By: Hana Kotb
Everyone likes food. But there are some people who really love food—whose days are spent creating and testing recipes, visiting five-star restaurants, reading about new culinary methods, and devouring everything gourmet that they possibly can. Food enthusiast Suzanne Mokhtar turned her passion for food into a career and became an inspiring masterchef.
Suzanne is a certified cuisine and pastry chef whose career has been revolving around food and kitchen life for over 12 years. She started her career as a chef at a very young age. Her passion towards the art of food started at a very young age. As a teenager, her dad motivated her by always filling her pantry with cook books.
Suzanne’s first show was on OnTV Channel as a daily morning show for a whole year. Next, Suzanne created a small kitchen of her own, and started a catering business called A La Suzanne. She started spreading the word only by word of mouth and social media at a full capacity, all on her own, with no other chefs involved for a long time. Later, she decided to take it to the next professional level and enrolled in one of the oldest and best French culinary schools, Le Cordon Bleu, London. She pursued a Grand Diploma, an intense diploma that involves both cuisine and pastry culinary arts to the highest levels.
After that, she focused on catering for a couple of years until she was chosen to be the brand ambassador of Barilla in Egypt, so she joined Barilla Academy and studied the Professional Chefs Course. Suzanne then took over with live cooking events, making her experienced in making each and every pasta sauce. She also appeared as a judge for many cooking events and competitions.
After her experience with Barilla, Suzanne refurbished her kitchen, turning it in to a comfortable yet professional kitchen. That’s when she established the cooking school, A La Suzanne, targeting all levels of chefs and chefs-to-be, from beginners to professionals. Her motive was to make people appreciate food and understand flavors as she believes it adds so much to life.
Suzanne didn’t stop her academic journey there. She enrolled in one of the best london culinary schools, Leiths School of Food and Wine, and became a certified TV show chef representative, to learn all the techniques and tips of a pro cooking live on camera.
Her passion for culinary arts kept growing, and she started consulting restaurants and cafes, developing menus for major food and beverage companies in Egypt and all over the region.
Then, Suzanne was chosen to star on Fatafeat TV Channel with her son Yassin, who has been cooking with her since he was three years old. They presented a cooking show for families that motivates kids to practice cooking skills as well as professional techniques shown by her for the grown ups to apply at home with their kids.
But you haven’t seen the last of Suzanne! Every day, Suzanne pushes herself to limit, still impressing us everyday.