My name is Ahlam, when translated “means dreams”,  I am originally from Morocco, I have 6 years of Hospitality Management and International Tourism background education. I moved to Orlando when I was 22 yrs old. My dream was to open my own hotel or business, to meet different people from all over the world and travel to explore new places and learn other people’s culture, history and background. My eagerness to gain new friends, new experiences and new stories landed me at Disney where my journey began.

I currently work now as a Food and Beverage manager at a Great Company and conduct staff trainings. Finding what you are passionate about is a journey in itself, despite my hectic life of a full time job and running a successful household, I experiment with different recipes and bake on a daily basis

Food is a source of nourishment, nostalgia, culture, and history and is a display of love—both to the one receiving it and for the one who poured love into its creation. A driving force behind our passionate lives, after all, how we eat is how we live.

A healthy relationship with food is so attainable, passion for food enhances the desire to pursue a healthy enjoyable life and excellence.

The food/love relationship started when I was a young grasshopper, shadowing my mom during spring and summer breaks. I loved her food and all what she made. She was a mother of six kids, a designer and a creative women. She taught me a lot of recipes, and how to combine spices and to create savory food for an irresistible taste.

I felt more in love with food during my day job at Disney but in the meantime I was inspired by the fact that United States is such a great melting pot (with the evidence of multicultural roots that can often be found in the food we eat). After my shift, I visited different pavilion restaurants (My favorite? The Mexican restaurant!).

I have always been fascinated by food history and different ethnic foods, and believed that there is more dishes to create and more new ideas to explore.

“We are what we eat”, speaks a lot about us as a people and often the food we cook and serve on our table has a rich history worth sharing with the world.

Some of the bedtime stories, whether from my father or grandfather, that I really enjoyed were mostly about history and food. “A history of food” book by Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat is such a great and impressive book worth the reading time, it tells the story of man’s relationship with food from earliest times to the present time.

Cooking and baking have really helped me re-focus my mind and remind me of the simple joy of creating something tasteful and meaningful.

In addition, I like to develop recipes that are delicious, but most importantly, that are inspired from my home country. It’s such a great way to explore and connect with different cultures by adding my own twist into each recipe I make.