Nina Simonds
Writer, WebMD, Inc.
Nina Simonds has lived, studied, and traveled throughout Southeast Asia. For the past 30 years, she has taught cooking classes across the United States and in mainland China. An Asian correspondent for Gourmet and a frequent contributor to The New York Times Sunday Travel section, she is also the author of numerous award-winning cookbooks, including the best-selling Asian Noodles and A Spoonful of Ginger, which won both the IACP Julia Child Book Award and the James Beard Foundation Book Award for health. Simonds' book, Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragon Boats: Chinese Folktales and Activities for Children, was published by Harcourt Brace last year and won a "Parent's Choice" award and a Chapman Award for Best Classroom Read-Alouds. Her latest book, Spices of Life: Simple and Delicious Recipes for Everyday Great Health, places an emphasis on the tonic properties of a wide variety of foods, herbs, and spices.
Simonds is a member of the Nutrition Roundtable at Harvard University's School of Public Health. In 2001, she hosted a food/health/lifestyle special, A Spoonful of Ginger: Food as Medicine, for Public Television, which received a James Beard Award for Best Television Special.