About Me
Welcome to Woke Up & Made, a space where I celebrate global flavors and the stories behind them. My goal is to inspire you with recipes that honor the rich tapestry of cultures in America and the history of the foods we share.
Food has been my passion for as long as I can remember. While most kids spent Saturday mornings watching cartoons, I was glued to cooking shows like Jacques Pépin, Julia Child, Martha Stewart, Dessert Circus with Jacques Torres, The Frugal Gourmet, Great Chefs of the World, and America’s Test Kitchen. To me, food has always been more than nourishment. It’s love, memory, tradition, creativity, and connection.
My own story is woven from many places — my family is from India, I was born in England, and raised in California. I grew up eating burritos for breakfast, my mom’s biryani for lunch, mac & cheese for dinner, and trifle for dessert. It was the quintessential immigrant table: keeping traditions alive while embracing and inventing new ones along the way.
Most of what we eat in America was brought here by immigrants, and those are the stories I want to tell through my food. I invite you to join me on this journey, explore my recipes, and share your own unique food story along the way.
-Zarreen