From Easy Bake Ovens to ‘MasterChef’: A Metro Detroit Baker’s Journey Home
“It just felt right,” says baker Amanda Saab.
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Butter Bear Shop owner Amanda Saab was once a social worker in Seattle who used cooking as a way to deal with the pressure and emotional demands of her job.
Saab’s passion and talent for baking led to an appearance on Gordon Ramsey’s show MasterChef.
In the process, she also became the first woman wearing a hijab to appear on an American cooking show.
Now the Wayne State grad has opened her own bakery here in Metro Detroit.
Located in Livonia, Saab’s Butter Bear Shop specializes in breads and gourmet cookies.
WDET’s Amanda LeClaire speaks with Saab about her time on MasterChef and opening the bakery.
Saab says enjoyed showing the normality of Muslim-American life on a popular national show.
“I think when people see other people that they might not have deep relationships with doing things that they also enjoy, helps [to] normalize us,” she says. “Which sounds crazy that we even have to go that far.”
