From Home Chefs To Culinary Stars

 It's amazing how You Tube can raise the profile of anybody, especially the home chef. Now women in Arab countries are discovering the power of this platform as they share their recipes and heritage with the world.It's a chance to shine and expand the world's palate.

Food and culture writer, Reem Kassis wrote about this phenomena in today's New York Times Food section.Middle Eastern and North African women are generating extra income for their families as they show their recipes to the world. The kitchen has always been the heart of domesticity in their world.It's kept women tethered to it for millennia. Only twenty-five per cent of women actually work outside the . You Tube os changing that .It's changing the power dynamic for Arab women and turning their kitchens into a source of income and influence. Women like Heba Abo Elkheir started a YOuTube channel after her husband suggested it. She featured such classic dishes as basbousa - a sweet semolina cake and macarona bil bechamel a kind of baked mac and cheese.In less than three years she has amassed three million viewers becoming a top wage earner as well as being one of the top three women leading food channels on YouTube across the Middle East and Africa or MENA.

Ms. Abo Elkheir isn't the only one.Katrina Boukar is raking in money too. Her dessert videos are legendary with tons of viewers. They're simple and economical.  Her most popular video has more than sixteen million viewers. It was about a  three ingredient coconut macaroon inspired dessert. It was followed by a chocoflan and a cold brewed(!) pudding. She was going to give it up when she had her first born son but the child was diagnosed with autism., Her revenue from YouTube paid for his medications.Another successful home chef is Ola Tashman. A native Jordanian created her You Tube channel in 2018 when she was living in Saudi Arabia. She missed the traditional Eid cookies of ma'amoul (a date filled cookie) and her mother's recipe of shushbarak, a lamb dumpling cooked in yogurt sauce. The Syrian refugee situation has helped another You Tube chef,Muna Al - Amsha who fled the Syrian Civil War with her husband, They and their five children relocated to Kurdistan where she started a channel featuring all the recipes that Syrians around the world missed. It became wildly popular.

You TUbe is not only a great platform for chefs to show off  their recipes, it;s also a great way to earn a sizable income. For women of the Arab World ,it's a way to be successful and have a satisfying career.It combines the love of food with the need for recognition.