local restaurant owner wins T.V. recipe competition

Photo: Spezia House

A Kamloops restaurant owner has won a province-wide recipe contest, with her signature menu item.

Amna Ahmed, owner of Spezia House on Victoria St, has won the Global BC family recipe contest, with an old family recipe — that also happens to be Spezia House’s most popular dish.

Ahmed said the Spezia Special Biryani, has always been in demand, even before she opened Spezia House.

“A lot of my friends had been asking me to make this recipe for them like this, or like, they call me. And they asked, 'Oh, can you make biryani for us,' before I opened the restaurant,” Ahmed said.

“I used to cook at home, and they would call me and say ‘Oh, we're hungry. Can you make this for us?’”

Ahmed said she knew the recipe was special, which is why she entered it in the T.V. contest.

But according to the chef, before sharing it province-wide, her biryani recipe was a highly kept secret.

“Not a lot of people outside my family know this recipe. And whenever they asked me I would never tell — just because its so different,” Ahmed added, adding her family was surprised when she announced she would enter the contest.

Ahmed said at first, the idea of sharing her family’s secret recipe made her nervous, but ultimately she wanted to share it so others could get as much joy out of it as she has.

Spezia Special Biryani is said to be a favourite in Kamloops, but Ahmed says she doesn’t think sharing the recipe will impact its popularity at the restaurant.

Even with the recipe freely available, and the video of her making it on T.V., Ahmed said she doesn’t think others will be able to make it like her.

“I was a little a little apprehensive about it. But we truly believe that our hands hold the flavour, it’s something that my grandmother always used to tell me,” Ahmed said

“We always use our hands, just because it's something that we think creates magic. Like, have you seen Salt Bae when he salts his meat?”