Imad Hasnain takes the spotlight at FUCHSIA this week for being a Pakistani chef at a 2 Star Michelin restaurant in New York City at just 22 years of age! Keep on reading to get an insight into his journey till now.
Imad Hasnain is a Fish Roast at a 2 Star Michelin restaurant The Modern MoMA in New York City. He was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and stayed there till he was 11 years old. After that, he moved to Saudi Arabia for 7 years where he attended high school. Eventually, he moved to New York to attend the Culinary Institute of America.
At just 22, he is working at a Michelin Star restaurant, that too, in one of the most culinarily competitive cities in the world. FUCHSIA reached out to him to have an in-depth conversation about his journey, what inspired him to choose this career path, and more.
Scroll down to read our conversation with him.
How Did You Get Into Cooking? How Did This Interest Develop?
We all have hobbies that we give hours to (sometimes at the expense of our studies) but very few are lucky enough to turn those hobbies into full-blown successful careers. Iman Hasnain is one of the lucky ones. He has always had a knack for cooking so he made a career out of it! This is how he narrates his journey,
Cooking for me initially started as an escape from studying, as it was always an acceptable excuse when my mom asked why aren’t I studying, slowly it went from taking 30 minutes out of the day to hours, and before I knew it I wasn’t studying for my A levels but baking eclairs or making pasta for the family dinner. In a weird way by trying to find something to distract me from studying for my previous goal of going to school for computer science, I found a new goal which was cooking.
Imad Hasnain
Everybody Has Someone Who Inspires Them To Pursue Their Passion. Who Was Yours?
You derive inspiration from the people around you, and for Imad, it’s the feeling he got after feeding his friends and family!
With cooking this question is always easy, it’s the people you feed, and how they feel after you give them something good to try. Thankfully I always had a great group of friends who always supported my weird ideas and a family who backed them even if they were ridiculous at times.
Imad Hasnain
Imad also credits the inspiration behind his food to the chefs he has had the opportunity to work with at the Culinary Institute of America.
If I were to give a role model who would have inspired my cooking, that would have to be my chefs who have taught me so much, in particular Chef Lipuma at the Culinary Institute of America
Imad Hasnain
Whats Your Favourite Pakistani food? If You Could, Which Desi Dish Would You Like To Introduce In Your Restaurant?
Imad must have an all-time favourite Pakistani dish, being a Pakistani, right? So of course, we HAD to ask him about his favourite Pakistani food. We were also intrigued about which Pakistani dish he thinks would fit into a 2 Star Michelin restaurant’s menu.
This is what he had to say,
My favourite Pakistani dish forever and always will be is Nihari, it is something I loved eating as a child, was the first Pakistani dish I made in America and has since become a tradition where I make Nihari every Eid for all my close friends in NYC. But when it comes to a dish on my menu Nihari is nowhere close, but that is only because my style of cooking is French-based and more simplistic than anything, but something I would want on my menu is Chai Toast. Chai Toast is quintessentially Pakistani to me it is something I had in the morning, or anytime I needed a snack, and something my grandmother still has every day and I’ll never forget.
Imad Hasnain
Chai toast in a non-Pakistani NYC restaurant? We can totally get around that! What do you think?
How Was Your Experience At The Culinary Institute Of America? Were You The Only Pakistan There?
“Luckily, I was not the only Pakistani at school so I always had someone to relate to when it came to missing home, but you could still count the number of us on one hand,” he expressed.
However, he sees this in a positive light as his experience at the CIA is irreplaceable and has brought him much joy.
I saw this as an opportunity rather than a negative as throughout my time at the CIA I was able to build what I hope are lifelong friendships and lessons. It put me in a variety of situations, humbling me and teaching me how hard it is to cook as a professional, and my time as a Resident Assistant taught me how to engage and interact with countless personalities and cultures.
Imad Hasnain
What Are Your Future Plans?
So what does the future hold for Imad? In his own words:
Future plans are always quite hard to discuss, especially as a cook since it takes many years of being on the line and working before you are given the responsibility of running a restaurant or owning one. As of right now I just hope to be cooking in NYC for the next few years and then maybe work in Europe for a couple of years, and then maybe a restaurant. Where? Even I don’t know yet, hopefully somewhere quaint and small
Imad Hasnain
Do pay a visit to get a taste of his food at The Modern MoMA if you happen to visit New York City. We wish him all the luck and good wishes for his future endeavours.
And although you don’t plan to open up a restaurant in Pakistan anytime time soon, if in the foreseeable future you do, we’ll surely be looking out for that chai toast on the menu, Imad!
