About Sahtain Nunu

Meet Sahtain Nunu 👩🏻‍🍳

I’m a faithful foodie culturally and developed into one accidentally professionally while working for a major international hotel company for over 20 years.

Growing up in a bi-cultural household here in the USA and as an expat on foreign soil in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia grounded me in the deep routed tradition of ‘breaking bread’ with the best of family and friends.

My earliest memories are our families loud and lavish feasts with my parents breaking bread with family. I can still recall the yellow blender churning up foamy fancy cocktails in fun retro stemware, while my dad grilled his famous Syrian chicken. 

At the age of 5, I was learning to make midwestern meatloaf while standing on a chair in my American grandmothers “true farm” not art deco kitchen in Sturgeon, Missouri.  On the flip slide, while living overseas in the middle east, I have the best memories cooking beside my Syrian Tayta learning to roll the most intricate, savory, yummy, melt in your mouth, levantine delicacies.

Once, I no longer needed a chair to stand on in the kitchen, I graduated to cooking alongside my dad. He who would teach me to always have a strategy, be organized, be prepared, clean as I go, keep your serving dishes pretty by making sure to always wipe down the edges and be sure to have an accent with a garnish topping.

Shortly after my 25 birthday and again in 2019, my appetite for food would develop into purpose, when I unfortunately battled a cancer diagnosis. Food became less about fun and more about purpose as I had to find food which balanced nutrients with the tough side effects from my chemotherapy, radiation and post-surgical recoveries. As a result, my interest in nutritional fundamentals and trends began and has flourished over the years.

My appetite for cooking gained even more traction professionally over the years while working for a major International hotel brand in event management, catering, sales, global training, c-suite event planning, project management and global brand and operations management.

Most days, you will find me in my kitchen leading the cooking legacy my American grandmother and Middle Eastern Tayta taught me. 

Follow along and enjoy my community, where I’ll be sharing the recreation of my middle eastern and midwest family recipes.

Sahtain 👌🏼 

What is the symbolism of Sahtain Nunu?

Sahtain is an Arabic expression similar to Bon Appetite, most commonly used when a person is dining. It translates to a wish for double health – for you to enjoy your food before and after eating it. Fitting given health my hardships and love for food.

Nunu, my family-given nickname.