Welcome to my Bake2Explore journey

Taste the World - Feel at Home

 This is Leila, a trained human rights lawyer, food and bread lover who’s passionate about every little thing in life. I learned how to communicate through stories, collective memories and experiences throughout my life as a professional migrant woman, and now here is my story.

Childhood, upbringing and immigration shaped my passion

I was born and bred in a big city, Tehran, and migrated to another big cosmopolitan city, London 10 years ago, which has become home now. Having that urban experience with culturally diverse communities allowed me to explore cultures and flavours mainly through food. By growing personally and professionally I became more socially and environmentally aware, developed mindfulness, learned and valued the power of community and independent female-founded businesses. Also living miles away from my family, made me more and more grateful to be surrounded by friends and my interactions with the local communities.

 I have always been fascinated by the world of entrepreneurship and independent local businesses. I am also a food and bread lover, and mindful eater living in a culturally and culinary diverse city. I grew up with the aroma and taste of flatbread, bought fresh daily from local bakeries. I thought I should combine these two passions of mine to start sharing my stories and cultural roots in the region that I am more familiar with; food culture. 

My steps; turning my passion into my business 

I had the idea of setting up my own small business around bread for a few years and finally just a few weeks before the pandemic I registered for my first ever non-sourdough baking workshop with Dusty Knuckle Bakery School. 

 Baking 4 different types of non-sourdough bread in just one afternoon became possible only because all the ingredients we needed to bake with, were already prepared for us. I was hooked and I perfectly remembered the pleasure of sharing my very first baked bread with friends and my neighbours. 

 I also participated in a few seminars for start-ups - which all switched to online ones - with British Library Business and IP Centre. 

 I have been collecting family recipes from the Middle East and North Africa which are so tasty and I started baking myself to try to make those recipes easy to follow and often add my own touches for a healthier version. I wanted others to experience the same emotions of joy and the security baking incites. Even though I had never opened a packet of flour before, I realised that the process was simple, while the taste and smell of the end product were captivating! Baking flatbread has become a serious dream ever since. 

Communicating through bread 

My life experience showed me already that personal food stories open doors to communicate with other people and explore other cultures and lifestyles. And this is my story of how my official Bake2Explore journey started and I am delighted to invite all curious taste buds to this journey.

Why not order your flatbread kit today & try it yourself?