Anissa Helou

Anissa Helou
Helou at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, 2012
Born (1952-02-01) 1 February 1952 (age 74)
Beirut, Lebanon
EducationSotheby's Works of Art course
Occupations
  • Chef
  • Food writer
  • Author
  • Teacher
Years active1994–present
Known forWriting and teaching Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and North African cuisine
Notable work
  • Lebanese Cuisine
  • Mediterranean Street Food
  • Levant
  • Feast: Food of the Islamic World

Anissa Helou (born 1 February 1952) is a London-based chef, teacher and author. She specialises in cooking and writing recipes for Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and North African cuisines. Her cookbooks have won numerous awards. She currently lives in London and runs a cooking school, Anissa's School.

Biography

The daughter of a Syrian father from Mashta al-Helu and a Lebanese mother, Helou left her home in Beirut at the age of 21 to study interior design in London.

Following completion of the Sotheby's Works of Art course, Helou started working for the auction house, becoming their representative for the Middle East. At the age of 24, she opened an antique shop in Paris. Shortly thereafter, she became a freelance art consultant based in London. Then, between 1978 and 1986, Helou lived in Kuwait acting as an advisor to members of the ruling family, before returning to London in 1986.

Helou was inspired by the Lebanese Civil War and a friend in the publishing industry to write a cookbook. Her first work was titled, Lebanese Cuisine, and it was published in 1994. Robert Irwin described it as "no mere utilitarian manual, but a wistful evocation of feasts and picnics held in an easy going, Levantine environment which all but came to an end in 1975". The book was shortlisted for an André Simon Award.

In 1999, Helou changed her life by selling a number of collections at Christie's. She also sold her Victorian house and bought a two-story warehouse loft in Shoreditch, which she then converted into a modern, minimalist living and working space. She then opened Anissa's Kitchen in this location.

In 2013, Helou was listed by Arabian Business as one of the "500 most powerful Arabs in the world:, and one of the "100 most powerful Arab women".

Her book Levant was published in 2013 and was selected as one of The Observer Food Monthly's "20 food books of the year, one of "best books of 2013" by Gourmet Traveller , one of the "14 best cookbooks of 2013" by BuzzFeed and one of Marie-Claire Digby's "top 10 food books of the year" in 2013. Her book Feast: Food of the Islamic World was published in 2018.[citation needed]

Books

Aylin Tan (left) and Anissa Helou (right) speaking and tasting at the Oxford Symposium, 2008

References

  1. ↑ "Anissa Helou". HarperCollins. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  2. ↑ Helou, Anissa (9 October 2015). "My Syria: a journey through lost souks, spices and mulberry fields". Financial Times. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "About : anissa's blog". anissas.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 Derhally, Massoud (2 May 2013). "Anissa Helou interview: Accidental Cook". Arabian Business.
  5. ↑ Lyon, Alistair (15 June 2010). "INTERVIEW – Anissa Helou: accidental queen of Lebanese cuisine". Reuters.
  6. ↑ Irwin, Robert (23 December 1994). "In the Caliph's Kitchen". The Times literary supplement.
  7. ↑ The Taste of Future – "Anissa Helou « the Taste of Future the Taste of Future". Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "Anissa Helou « the Taste of Future the Taste of Future". The Taste of Future. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Arabian Business Power 500". ArabianBusiness.com. 2013.
  10. ↑ "100 most powerful Arab women 2013". ArabianBusiness.com. 2013.
  11. ↑ Jenkins, Allan; Grundy, Gareth (8 December 2013). "Observer Food Monthly's 20 food books of the year". The Observer. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "Gourmet Traveller's best books of 2013 :: Gourmet Traveller Magazine Mobile". Gourmet Traveller. 2013. Archived from the original on 17 July 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  13. ↑ Tienlon Ho (2013). "14 Best Cookbooks of 2013". BuzzFeed.
  14. ↑ "Marie-Claire Digby's top ten food books of the year". The Irish Times. 2013.
  15. ↑ Helou, Anissa (10 March 2026). Lebanon: Cooking the Foods of My Homeland. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-333496-0. Retrieved 7 July 2026.