Meet Saliha Mehmood-Ahmed.
A British born Pakistani, living in Watford, England. A doctor by profession, and a contestant in Masterchef UK.
Having roots in the Kashmiri culture of Pakistan, Saliha thought to cook desi food in the competition by giving them a Western ring and luckily and also due to her skills, she managed to win it!
Yes! SHE DID! ???
Still can't stop smiling, need that paracetamol for smile induced fatigue ??? #MasterChefUK pic.twitter.com/9zx1HJuaTU
— Saliha Mahmood Ahmed (@salihacooks) May 13, 2017
That paracetamol joke, though. A desi through and through, I see.
She might have thought that if Manish Diyal’s character in the “Hundred Foot Journey” can make his way up by cooking Indian food, she can also make the goras happy but boy, was she wrong.
Though she won the competition, she wasn’t able to win the hearts of goras because according to them, a chef cannot win by just cooking plain, old saalan.
And racist trolls online are not having it
Getting a tad annoyed with the repeated versions of curries by Salilah on #MasterChefUK , surely she has to show a range of skills & cuisine
— Dom Carrick (@travelchief) May 4, 2017
There are SO MANY curry averse folks:
#MasterChefUK where was progression in saliha's cooking? She started with a curry and ended with a curry. Yawn.
— Wilburbulldog (@wilburbulldog) May 12, 2017
Guess they just don’t like to spice up their life
#MasterChefUK
What a disappointing final after the last few weeks…Saliha is a 'one trick pony' she can only cook curry based dishes…— @smokiebird29 (@smokiebird) May 12, 2017
Some racists thought Saliha’s Pakistani heritage meant she’s going to open a curry house
Saliha needs to make different than Asian food,no need to be on masterchef to open a curry house, a million on high street #MasterChefUK
— Tracey Flynn (@Larry680) May 5, 2017
Kacha goshat? Umm no, we are not savages.
@MasterChefUK ur 4getting that the now masterchef champion cooked raw chicken.Anyone 1else would of been kicked off for that #MasterChefUK
— Jess (@RamboKat87) May 13, 2017
Okay. So he just boycotted Masterchef because Saliha won
I'm not watching @MasterChefUK anymore Salia shouldn't have been in the final over the series she wasn't the best Steve was. Poor Alison too
— Rich Wearz (@wearz) May 13, 2017
But all this racism against Saliha only cooking “curry” led to interesting observations about tolerance in the UK
Comments about @salihacooks on twitter makes you realize that the UK is not as multicultural it portrays to be. #MasterChefUK
— GrandPilon (@ChaudPilon) May 12, 2017
Not everyone was a hater, though.
Like this funny guy, jesting away:
Bloody immigrants coming over here heeling our sick and cooking us great food. Deserved winner #MasterChefUK
— ElPadgetto (@Elpadgetto) May 12, 2017
And this kind soul who seems to think (and we agree) that Saliha is a total wonderwoman.
Saliha is an inspiration, chef, doctor, mum. How does she have the time?! #MasterChefUK
— safetylaura (@laurabatchen) May 12, 2017
And this fella who understands that gastronomical pleasures have NO boundaries:
#MasterChefUK some of the comments on here are disgraceful… the best chef won , irrespective of race, gender or creed… well done!
— Tony Washington (@TonyWashington5) May 12, 2017
Of course, the desis are happy that Pakistanis are going places
Mubarak #British #Pakistani chef @salihacooks who's won @MasterChefUK You go girl! SO proud of you! Pakistanis & food, a winning combo♥️??? pic.twitter.com/LFjEIxE0mE
— Fifi Haroon (@fifiharoon) May 12, 2017
And everyone else in the world is equally in awe of your achievement, Saliha
"This is most definitely the coolest thing I have ever done in my life." ??#MasterChefUK pic.twitter.com/gLjrrYqO2g
— MasterChef UK ? (@MasterChefUK) May 12, 2017
So, don’t let the racist goras get you down, Saliha. We are so happy/excited/hashtag blessed, despite our tummies being in knots after seeing the beautiful food you served.
What do you guys think of Saliha, her east meets west cuisine and the big win? Let us know in the comments below.