2023-February-09

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It Started With Falafel… and a Flexible Work Schedule

BY NASSER TARAZI · ENGINEERING PRODUCT MANAGER · UNITED STATES

3 MINUTE READ · 4 MINUTE LISTEN

In my Palestinian culture, food is our love language. The way I learned to give back is by feeding others.

About 15 years ago, we started to sell falafel plates and sandwiches at my church in Southern California to raise money. Because everyone loved my falafel, we grew this fundraiser by joining an annual Middle Eastern festival where we would sell hundreds of sandwiches daily and donate the proceeds to the church.

Then about three years ago, during the lockdown, while everyone was stuck at home, my family and I started cooking together more. My wife had always been the one to create meals for our family unless it was barbequing or making falafel — those were in my cooking department.

With the flexibility of working from home at Cisco, I started spending more time in the kitchen, learning how to create new recipes and personalize old ones. A large part of my culture revolves around the kitchen, so I’ve always had a passion for food.

I discovered my love for creating meals at home. I grew up surrounded by foods like hummus, kabob, and my favorite — falafel — so pre-Chef Nasser had a small menu restricted to these foods.

Around the 2020 holiday season, my children convinced me to get TikTok and jokingly wrote, “Make me more famous than my children,” as the caption of my first video.

Since then, I’ve acquired about 100,000 followers. So I can confidently say that I am more famous than my children. 😉 You’re welcome to follow me @nassertarazi! 

My videos are all about cooking and new recipes. For example, unlike many chefs on TikTok, I don’t talk through each step of the cooking process. I put on upbeat Middle Eastern music to keep viewers entertained.

So not only did I attract other chefs to my page but people looking to be entertained and inspired by the dishes I create.

As my fan base grew, I started to gain followers from around the world. I have viewers in the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Germany, and many other countries. With diverse new viewers, I began to explore different cultures’ dishes, from classic Italian short rib pasta — my family’s favorite — to the popular Peruvian dish lomo saltado.

Currently, my most viewed video is of a Turkish-inspired meal consisting of meat, potatoes, and a lot of spices. It has 1.7 million views!

Thanks to Cisco’s flexible hybrid work, I discovered a new part of myself that loves experimenting with food in the kitchen. Because of my family’s unconditional support, my wife’s video and editing expertise, and my children ensuring I post weekly, I share my newfound passion with millions of people!

But, of course, we continue to make and sell my go-to falafel to fundraise for our church.

I hope to inspire more people to cook, spend time with their loved ones in the kitchen, and give back in whatever ways they can.

Who knows? With your 10 days of Cisco Time2Give, maybe you can do something you’re passionate about while giving back to your community.

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