JEDDAH — Ghada Al-Omran, a young Saudi chef, began experimenting with cooking at a young age, notably with her favorite meal — cookies, which she associated with childhood memories until she recreated it and now serves to coffee shops, working families, and others. She revealed in an interview with Al Arabiya.net that her aunt vivified her love of cookies, which she used to make and carry with her all the time and which were known for their delicious taste. Al-Omran also revealed that she planned to include it in her Ramadan meals as a snack between the two iftar hours, either alone or with a cup of coffee or milk, and that her daughter wanted to include it in her school lunch box. And when it came to the preparation process, she said, "I start by preparing the ingredients at room temperature, which is crucial for good mixing because they must be kept at a consistent temperature. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by sodium bicarbonate, once the sugar and butter have reached a point of mixing." This is followed by nuts and flavoring, grafted with chocolate, and finally the flour, with a tiny amount of mixing to prevent gluten from forming and hardening. "It was a challenge for me to search for high-quality machines at an affordable price," said Al-Omran, who owns a machine for forming cookies in addition to an oven and a bakery mixer. She worked on a cookie production line as she searched for factories until they offered this service. "I was able to overcome it and get valuable experience as a result," Al-Omran said. The young Saudi woman makes roughly 600 to 800 pieces of large- and medium-size cookies, weighing up to 57 grams, daily, with the highest amount she prepared being around 900 pieces. Al-Omran rose to prominence during the Riyadh Season's events. She expressed her hope that her story may inspire others to be more ambitious and seek out new experiences in the same way that successful stories have motivated her to achieve success.
