LESS than a year after Nadiya Hussain’s successful cooking series, Nadiya’s Time to Eat, premiered on Netflix, the Great British Baking Show champion has another series coming to the streaming platform.
Nadiya Bakes, which starts streaming on February 12 on Netflix, invites viewers into Hussain’s kitchen where she makes an array of sweet recipes, from simple, everyday treats like freshly-baked bread to special-occasion desserts. “For me, baking really is my happy place, and I want it to be yours, too,” Hussain says. “There will be bakes for every occasion.”
This will be Hussain’s second solo cooking series on Netflix after Nadiya’s Time to Eat, which was premiered in April 2020, featuring inexpensive dishes that any home cook can make, no matter their skill level.
Hussain’s main focus of the show is to offer helpful tips for family meals that are quick to prepare and work for people on a budget.
Since winning The Great British Baking Show in 2015, Hussain has released a cookbook, Time to Eat, and a memoir, Finding My Voice.
She has also become a staple on BBC, starring in multiple shows, including the two-part docuseries The Chronicles of Nadiya, where she explores her culinary heritage in Bangladesh, as well as judging Junior Bake Off.
A stay-athome mum who loved cooking, Hussain is considered Bake Off’s biggest success story. An inspiration for British Muslim women, Hussain has “done more for British-Muslim relations than 10 years of government policy,” states a report for Panorama.
Since winning the competition, Hussain has found television roles as guest presenter, been commissioned to present cookery shows and even baked the Queen’s 90th birthday cake.
She is also the author of Nadiya’s Kitchen, Nadiya’s British Food Adventure; kids cookbooks Nadiya’s Bake Me a Story and Nadiya’s Bake Me a Festive Story; and has penned a novel titled The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters and The Fall and Rise of the Amir Sisters.
The 36-year-old was born in Luton in 1984, on Christmas Day, to a British Bangladeshi family. She developed an interest in cooking from an early age, thanks to her father who owns a restaurant.
Becoming a chef was not part of her plan.
With the hopes of becoming a social worker, Hussain took up religious studies, English language and psychology in college.
Although she made it into university, Hussain did not get an opportunity to attend.
In 2005, aged 20, Hussain married her husband Abdal and moved to Leeds. There she got busy bringing up her three kids, and a career was the last thing on her mind. But Abdal pushed her to give the The Great British
Bake Off a shot, because he wanted her to find herself.
Hussain entered the baking competition with much trepidation, but has come out with flying colours.
It was a surreal moment for Hussain when it was announced she had won the show. All she remembers is handing back the trophy to host Paul Hollywood and saying, “Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake?”
But winning has given her the courage to break boundaries and explore her talent. Although she is a firm believer that nothing lasts forever, Nadiya wants to believe she can do this forever.
