Hello and Welcome to my food blog!
My name is Izzah, the creator and the face behind this food blog. Food is my forever passion project and this humble blog features my tried and tested experiments I know you will love. I live in sunny Los Angeles with my husband Abhi and yes, I make him write a critical essay on each recipe!
How did you start?
The beginnings of my food blog are as humble as they come. I graduated from UCLA and during my time at my alma mater, I developed a passion for baking. With my degree in hand, and an entry-level job lined up, I made my first expensive purchase, a DSLR and had my sister Akna shoot my first recipe. This Banana bread! The year that followed was endlessly fun. My sister shot my videos, tolerated my nuisance (gosh, why was I like that) asI frolicked in the kitchen. Since then life has taken some unexpected turns that enabled me to build a very successful corporate career at a FAANG. It keeps feeding my passion for food and travels and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Do you have any culinary qualifications?
A few to count!
I graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor’s in English. During my time at college, I interned at the UCLA Pastry Kitchen that prepared and fed baked goods to the entire campus of more than 20,000 people. We’re talking breads, pizzas, cookies, cakes, brownies and so much more! That was my first experience at a mass production bakery. I supported a small 5-person team of professional bakers to prepare everything on the agenda, at times coming in during graveyard shift to bake fresh bread. I snuck in SO much cookie dough from the walk-in freezers.
In 2016, I opened my first pop-up at LA farmer’s market under this shoddy banner “Kebab Oye!” I made the most incredible kebabs on Wilshire. It was a fantastic experience to bring my food to actual customers, many of whom were former colleagues from my first corporate company just across the street! That short stint taught me operations, about fierce competition when a new vendor puts up shop, and most importantly it taught me teamwork! Absolutely nothing can be accomplished without your people. Also, no one frowned upon that banner!
When I transplanted to Seattle end of 2016 to kickstart my career at FAANG, I was exposed to a close-knit community of fellow transplants. Lots of folks like me coming in from other states to start their tech careers. Seattle is a small town and word gets around quickly about pop-ups, and restaurants. Taking a little leap, I started catering my food, first to distant colleagues at my company and slowly to other people in and around Seattle. I worked during the weak and catered during the weekends. It was intense but the best part was receiving messages from repeat customers for a new order!
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Karachi. It’s the city of lights and the commercial/fashion/food hub. It’s beautiful, noisy, and full of scars and bruises. Karachi is where I learned to thrive in chaos, and the city that enriched my palate with a cuisine that's as delicious as it is diverse. I grew up in a big family with a very meticulous grandfather who donned the role of head chef. Without fail, he orchestrated the feasts on Sundays with an extravagant meal--Mutton Biryani, Fried Pomfret or his Prawn special. So you can expect to see A LOT of the classic Pakistani recipes here like my Seekh Kebab, Mutton Karahi, and Chicken Biryani. But I'm always cooking and experimenting with different flavors. The cuisines that make up my top 5 list are Pakistani (duh!), Mexican, Mediterranean, Thai and Italian.
What’s next for you?
The sky is the limit! I’m a firm believer that if you back intention with action AND have the right people surrounding you, the reward will come running to you. My goal is to expand my food blog to audiences that are adventurous global foodies-those whose lives are forever divided across border lines.
Thank you SO much for being here and for your support!
Izzah