Michelle Tam
Michelle Tam is the recipe developer behind Nom Nom Paleo, sharing Asian-inspired, gluten-free home cooking and three New York Times bestselling cookbooks with her husband, Henry Fong.
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Michelle’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus her backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Andrews McMeel PublishingOverview
- Known as
- Nom Nom Paleo
- Work
- Recipe developer, food blogger, and cookbook author
- Started
- Launched Nom Nom Paleo in 2010
- Before the blog
- Night-shift hospital pharmacist
- Creative partner
- Husband Henry Fong, photographer, illustrator, and designer
- Breakout
- Saveur’s Best Special Diets Blog winner in 2012
Mini bio
How it started.
Michelle grew up watching her mother cook. She studied nutrition and food science at UC Berkeley and later earned a doctorate in pharmacy at UCSF. Food stayed a constant interest while she worked hospital night shifts.
From hobby to full-time work.
After changing the way she ate in 2010, she began Nom Nom Paleo to document her cooking. The blog won Saveur’s Best Special Diets Blog award in 2012. In 2014, she left her hospital job to focus on the work she had been building alongside it.
A family collaboration.
Michelle develops the recipes and works with her husband, Henry Fong, on the books and website. Their three cookbooks combine step-by-step food photography with cartoons. Her recipes often draw on Asian flavors, with practical shortcuts for home cooks.
Where to follow along now.
Her website remains a home for new recipes and reader cooking challenges. The Nom Nom Paleo app earned Webby recognition in 2014 and 2019, but Michelle and Henry ended support in October 2023 because maintaining it had become too expensive.
Creditschronological, newest first
Cookbooks
- 2022Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go!Co-author with Henry Fong
- 2017Ready or Not!Co-author with Henry Fong
- 2013Nom Nom Paleo: Food for HumansCo-author with Henry Fong
Digital projects
- 2012Nom Nom Paleo cooking appCo-creator; support ended in 2023
- 2010Nom Nom PaleoCreator and recipe developer
Awards
- UCSF Campaign Alumni Award2019 · Honored in “The Audacious” category.
- Webby Awards2014 and 2019 · Recognition for the Nom Nom Paleo cooking app.
- James Beard Award nomination2015 · Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans, co-authored with Henry Fong.
- Saveur Best Food Blog Awards2012 · Winner, Best Special Diets Blog, for Nom Nom Paleo.
Quotes
Our main focus is always food, family, and funMichelle Tam, UCSF Alumni
Reflecting on the priorities behind Nom Nom Paleo in an alumni profile.
Trivia
- At Berkeley, she originally wanted to become a flavor scientist.
- Her sister Fiona helped refine the Nom Nom Paleo spice blends sold through The Spice Lab.
- Her 2012 Saveur prize included an engraved cleaver.
Find Michelle
Follow Michelle for new recipes and cook along with the Nom Nom Paleo community.
Are you Michelle Tam?
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