Aida Mollenkamp

Best known as host of the Food Network's popular Ask Aida, Aida Mollenkamp has a diverse culinary background and a passion for sharing her knowledge with food enthusiasts. On her show, Aida focuses on one tasty topic (be it steak, eggs, cookies, cheese, pie, grilling, holiday) and whips up everyday recipes that illustrate different uses for the ingredient or theme while answering viewer-submitted video, email, and text questions.

With exceptional culinary experience and a relaxed approach, Aida serves up "culinary therapy" addressing all topics – from recipe and ingredient issues to advice on kitchen catastrophes and culinary tools.

Her second show, FoodCrafters for Food Network's new sister network, Cooking Channel, debuted in May 2010. In FoodCrafters, she leaves the kitchen to uncover handmade food finds from around the nation.

Growing up with an Italian-American mother and a French stepmother, Aida was always surrounded by good food. Eventually, she made her way into the kitchen and discovered her true passion for cooking. She studied hospitality management, and then traveled to Europe to attend culinary school at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Paris. She lived between Florence, Italy and Paris, France for two years, and graduated with a Grand Diplôme.

In the years since, Aida has worked everywhere from a gourmet deli and California Pizza Kitchen to the Hotel Bel Air and, most recently, at CHOW.com, a website created for food and drink enthusiasts. As the Food Editor, Aida fulfills many roles. She regularly appears in instructional videos for the site, serves as an expert spokesperson, runs the test kitchen, works as a lead food stylist, develops recipes, and writes informative articles.

In the rare moments when she's not focusing on food, she's giving back to the community. She partners with various nonprofits such as Share our Strength's Good Food Gardens program, to help kids to foster a healthy relationship with food.