UNICEF To Release Charity Cookbook With Celebrity Chefs

UNICEF just threw a launch party, hosted by the Home Shopping Network, for the new collaborative cookbook UNICHEF: Top Chefs Unite in Support of The World's Children by board member and consultant Hilary Gumbel. Gumbel's book contains stories and recipes from the world's best-known chefs, including Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Sandra Lee, and David Chang. A full 100 percent of the author's royalities will be donated to support UNICEF, which will help millions of hungry children worldwide.

"I'm a board member tasked with raising money, and this seemed like a little more of an innovative way of doing that," said Gumbel at the book launch party. "If you remember that money-raising song 'We are the World,' I thought, wouldn't it be neat if we did that with the great chefs in a cookbook form? One by one they started saying yes, and I ended up with 40 of the world's most popular chefs."

The book launch itself drew a lot of familiar faces, including chef Anne Burrell, Regis Philbin, and Matt Lauer, to support the fundraising initiative. The book is described as a "culinary travelogue" full of chefs' personal photos, memories, and recipes that are close to their hearts. UNICHEF will be released on October 15, but can be pre-ordered now.

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Joanna Fantozzi is an Associate Editor with The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter@JoannaFantozzi