Omari McQueen, at just 12 years old, is the youngest award winning vegan chef in the UK and the CEO of Dipalicious. He has published a new cookbook, Best Bites, has his own TV show and sells his culinary creations on his website.
He has won several awards for his achievements and… at such a young age!
Omari started Dipalicious at eight years old after starting a YouTube channel OMARI GOES WILD where he first filmed himself making his very own vegan pizza. He felt that the pizza was too dry and wasn’t certain whether Heinz Tomato sauce was vegan, so he made his very own first dip The Caribbean Kick. After allowing his mother to taste it and getting good reviews from the family he decided he wanted to start selling his dip and so created two more which he sold through his website www.dipalicious.co.uk
Omari now has a selection of dips, juice packs and seasonings and is saving for his very own bus converted restaurant and balanced pre-prepared vegan meals for children.
Omari decided to learn to be a chef before he became vegan and it was only when he chose to make food that everyone could eat that he discovered veganism, having come across a PETA UK video on YouTube. He became very determined to know more about veganism and decided he would become vegan himself and teach other children about the food they eat in a determined mission to bring people together through food.
Omari has always had a passion for cooking but he started learning to cook meals from the tender age of seven when his mother Leah became ill with hemiplegic migraines. His father taught Omari and his older brother Laquarn how to cook meals to help his mother when she was unable to stand and he was working late.
Omari has gone from strength to strength and practices different cooking skills and meals daily, he researches the benefits of everything he cooks and calculates the benefits and value of what he eats.
Omari now teaches other children to cook at the workshops he runs from home. He has his own cooking show on CBBC that comes on Sunday mornings What’s Cooking Omari? His new cookbook is available here: Best Bites
You must be logged in to post a comment.