CHEFS

Roberta Siao

Roberta was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She studied sociology and anthropology at university and subsequently worked for the Central Bank of Brazil for ten years. After meeting her future husband on a holiday in London, she moved to the UK permanently and had a son, Thomas, who is now eight years old. When Thomas was born she decided to stay at home to look after him, and he now accompanies her on her culinary explorations of London’s markets, cafés, and food festivals. Roberta has loved cooking since she was a child, when she used to conduct barbeque experiments in the backyard of her family home over a couple of bricks and a wood fire. She believes that food is about nourishing, caring, and sharing, and is fundamental to a life well-lived. Roberta’s culinary curiosity is insatiable; she devotes hours to thumbing through cookbooks of world cuisines and seeking out new spices. She is equally passionate about social justice, which has led her to volunteer for organisations such as FoodCycle.

Aissatou Diagne

Aissatou, also known as Aida, comes from Senegal. She was born in a village called Meckhé and grew up in Dakar, the capital city. She finished secondary school and planned to study law at university but had to join her husband in London in 2012. Aida learnt to cook Senegalese food, like the very popular thiebu dien (rice and fish with vegetables), from her mother and sister. When in Senegal, she didn’t cook a lot except at weekends, holidays and big parties but, on coming to the UK, Aida started to cook frequently and it has now become her main hobby. Aida likes to discover new recipes on Youtube, as well as creating her own. She enjoys cooking delicious dishes to make people happy and also wants to have feedback about her cooking. Aida adores when people tell her that they like her food and she loves cooking for family and friends. Her dream is to have a restaurant in Senegal and she would also like to promote the use of local healthy products in the country. In the meantime, Aida wants to be involved in social enterprise to help people on a limited budget to eat delicious and healthy food.

 

Marlith Tenazoa Del Aguila

Marlith was born in the Peruvian Amazon in Rioja. She studied public relations and business administration and worked seven years in the administration of Peru’s social security sector. She then dedicated herself to the entrepreneurial sector, administrating diverse family businesses, amongst others a touristic restaurant, which managed for 15 years.

Marlith has three children, two sons who live in Peru and one daughter that resides in London. Due to personal and family related reasons she decided to emigrate to Spain- Barcelona, where she lived for 10 years. In Barcelona she accomplished different activities, opting mostly for the activities she enjoyed the most, often related to Peruvian food and other types of cuisine. She has always enjoyed preparing food; she perceives food as a reason to share moments with family and friends and be healthy! She then moved to London in 2012 where she is still currently living. Since moving here she started catering Peruvian food for different organisations that contract her. Working with Mazí Mas has helped her to see the London food sector from a different viewpoint. She feels very happy to integrate into the Mazí Mas team, especially because the organization has an amazing teamwork activity, one that offers the excellent chance to learn and to share the fruits of what has been collectively achieved.

Zohreh Shahrabi

Zohreh was born and raised in Tehran. She studied art in Iran, followed by a Design degree at Coventry University. She started cooking as a hobby and would often call her mum for advice, but very soon, she came to recognize it as a kind of art, where the pan becomes your canvas and the colours of the dish are added with spices and herbs. She believes that if you have good taste and a add a pinch of love, you will be a great chef. Zohreh ran a successful business in Coventry selling Iranian sandwiches, and would like to open her own Iranian coffee shop in London, where she is now living with her son. She loves cooking, dancing, singing, yoga, walking and praying.

 

 

 

Azeb Woldemicheal

Azeb was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where, after finishing high school, she obtained a diploma in Accounting. Azeb grew up in a large family where, despite not being in charge of domestic routine, she always kept an eye on her mum’s dishes and sometimes used to cook something good and special. Something was clear from the beginning: she has always been in love with good food! In 1994 she got married and moved to Italy. Cooking for her family made her realise that she was absolutely able to prepare what she wanted to eat. Every time she went to restaurants, to friends’ houses or just watching TV she had an incredible desire and urge to reproduce those tasty dishes at her house. This way, her home became a meeting place for friends and family for lunches, dinners and ceremonies. She absolutely loves making people happy through food created by her own hands. She particularly enjoys cooking Ethiopian dishes like Dorowet, Mncetabish, Gulash and Kefto. She worked in two Ethiopian restaurants in Turin, where she lived for 17 years. Her permanence in Italy allowed her to specialize in Italian dishes. How to resist to Lasagne, Parmigiana and to the infinite varieties of pasta?! In 2000 her son Jonathan was born, the centre of her world. In 2011 she arrived in London for her son to proceed with his studies. Two years later, whilst obtaining the Food Safety and Hygiene Certificate she met Niki. After they met she started her adventure with Mazi Mas and she started realising her dream: COOKING! ‘Here I am now.. and as my son Jonathan says: “When I eat my mum’s food it’s like going to heaven!”

Jamima Fagta

Born in the Philippines, Jamima is a community organiser and activist who came to the UK as a political refugee. She persevered through initial difficult years to take up studies in Politics and Sociology, in which she holds a diploma. Jamima now works part-time for Kanlungan, a charity that supports the empowerment of migrant Filipinos in the UK, where she advocates for undocumented migrant workers, migrant domestic workers, and migrant care workers. Jamima started cooking at age eight, and at age eleven became responsible for the cooking in her family. She recalls that they could not afford seasonings, so she put her all into cooking, striving to create unforgettable meals despite the limited ingredients available to her. Jamima prefers cooking and eating at home, or at the home of friends, to eating in restaurants; in her words, “home cooked food heals wounds.” Beware: she is a chilli fiend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you represent an individual or organisation you think we’d be interested in working with, please contact [email protected].