Vote for Arab American Zayna Salloum as Oprah Network’s New Cooking Star

posted on: Jul 2, 2010

Zayna David Salloum, an Arab American of Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian heritage, has always wanted to demonstrate her culinary skills on television. Originally from Detroit, home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans, Salloum has been a connoisseur of Middle Eastern food. Now, the twenty-six year old Salloum, a sales coordinator for Scripps Network in Chicago, is fulfilling her dream.

“My maternal grandmother used to roll grape leaves while she was holding me as an infant. That was my first experience with Arabic food,” Salloum said. Salloum attributes her passion for food to her mother and grandparents whom made it an integral part of her childhood. “I remember my mother making fresh “labne” (yogurt) and my parternal grandmother showing me her “secret” recipe for “ajeen” (dough),” she added.

Salloum invites you to join her in the kitchen with her first video, “Sahtein with Zayna” in which she makes, traditional hummus, mint pesto hummus and date and almond hummus. “Sahtein,” is an Arabic word which means “eat with good health.” Says Salloum, “Sahtein is an important word in Middle Eastern culture–the equivalent to Bon Appetite.”

Salloum’s dream is to show the world how easy, delicious and healthy Middle Eastern cooking is.

Salloum’s video “Sahtein with Zayna” is currently on the O (Oprah) Network website. The deadline for voting is Saturday, July 3rd.

Arab Detroit