a recipe she'd magically forget how to make it (so everyone would have to ask me - great for my self-esteem). She said my earliest kitchen "triumph" was making Christmas cookies, sitting on the table at 2 years old, I doubt I made any cookies that were edible but I always loved that she brought that up!

My Oma taught me to cook; how to nourish the people you love with what you put in the bowls on the table.

My mom taught me to enjoy it. :)

I wasn't very interested in cooking until I moved away for college. None of my roommates could cook, unless they used the microwave, but still wanted food their mothers made. I hated the microwave crap that they bought. So I looked up recipes, followed reviews and taught myself.

Although I do owe some of it to my mother... only on a different note. My brother and I used to sneak into the kitchen and add spices to the food. She was and never has been a "good" cook (and she will even admit to that one). My brother and I liked to experiment at her expense. We had some terrible turn outs, but eventually learned our way around spices.

Now I do my best to cook everyday for my fiance and I. I can always tell if he likes something when he goes back for seconds.

I cooked with my mom growing up, but when she died suddenly when I was in high school it became glaringly obvious that I had no idea how to cook. My high school Latin teacher took me under her wing and taught me a few basics--quick tuna casserole (which tuna + noodles + veggies), chicken pesto, etc. And it really helped me like this: If you know a basic recipe, you can substitute with what you have, you can follow the same technique with new ingredients, you can make it if all else fails.

My grandma. She was in a wheelchair and from the living room would watch and tell me what to do (she couldn't get in the kitchen.) I was on a stool to reach the counter and she taught me how to bake bread- but of course loaf bread was too ordinary. My first baking experience was a braided loaf of italian bread!

I learned how to cook out of necessity. My mother was a single parent and my older brothers worked after school, so by the time I was in third grade, I was responsible for making dinner every night--my mother was always big on us eating together. It was usually simple--some kind of protein, starch and a green salad, but I was the one doing it.

My Hungarian grandmother taught me how to love food, especially spicy food. Even as a little kid (4 or 5) my favorite snack was scallions and hot hungarian peppers fresh from the garden. I was never afraid of spice and began exploring the food world as a kid, in search of ever spicier foods.

One of the best things we ever did was, when we were getting ready to move several states away to go to grad school, we spent a couple of days with my grandmother, learning how to make the family favorites, from paprikash, to stuffing, to meat patties and noodles. My grandmother died a year later; to this day, when I make her food, I feel her presence.

My grandmother, who sadly passed when I was in middle school, and was the type of cook who never wrote anything down but rather just knew how to make things. My mom and aunt like to recount how as a small child I was completely mesmerized by Julia Child, which probably seeped into my young brain.

My Dad. He was an incredible cook. He always complained that we kids treated him like a short order cook, but he loved to whip up something deeelish in minutes. The day he died was the worst day of my life. The second worst day? When I realized he had taken all his fantastic recipes to his grave!

I was inspired to cook by animated movies haha. Alice in wonderland, different animes, Studio Ghibli movies. They all looked so beautiful and magical, I wanted to make new things, capture the magic I felt looking at the foods. I started cooking by myself, but my mother has been helping me learn more.

Watching PBS cooking shows with my dad on the weekends got me into cooking. I remember watching the likes of Nathalie Dupree, Jacques Pepin, and Justin Wilson. My dad taught me some basic things (poor thing taught me a really hard way to make a bad omelette.) I took it from there. I have been cooking now for 26 years and consider myself as good as many professional chefs.

My mom taught me the basics of cooking and I still love to cook her recipes that I grew up eating. My husband taught me to be more adventurous in the kitchen by trying recipes that seem complicated or involve strange ingredients. My husband is a MUCH better cook than me, but doesn't have time during the week to make dinner, so I have to step up.