@patkaushal –
By her looks you will not make out that you are meeting a woman who has so much of love for food. You will realise her potential only after an opportunity to eat what she cooks.
She shuffles time between office, home and her hobby of cooking. Fond of doing things with perfection, Huwaida Al Shaikhani has a knack of striking a balance in all the roles she plays and to everyone’s surprise, she comes out with perfection professionally and personally for her hobby, which according her “is more than a hobby.”
The food items that she makes are not only delicious, they are aesthetically correct and matches all professional levels either in cooking or in their packaging.
“Anything comes out nicely if you love what you do. I love cooking and offering food to people known to me. In course of time my family and friends started liking my food and encouraged me to do it professionally, said Huwaida while explaining her love of learning cooking from her mother and doing it as a serious pastime. She is much in demand from her family and friends whenever there is any small or big function at their houses for her valuable tips on cooking.
Huwaida admits cooking is not her full time work. “I cook whenever I am in a mood to cook. I love to taste good food and try them with my own variations from traditional to continental food,” she says.
“My love for cooking started as a hobby. I loved to cook to the family and friends and take their opinion. Later when I realised that my cooking is good and improved up to professional level, I thought of launching a business. I launched a brand under the name of ‘Um Lamis’ and I am happy it is doing well.”
She gives her family full credit for pursuing her hobby. “They kept on suggesting me what meal should I cook. They worked as my food tasters and used to approve it with strong thumbs up. They motivated me to do what I am doing today.”
“Generally, I take orders two days before so that I can arrange my schedule with family, children and my work,” she quipped while commenting on time management.
She has capacity to cook for more than 50 people in one go. It takes one full day for her to plan. “It starts with preparing sweets and cold meals and then I move to hot dishes. Cutting of salad also can be done anytime, as I try to keep ready the beverages one day before the gathering.”
She works on her unique selling point (USP) of ‘health and hygiene’ while cooking. Depending upon orders she can cook spicy or non-spicy food and does her marketing mostly through her social media account @alshikaniya on Instagram
But mostly her promoters are family and friends who do the ‘marketing’ by the word of mouth.
