La Jawab Treats and an American Pakistani Kid on Food Network Show
By Ras H. Siddiqui
It should come as no surprise that immigrant Pakistanis and their kids born here in the US tend to be foodies. For many years now, as some of us have seen with our children growing up in America, our collective leaning towards food has become even more pronounced.
If that leaning was confined to Pakistani and South Asian cuisine when we started, our collective interests have expanded to all kinds of other ethnic foods now. The rise of Halal (Muslim-Kosher) meat sales alone in this country has been phenomenal. And some of us who came here close to 50 years ago can only look back in wonder because this was not possible even 30 years ago.
Today, our cuisine and our interest in all kinds of other cuisines, has gone mainstream. With that thought in mind, enter our new American Pakistani generation and Naiel and Punhal Chaudry from the San Francisco Bay Area. We have seen these kids on various stages during celebrations of Pakistan in the region, but how they expanded into the baking business is indeed amazing but not surprising. Their mother Aifra Ahmed is a physician and a very talented Urdu language poet, and father, Moazzam Chaudry a technology guru who has long been connected with OPEN Silicon Valley. Talent and community engagement is a family tradition.
Naiel, age 13, and his sister Punhal who is 11, decided to best utilize their time cooped up during the COVID pandemic learning how to bake. But being a part of a family soaked in entrepreneurship they took their hobby to the next level by launching a home baking business by the name of La Jawab Treats. La Jawab (unparalleled) is a name which reflects some of their creations and we expect them to earn a lot of dough (pardon the pun) along the way. They describe their treats as Asian-American Fusion products and their creations are getting a lot of traction. La Jawab Treats also donates a portion of their baking proceeds to charity earning further goodwill along the way. So, if you love mango icing and want it on your wedding cake, please contact them.
These kids are also social media savvy. This writer received a Facebook Friend Request from La Jawab Treats and we are now connected. I also received the following information from their mother which has launched Naiel nationally: “A social media message from a casting agent, which he thought was a scam, led Naiel to his dream TV show. Food Network's Kids Baking Championship Season 11 BIZ KIDS that premiered on Dec 26th, where 12 kid bakers and business owners from across the US compete over a 10-week reality TV series for a grand prize of $25k and the title of "Kids Baking Champion 2023". Naiel is the First American Pakistani Boy ever to be on this show and he has already made it to Episode #4 that will air on Mon, Jan 16th, 2023.”
Well Naiel, the first Pakistani boy ever on this show, is now in Episode #8, amongst the final four kids competing for the grand prize. The competition in this baking show is fierce. It was very close for him on February 13 th when he presented his Strawberry Tart with Balsamic, but he still made it through to the next round. The food tasters and judges of the show Ace of Cakes' Duff Goldman and famous actress Valerie Bertinelli are certainly sticklers for details, but to us viewers that strawberry tart looked close to perfect!
We wish Naiel the very best of luck during the final episodes of this Food Network show. And we hope to hear and see more from La Jawab Treats and this very talented duo in the future. Plus, since they specialize in desserts, their progress should be sweet!
