By Anita Martin
Asian Wisconzine – May 2005

Excerpts:

Growing up in Pakistan, Huma Siddiqui, youngest of three children and an only daughter was not trained or mentally prepared to have a career but things changed. Siddiqui grew up with diverse views of the world. She was raised by a traditional Pakistani mother and a father some might call a “woman’s libber,” both of whom she says were “very wise”.

Siddiqui has carried her values and heritage with her, as well as her food. She is grateful to her father for instilling in her a strong sense of self-reliance and a can-do attitude. “These things register in your mind, but you don’t really know what they mean (at the time),” she said, “until later, when you come to a certain point in your life……….You try to bring that wisdom to your own children.”

Energized by her independent spirit, Siddiqui took the culinary skills her mother taught her, her passion for cooking, and her love of Pakistani culture and blended them to create “White Jasmine.” The business started as a partnership in 2004, but as it began to evolve and rapidly took a life of its own, the partners decided Siddiqui would serve as sole owner. Siddiqui’s book, “Jasmine in Her Hair,” is a cultural cookbook, which provides Pakistani recipes, as well as stories, which explain the traditions surrounding food. Self-published in April 2004, it is available through Barnes and Noble, Borders Books, and Amazon.com.

Siddiqui’s friends call her, “The Energizer Bunny.” By day, she works full-time at WCADV as the Director of Finance and Administration. Nights and weekends, you will find her teaching classes locally and regionally and preparing orders for aromatic spices, teas and spice starter kits. Thanks to her son and her friends, she produced, “Curry and Coriander,” a Pakistani cooking show which airs Thursday nights on Cable Channel 4. (The show is currently in the running for an educational category award).