With 24 restaurants around the world, 11 Michelin stars, numerous cookbooks, and TV shows, Gordon Ramsay is the top earning chef in the United States, with an estimated global income of $38 million, according to a new list by Forbes.com. Scottish-born Ramsey, known to US television audiences for his acerbic comments on “Master Chef” and “Hell’s Kitchen”, surpassed Rachael Ray, who earned an estimated $25 million for the year ending June 2012 from her TV show, magazine and cookbooks.Austrian-born Wolfgang Puck, whose 20 restaurants contributed to his $20 million in earnings, came in third on the list of top earning chefs who have a strong presence in the United States. Puck is based in California. “They are very diversified,” said Dorothy Pomerantz of Forbes.com. “There is nobody who just has restaurants. TV is a huge factor in making this list because they make so much more money from television than they can from their restaurants.” Merchandising and cookbooks also pumped up their incomes, Pomerantz said in an interview.Completing the list’s top five were Paula Deen, the southern US cook criticized for buttery recipes and for becoming a pharmaceutical company spokeswoman after she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and Mario Batali, co-owner of more than a dozen restaurants and one of the stars of TV’s “The Chew.” They earned $17 million and $13 million, respectively. Celebrity chefs were not the only people making big money in food. Some restaurants also had huge …