Madhur Jaffrey wins James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award

Noted cookbook author, writer, teacher, and actress Jaffrey is a nine-time James Beard Award winner

The James Beard Foundation has named noted cookbook author, writer, teacher, and actress Madhur Jaffrey as the winner of the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is given to an individual whose lifetime body of work has had a positive and long-lasting impact on the way we eat, cook, and/or think about food in America.

Read: 7 Indian American chefs among James Beard Award semifinalists (January 30, 2023)

The Foundation announced the 2023 Restaurant and Chef Award nominees, Leadership Award winners, and Humanitarian of the Year and Lifetime Achievement honorees on March 29 during a live ceremony at the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jaffrey first captured attention as an actress in the film Shakespeare Wallah, winning the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival in 1965.

Her first cookbook, An Invitation to Indian Cooking, was published in 1973, and was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2006. She has since released more than 30 award-winning cookbooks, cementing her status as the “Godmother of Indian Cooking.”

In 1982, her iconic show, Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery, premiered on the BBC. Jaffrey, who was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2022—the third-highest civilian award given by the Indian government— is credited with bringing mainstream attention to Indian cuisine, both in the US and the UK.

She was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the UK Guild of Food Writers in 2019 and, with the 2023 James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award, she is a nine-time James Beard Award winner.

“It’s a wonderful pinnacle to my career and I’m overjoyed,” Jaffrey said of her James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Humanitarian of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Honorees will be recognized at the Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 5 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Read: Madhur Jaffrey just became the first Indian to win a James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award (March 30, 2023)

“The James Beard Awards celebrate outstanding achievement and exceptional culinary talent, as well as all those doing incredible work on behalf of our communities and wider food system. This year’s nominees, winners, and honorees are inspiring exemplars of that,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO, James Beard Foundation.

“We congratulate all those recognized today and look forward to celebrating them at another exciting Awards Weekend in Chicago this June.”