Running Cooking Classes in Kuwait: Meet Arwa AlTurkait

Arwa AlTurkait has a lot on her plate. She owns a successful bakery in Kuwait, operates a food blog and Youtube channel, teaches cooking classes, writes cookbooks, and runs a successful health coaching practice. The thread that connects it all? A strong desire to help others create and eat delicious food.

“So many people I work with feel that because something is healthy, it’s okay for it not to be tasty,” she says. “I’m trying to change that kind of thinking. It’s not okay to eat food that doesn’t taste good.”

How it all started: establishing a traditional bakery

Arwa didn’t learn to cook until she was in her early 20s, and even then her focus was primarily on baking (“I have the precision personality for baking,” she says). Coworkers, friends and family kept asking for her treats and encouraged her to sell them – so in 2008, she left her corporate job and established a traditional bakery called Crumbs.

Several years later, when Snapchat launched, Arwa used it to promote her business and began sharing some popular recipes from the bakery. The interest and demand for her recipes were high, prompting her to begin a food blog to publish her recipes and subsequently introduced a Youtube channel in 2015 to teach people to cook and share healthful diet and lifestyle tips.

Then suddenly, Arwa began to experience a few health challenges so she transitioned to a gluten-free and dairy-free diet. She leapt into learning new cooking skills, and when rare culinary nutrition ingredients became more widely available throughout Kuwait, Arwa began developing recipes beyond sugary baked goods.

As she was on a journey for optimal health, she introduced new items into the bakery – savoury items such as crackers, breads, and dips, along with adapted sweet treats using gluten-free ingredients and natural sweeteners. She still sold the traditional baked goods and cakes, but noticed customers frequently grabbing the gluten-free and vegan items, too.

At the same time, she shared recipes on her blog and Youtube channel that her audience requested like oat-based items, snacks, post-workout foods, meals to prep and take to work, and more.

“People want the healthier option,” she says.

Taking her cooking knowledge up a notch with the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program

Arwa had no intention of joining an online program – until she came across the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program by chance while looking for nutrition information in 2019. With her bakery, blog and Youtube channel, Arwa thought the program was an ideal fit to round out her knowledge.

“It really sounded like something that was exactly for me,” she says. “It was perfect for someone who had a bakery business who wanted to introduce more healthy options and share recipes online.”

The program gave Arwa the skills and confidence she needed to enhance and grow her existing businesses, and ideas began to percolate about new roads she could pursue.

“I have more confidence in creating and developing recipes. I loved that I was making recipes that I wouldn’t normally make,” she says. “And, it gives you insight into things that would help if you’re coaching clients or teaching classes. Doing the program made things clearer for me, especially the last parts where we made a plan for a class. It helped me make the decision of doing a health coaching program.”

“I have more confidence in creating and developing recipes. And, it gives you insight into things that would help if you’re coaching clients or teaching classes. Doing the program made things clearer for me, especially the last parts where we made a plan for a class. It helped me make the decision of doing a health coaching program.”

Branching out in a new direction

Photo: Lulu Al Moghni

The first project Arwa tackled after graduating from the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program was turning her cooking class assignment into an e-book, which she sold on her website. That soon led to health coaching for individual clients, and then Arwa developed two guided health coaching programs.

Arwa predominantly works with women – many of whom are mothers – helping them break free from the diet mindset, discover delicious food and work toward their health goals.

“I help people eat more intuitively and listen to their bodies, and treat it with kindness,” she explains. “That’s really where most of my coaching is going, especially when people have been on really restrictive diets. I’m teaching them to love and enjoy their food.”

Arwa was the first student in Kuwait to take the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program and has since recommended it to several friends. As the network of experts in her area grows, Arwa is eager to join forces with fellow graduates who also have a great passion for food and nutrition.

“I’m excited to work with like-minded people in my area who get it,” she says.

Working as a Certified Instructor

Photo: Lulu Al Moghni

As part of her mission to show clients that nutritious food is incredibly tasty, Arwa joined the extended team of Academy of Culinary Nutrition Certified Instructors, where instructors receive a set of done-for-you classes with in-person and online options.

A brand-new cooking studio opened in Arwa’s neighbourhood in 2021 and reached out to ask if she could teach classes. Since Arwa had nine hands-on cooking classes ready to go, she was immediately able to schedule them.

“When I went in the first time with everything prepared, the owners said, ‘You are so organized for your first class!’ They were so impressed with me,” she says. “It was so smooth.”

Since Arwa frequently rents commercial kitchen spaces to film her YouTube content, she’s well acquainted with the work involved to create cooking demos and plans to ensure she has all the ingredients and equipment needed to make the most of her time and filming location. With the done-for-you class options, it was a relief to have all the teaching materials, from the promotional copy to prep schedules and speaking notes, completed for her.

“The whole teaching program is amazing. It’s so nice to have everything readymade – having that is priceless,” she says.

“The whole teaching program is amazing. It’s so nice to have everything readymade – having that is priceless,” she says.

Every month Arwa teaches several certified instructor classes, showcasing healthful recipes and empowering participants with cooking skills they can carry out at home. Most participants come alone and leave with a full belly and a strong sense of community.

“When people were leaving, I couldn’t believe they didn’t know each other before,” she says. “That feeling that everyone now knew one another and had made friends – that felt so good.”

Arwa continues to expand her business offerings. A new website, a printed goal-setting planner (she’s also a Tiny Habits coach!), two new programs (one on sugar-free eating and another focused on Ramadan), and more cookbooks are on the horizon in 2022.

“The program gave me more confidence to try different things,” she says.

You never know where the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program will take you. If you’ve been longing to teach your own cooking classes, the first step to becoming a Certified Instructor is to get certified as a Culinary Nutrition Expert. Registration opens in 2022, and by this time next year you may be teaching cooking classes just like Arwa.

Header Photo: Lulu Al Moghni