Photos: Chris Emeott
Mimi Selam Asfaha shares her passion for cooking by offering classes.
Cooking classes can be intimidating—especially if they include new or different cuisine. Participants may be unsure of what to expect or worried they won’t appreciate the food. But when Mimi Selam Asfaha, known as Chef Mimi to her students, is at the head of the class, any nerves quickly go away.
Chef Mimi says that within minutes of taking her class, attendees are laughing, rolling dough, chopping ingredients and learning more than just how to follow a recipe; they’re forming friendships and an appreciation for their capabilities. “After people take one of my classes, they almost always come back to try another one,” she says.
The chef offers classes for people of all ages through White Bear Lake Area Schools Community Education & Recreation. Her classes include dishes from her Ethiopian roots and handmade pasta to other fan favorites like Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Cookies.
In Mimi Selam Asfaha’s cooking classes, participants of all ages learn to make egg rolls and use new flavors such as berbere and cardamom.
Even before she was Chef Mimi, she had a fascination with food. “I’ve been cooking basically my whole life,” Chef Mimi says. She grew up in Ethiopia and traveled often as a child for her father’s work with the United Nations. During these travels, she was exposed to different cuisines and cultures.
She finally turned the hobby into a profession in 2017. Now, Chef Mimi is in high demand. Beyond community education, she also teaches in-home cooking classes, workshops for corporate or leisure events, summer camps and more. She has also appeared on local news programs, donning her Habesha Kemis—a traditional, handwoven garment worn for celebrations, accompanied with gold or silver jewelry—to highlight her roots alongside her recipes. “I love all the people I get to meet and [to] watch them try new foods,” Chef Mimi says. “I knew this is what I was meant to do.”
Cooking offers connections between Chef Mimi and her audiences, whether they’re right in front of her or on the other side of a screen. Recipes that involve making pasta by hand have become especially popular, leaving students eager for more. “I love when curiosity takes over for people in my classes, and they want to try new things,” she says.
Join one of Chef Mimi’s cooking classes, and learn how to make a variety of new dishes from different cultures, including Ethiopian, Italian and more.
Looking ahead, Chef Mimi plans to create new classes and has her sights set on a lifelong dream of opening her own restaurant, as soon as she finds the right location. “I would offer classes there too,” she says.
For those interested in trying a cooking class, her advice is simple: Try. “You do not have to be a good cook or even know how to cook,” she says. “Just come with an open mind.” For Chef Mimi and the flavors she fuels, cooking has a way of bringing people together in the kitchen and beyond.
Mimi’s Cooking Class
Facebook: Mimi’s Cooking Class
