Shahena Ali
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British Bangladeshi celebrity chef and businesswoman, Shahena Ali won the ‘Contribution to the Community’ Award for London at the glittering Channel S Awards 2010, held recently at Prestige House, London. Mark Field, Conservative MP for London and Westminster, presented the prestigious award to the glamorous entrepreneur and talented food expert for her outstanding contribution to the British Bangladeshi Community through the food and beauty industries.
With a diverse background in food, business and the sciences, Shahena is internationally recognized as an authority on Healthy Eating and Cookery. Her refreshing take on Bengali and Middle Eastern Cuisine has seen her recently become appointed as Ambassador and Spokesperson for The Department of Health’s ‘Change4Life’ Campaign.
The glamorous celebrity chef, who advises the multi award winning Maharaja restaurant in Benfleet, Essex, has contributed to the Bangladeshi community by bringing awareness of Bangladeshi cuisine to both national and international media and has been invited to contribute to the NHS ‘Change4Life’ campaign cookery book. Formerly a Bond Fund Manager within the city’s Investment Banking industry, Shahena pursued her lifelong interest in beauty as a business opportunity, and founded the international cult cosmetics/ beauty company, The Powder Lounge, recently nominated and short listed for the Beauty Specialist of the Year Award, at the Professional Beauty Awards 2010. Within a short space of time, she has built the brand into a market leader within the UK and international Beauty industry, located in flagship stores, Topshop and Debenhams across the UK, making it a firm favourite at London Fashion Week, and amongst A-list Hollywood celebrities.
Shahena said “It is a great pleasure to receive this award from the Channel S team, this award is a great honour, not only for me but for the British Bangladeshi community, it is a reflection of our past, present and future, this event highlights that with hard work, perseverance and determination, British Bangladeshis are progressing in leaps and bounds”.
Stunning chef Shahena brings her own refreshing new approach to the world of traditional Indian and Bengali Cookery completely taking the myth out of what is generally perceived to be a complex cuisine. Shahena transforms basic ingredients into fabulous dishes and takes us on a fascinating journey into the heart of different cultures. Having achieved a degree in Economics and Accountancy, Shahena worked as a city fund manager. However, her upbringing in an environment where cooking and food were a passion and her involvement in a busy family restaurant was very compelling, it followed that her love of cookery inspired her to change careers and follow her heart into the culinary world.
Shahena recently featured in Eastern Eye Newspaper and Asian Woman Magazine which is distributed throughout the world.
Bringing a fresh, young modern slant on traditional Indian Sub-continent dishes and recipes from around the world Shahena is committed to sharing her knowledge with as wide an audience as possible demonstrating how pleasurable, convenient and easy cooking at home can be. Shahena believes that the whole process of cooking is about enjoyment and having fun in the kitchen rather than it being a stressful experience!
See her online recipes at Shahena Ali
In her spare time, away from the kitchen, Shahena is a keen runner and has participated in several events including the City Square Mile Run and the Flora Women’s Run. She loves visiting new environments and has traveled extensively.
Shahena has appeared on television at home and abroad and made several appearances on BBC Great Food Live! She can be seen demonstrating at food festivals and media events throughout the country, she demonstrated at the Z Carnival at Olympia and is a columnist and contributor for Zaikha magazine and Z TV magazine. She has taught healthy eating recipes to audiences in the North of England and appeared at the Taste Food Festivals.
© Biography Celebrity Chefs UK 2010
