SAUDI GAZETTE
MY all-time favorite dish is Saleeq and, of course, Dibyazzah for the Eid, said Vicky Mathews.
The first American member in "The Foodies SA", which is a group of food lovers who gather to eat, enjoy and critique food on social media, Vicky fell in love with the Saudi cuisine in her childhood.
She was born in California but spent the rest of her childhood in the Kingdom. Because of her passion for the Saudi kitchen and culinary in general, she joined The Foodies SA.
She said, “When I was five years old my parents migrated to Saudi Arabia. My dad worked as an English professor at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. He later moved on to be one of the curriculum developers for the English Department at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah. I grew up in Makkah and loved the quiet neighborhood of Al-Aziziah where we lived. We knew all of our neighbors and we often visited one another or played with each other daily. This is where my passion for Saudi and Arab food began.”
Mathews, now in her 40s, is working as business development manager and consultant. She holds an MSc. degree in International Business Management from Liverpool University. She has been named the first brand ambassador for Paris Hilton in western Saudi Arabia.
Mathews explained that the Saudi dishes that she is at her best are Saleeq, Mamool and Kabsa. She said she learned to prepare them from her friends.
“I love the spices, the history behind different dishes and the cultural occasions that some of these dishes are prepared for,” she added.
Asked how she knew about Foodies SA and joined it, Mathews said one of her "really good" friends, Yara Al-Dabbagh, was a member of the group. Seeing how graceful and fun loving her friend was within this group on Snapchat was what motivated Mathews to join.
She added, “As a member of the social media food vlogger group I was able to cover different types of events such as closed tastings for upcoming as well as already established restaurants in Jeddah, awareness marketing campaign tastings, the openings of new restaurants or food and beverage shops, and cooking competitions, including the Halawani cooking competition where I was invited to cook my dish at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel’s Italian fine dining restaurant ‘Aromi’.”
Being part of The Foodies SA was a great experience for Mathews since she was able to meet some highly influential members like Dr. Afraa Kutbi aka ElanVital, a very sophisticated culinary vlogger, who graces the Snapchat scene with her interesting travels and wonderful recipes.
“I was also blessed to meet Baraa Al-Khateeb, food consultant for Jeddah Links Magazine, a successful banker at NCB, food photographer and stylist, in addition to being a digital world marketer. Last but not least, Roaa Alsahhaf, an art graduate who converted to food art. It is quite interesting to watch her food art come to life on her social media channels,” Mathews said.
She left the Foodies SA recently and she became a new member of the 'Yummy Jeddah' Group (It is a Social Media restaurants coverage group).
Her goals for 2017 are to give back to the place where she gained so much love, knowledge, culture, friendship and stability — the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
She said, “I plan to mentor more young Saudi entrepreneurs as well as small Saudi businesses. I also plan to see more of the world and I have recently applied to take a Culinary Arts & Business Diploma from Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, as I love to learn new things and love anything related to business.”
When asked where does she see herself in the coming five years, Mathews answered, “I see myself living between Saudi Arabia, the US and Dubai. I would like to see more of my friends and family in other places. I would also like to take a year off in 2018 to get my DBA and specialize in quality assessment. I also plan to start my own online business consultancy program for young business owners, so that the process will be easier for them.”
