Who is Nadiya Hussain, the 'national treasure' who baked Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday cake?
Who knew winning a culinary show would make Nadiya Hussain a British “national treasure”! It was 2015, Nadiya’s husband Abdal Hussain decided to help his wife who was suffering from crippling anxiety to regain her zest for life. At that time, Nadiya claimed that only baking helped her soothe her anxiety, so Abdal entered her name into one of the most popular British baking shows - ‘The Great British Bake Off’.
Her positive energy and exceptional baking skills earned her several fans including the former prime minister David Cameron. Cameron was so smitten by how well Ndiya functioned under pressure that he wrote to the judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry to make her the winner. Nadiya’s final dish- 16 iced buns, a raspberry-flavored mille-feuille, and a multi-layered cake called "My Big Fat British Wedding Cake", needed no recommendations, as they were declared clear winners.
Soon after winning the show, Nadiya became a household name thanks to her radiant personality and her impeccable oratory skills. After she won the competition, she chose to stay at home and take care of her children. She was heavily criticized for her decision, but she still persisted. Soon, she bagged her own cooking show, following which she appeared on several other shows.
Her biggest moment as a baker came when she was asked by the Buckingham Palace to bake a cake for Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday celebrations. She baked an orange drizzle cake with orange curd and orange buttercream. This was a big moment for the first generation British-Bangladeshi. Born to a humble family based out of Bedfordshire, Nadiya was always fascinated by food. Her father owned an Indian restaurant, where he often experimented with fusion cooking.
Although the family-owned an oven, it was never used. Her mother used the oven to store food. So, she decided to learn baking to use the oven by watching several YouTube videos, and reading the cookbooks and aced it.
At the age of 20, Nadiya got into an arranged marriage with Abdal, who she had met only once before getting married. The couple had three children together. She spoke about the challenges of being in an arranged marriage several times. She once said, “It’s tough – you are pretty much marrying a complete stranger...we had to live through the good and the bad, and have come out the other side." Luckily, Nadiya and her husband managed to make things work and eventually fell in love with each other after having their children. In December 2018, the couple remarried.
Aside from bagging book deals and appearing on several culinary shows, Nadiya used her powerful platform to raise awareness towards mental health. She openly discussed her struggles with anxiety and panic attacks and never shied away from being completely real and raw about her mental health battles.
Although Nadiya never intended for it, she became the face of anti-Islamophobia. Professor Ted Cantle, who prepared a government report on community cohesion said, “Hussain has done more for British-Muslim relations than 10 years of government policy". She said the abuse made her even more determined to be a role model to her three children and the wider Muslim community.
You can watch the amazing Nadiya Hussain at work on Netflix's upcoming show, ‘Nadiya's Time to Eat' premiering on Wednesday, April 29, 2020.
