The accidental chef?

[For the record: A previous version of this post incorrectly said that "Top Chef" was on the Food Network and that Lakshmi is a vegetarian.]

Padma Lakshmi, author, former supermodel, and host of the Bravo's reality show "Top Chef,"  opened her Culinary Stage act on Sunday by announcing that she was waiting for her mother.

Lakshmi wanted her mom, who was supposedly on her way over via golf cart, to watch the demonstration. She stalled for a few minutes, chatting with the large crowd but then eventually decided to get going on the recipe -- goat cheese and mushroom flautas accompanied by a date/mint/lemon/chili salsa.

The Indian-born vegetarian (who isn't a vegetarian any longer because of her food-tasting role) really hopes to encourage people to try new ingredients, including many of the spices in her latest cookbook, "Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet." She seems to get the biggest kick from having people use these spices to amp up their own favorite dishes.

Looking much younger than her age (37), Lakshmi was dressed in jeans, tennis shoes and a tank top. She read a funny story about gathering roses for her mother one Mother's Day from a grouchy neighbor's front yard, and an excerpt on the joy of ice cream -- licking descriptions included. (Could she have learned some writerly tricks from her brief marriage to superstar novelist Salman Rushdie?)

Lakshmi said her culinary career began by accident after she wrote her first book, "Easy Exotic: Low-Fat Recipes from Around the World," the sort a traveling top model would need to stay svelte. She says she also keeps up her figure by jumping rope backstage between scenes on "Top Chef."

--Leslie Anne Wiggins

(Photo: Padma Lakshmi at the Festival of Books by David Livingston/Getty Images)

Comments

[Exelis]

Top Chef is a Bravo TV show, not a Food Network show.

She also is clearly not a strict vegetarian. Padma eats plenty of meat on Top Chef, as one of the judges that must sample food from all of the chefs that are competing.