Quick Facts
Biography
Shirley O. Corriher (born 1935) is a biochemist and author of CookWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking, winner of a James Beard Foundation award, and BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking. CookWise shows how scientific insights can be applied to traditional cooking, while BakeWise applies the same idea to baking. Some compare Corriher's approach to that of Harold McGee (who Corriher thanks as her "intellectual hero" in the "My Gratitude and Thanks" section of Cookwise) and Alton Brown. She has made a number of appearances as a food consultant on Alton Brown's show Good Eats and has released a DVD, Shirley O. Corriher's Kitchen Secrets Revealed.
Personal life
After graduating from Vanderbilt University in 1959, she and her husband opened a boys' school in Atlanta, Georgia where she was responsible for cooking three meals a day for 30 boys. By 1970 the school had grown to 140 students. In 1970 she divorced her husband and left the school; she took up cooking to support herself and her three children.
As of 2011 Corriher lived with her current husband, Arch, in Atlanta.