Many thought the nation's surge of interest in good food was going to be something of a flash in the pan - a temporary blip on the TV ratings which would fade over time.

But, it seems, we cannot get enough of those who can create a superb soufflé and are a dab hand with creating a cake.

Watch Kent Cooks, the highly commended Kent Programme of the Year, with Chetna Makan here

The Broadstairs chef and Bake Off star released her third book at a glitzy event in London last night. The cookbook gives readers a choice of every day family meals to choose from.

It is perhaps little wonder so many of the biggest names in the culinary world over the years have either emerged from the county or settled here - we are, after all, the Garden of England. So why not plonk your kitchen slap-bang inside it?

We take a look at just some of those who have earned the title of a celebrity chef...

Gary Rhodes

Remember Gary Rhodes - spikey haired fella you either loved or loathed and was one of the first wave of celebrity chefs?

Well the multiple Michelin-starred kitchen whizz has come a long way since he started honing his culinary skills at Thanet College in 1976. Having grown up in Gillingham, he attended the college where he studied general catering and food preparation. It would put him in good stead for a career which saw him obtain a Michelin star at the age of just 26 while working at a restaurant in Somerset.

Moving to London and the top venues, his reputation quickly saw him secure TV spots and plenty of celebrity as he helped spearhead a revival in British cuisine.

Awarded an OBE in 2006 for services to the hospitality industry, in 2008 he appeared in Strictly Come Dancing (before being booted out in week three).

But in 2011 he and his wife (who he'd met while at college) upped sticks and moved to Dubai where he runs the Twenty 10 and W1 Dubai eateries as well as being involved in restaurants in Grenada in the Caribbean and the slightly less sunny Plymouth. He's now 59.

Rosemary Shrager

For the last six years, chef Rosemary Shrager has run a cookery school in her home town of Tunbridge Wells. Up, that is, until earlier this month when it became the latest victim of the financial crisis which has engulfed Hadlow College.

The cook had lent her name to the venture which was supported by the now stricken Hadlow Group.

Now 68, she's enjoyed fame since first appearing on TV in 2005 when she was the cookery teacher in the reality TV show Ladette to Lady and then in a string of programmes where she gets to flex her culinary muscles.

And they've been well honed over the years, learning her trade in a host of the top UK kitchens before starting her own catering company.

She has run a number of other cookery schools prior to the Tunbridge Wells venture.

Paul Hollywood

Bread made his name and now his celebrity is ensuring he's making plenty of the monetary variety too.

Born in Liverpool, he followed his father's footsteps to become a baker and then developed a rather enviable reputation for doing so, working as head baker at a string of top hotels, among them the super swanky The Dorchester in Park Lane.

But after a flurry of guest appearances on TV, it was his appointment as a judge on the Great British Bake Off which elevated him to superstardom. Along with Mary Berry, the two rode the wave of popularity in the show with Paul the only one of the original team to make the controversial move to Channel 4.

And given his celebrity, he today finds himself as much in the public eye for his love life as his ability to craft a fine crumpet. Ahem.

He lived in Wingham, near Canterbury, for many years, and now has a farm house in the nearby east Kent countryside.

Mark Sargeant

Spending more than 10 years working for Gordon Ramsey must, aside from fine-tuning your culinary skills, also provide a degree level ability to swear.

Mark Sargeant may, or may not, have adopted a fruity vocabulary, but he has certainly enjoyed a highly successful career which saw him collect his first Michelin star at the age of 28 and spend seven years as head chef at the acclaimed Gordon Ramsey at Claridges - during which he was also named National Chef of the Year in 2002, exactly 10 years after Ramsey himself had claimed the title. He also worked on many of Ramsey's TV shows and co-authored a host of books with the star.

Growing up in Larkfield, and studying at West Kent College in Tonbridge, he spent time at Reed's in Faversham before heading to the bright lights of the capital.

Today, he runs the celebrated Rocksalt restaurant at Folkestone Harbour and has opened his first pub - the Duke William in Ickham, as well as making appearances as a guest on a host of cookery shows and keeping his thumbs in plenty of other tasty pies such as the Wife of Bath restaurant and bar in Wye, near Ashford.

Richard Phillips

Another who learned his craft at Thanet College - now East Kent College - in Broadstairs, Richard Phillips dipped his toe in the celebrity chef world, appearing on shows for a number of years - and then dived head-first into running his own restaurants and pubs.

His CV is certainly impressive, having worked at the Savoy Hotel and alongside the Roux Brothers at Le Gavroche. But he really made his name as head chef for Marco Pierre White at the Criterion, Mirabelle and Les Saveurs.

He has subsequently gone on to open a number of Kent eateries - most notable of which are Thackeray's in Tunbridge Wells, the Pearson's Arms in Whitstable and The Windmill in Hollingbourne.

He's also a catering consultant, in case you want to hire him to learn from one of the industry's top names.

Bake Off stars

Remember the great ice cream controversy on the Great British Bake Off in 2014 when, gasp, a baked Alaska was taken out of the fridge and melted? Well Broadstairs' Chetna Makan had a front row seat to the drama as she competed in the show, ultimately reaching the semi-final. She's subsequently published a number of recipe books, and last year fronted a special show on KMTV in which she used ingredients sourced from this fine county of ours.

Jane Beedle, on the other hand, made it all the way through to the final of the competition two years later - missing out to eventual winner Candice Brown. A relative newcomer to the county - she moved to Faversham last year and continues to churn out the recipes to those who enjoyed her dishes.

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