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Before she was a Top Chef champion, Chef Zuliya “Zuzu” Khadija was a hedge fund analyst raising millions for Wall Street. Born in a Central Asian country that spent 75 years under Soviet rule, Zuzu grew up cooking at her grandmother’s and aunties’ elbows. At seven years old, she climbed onto a stool and made a pot of mastawa soup for her sick mother, who couldn’t believe her daughter had made it.
In this episode, Chef Claudia Sandoval and Zuzu trace her food memories back to her grandmother’s manti, stuffed with wild spring herbs picked straight from the backyard and drizzled with yogurt. From that moment on, vegetables became the star of her table.
They talk about sumalak, the sprouted-wheat dish women stir all night over a cast-iron pot of “magical” rocks while they sing, dance, and tell stories. They also get into the plot twist of her life: walking away from her 16-year finance career, a dad who asked if she was having a midlife crisis, and the moment she became the first vegan chef to win Top Chef Amateurs. Plus the Zumba class that saved her life, and a vegan fish sauce so funky it left Claudia speechless.
At its heart, this conversation is about refusing to be put in a box, on the plate or anywhere else. Because for Chef Zuliya, plant-based eating was never about what you give up. It’s about everything you get to discover.
New episodes every Wednesday.
You can find Chef Zuliya on Instagram @naturallyzuzu
Follow along on Instagram @bitefullypod and @chefclaudiasandoval
Host & Executive Producer: Claudia Sandoval | Producer: Shei Yu I Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Theme Music: Lou Raskin | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover Art: Mike Fennessy
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