Anissa Helou

Anissa Helou  is a London-based cookbook author, teacher, and chef specialising in the cuisines of the Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa.  Anissa left her native Lebanon at the age of 21 to study interior design in London.

Upon completion of Sotheby's Works of Art course, she started working for the auction house, becoming their representative for the Middle East. At the age of 24 she opened an antiques shop in Paris, and shortly after became a freelance art consultant based in London. Between 1978 and 1986, she lived in Kuwait acting as an advisor to members of the ruling family, returning to London in 1986.

Encouraged by a friend in the publishing world, and inspired by the Lebanese civil war, Anissa wrote her first cookbook, Lebanese Cuisine  published in 1994.  She has subsequently published another 6 books winning numerous prizes and accolades as well as being selected in 2013 by Arabian Business magazine as one the 500 most powerful Arabs in the world.