LAHORE - There was a time when art only confined to drawing, painting or to make sculptures. Now the times have changed. Umam Aizaz, National College of Arts graduate in textile designing with four years of experience in the food industry, brings art in cooking food and presentation.

Umam is kind person who loves to break taboo that intends to follow the traditional line of thinking. For that she quit the textile designing sector and following her passion to join food industry.

The achievements she made in four years were doing food presentations for packaging of Dawn Foods and a handful of other organizations. She has also appeared on Masala TV in a programme Food Diaries. She used her textile designing creative skills to give a new dimension in food preparations. She participated in a dessert competition, ‘Little Big Chef’ arranged by Nurpur on the 13th of August 2017 held in PC Hotel and she won the won first prize along with her daughter in her team out of the eighty participants.

She had also appeared in an online cooking channel, collaborated with her for recipes of savories and desserts. Umam was selected at a grand dessert event “Nestle Dessert Genie” held at Pearl Continental Lahore in March, 2017. She was invited by ‘Chenab Club’, Faisalabad to conduct cooking classes for their members. Answering a query on the business using social networking sites, Umam said she felt Facebook helped her a lot to market her products without paying any money. “If you are not telling people about your product then who will do it for you? So use these sites to the maximum. “Establishing a Facebook Page led me to the next ventures in which I am making handsome amount of money out of this connecting with the culinary clients. “I taught both desserts and savories to an audience of more than one hundred people. I think by giving the knowledge is also the moral responsibility you got when you achieve something in your life,” she commented. 

Born in Lahore and by heart a Lahori, she said she never compromises on her passion and for this she quit her textile designing. “People often ask me why I quit from art and come in food industry. I feel I bring art to the food industry as food presentation is all about art. My inspiration for food is the people and society around me,” Umam maintained.

“Cooking hygiene hood has been a forever passion. I like to present food in its finest form which shows and reflects the creativity inside me. The reason I come out from the traditional food presentations because chiefs generally cooked foods with old styles and did not work on the presentation. I always try to present to make my food more attractive to the eye and I feel proud on this.  “The public’s response is the ultimate opinion through which you can continuously update and change your style. “I do not inspire my presentations from internet. I do look at nature and that is the reason my work is original.

“Quality over quantity is the theme I believe.

“The change is already coming in the food industry as young girls as well as young boys are also showing their interest in it,” Umam said. In a message for young entrepreneurs who want to join the industry she said that they should start work but first know your niche and know your best part of your cooking and food presentation. “There are so many people in the market. Think and evaluate what you can bring different for food lovers. The eating out fashion will never fade out. Be confident but do not be over confident,” Umam said.

Umam Aizaz also runs a Facebook Page PerinBeri.