PADMA LAKSHMI - I'm Just GETTING STARTED

The Top Chef host shares her culinary memories, future plans and a special recipe

- Susan Hornik

As a host and judge on Top Chef, Padma Lakshmi has been required to taste a lot of strange dishes. "I'm not really a fan of offal," she tells Closer. "The duck testicles in the DC season was one I really fretted over!" Fortunately, the majority of the other dishes she's had to eat on the Bravo food competition series are downright delicious- - or at least a lot easier to get down. Since becoming a television star on Top Chefin in 2006, the former fashion model has been able to indulge her own epicurean interests. Padma, 51, has published two cookbooks, and a memoir, and is the creator and host of the Hulu series Taste the Nation, which puts the spotlight on the food and traditions of immigrant communities all over the United States.

The divorced mom of daughter Krishna, 12, Padma recently entered a partnership with DAH!, an Indian-inspired natural foods company. "I'm excited to share this with the American public because it may be something new for them," she says. "And it's just plain delicious!"

How did your upbringing prepare you for a career in food television?

Food was such a big part of my life ever since I was small. Some of my fondest memories are of cooking with the women in my family, especially my grandmother. She taught me a lot about building flavors, but also how important it is to experience food with all of your senses. That's helped me a lot in my career.

You immigrated to the United States from India at age 4. What did you want to be when you grew up?

I had always wanted to be an actor and a writer. I studied theater and American literature in college, and I've done some acting jobs here and there like 30 Rock, Star Trek, and some historical dramas, but my career in food has taken all my attention over the last 15 years! I've been really lucky.