Tulsa Chef Bringing World Cuisine To Oklahoma

She’s an Oklahoma chef that has never worked in a restaurant, but she is known all over the world.

“About 20 years ago I started teaching cooking classes,” said Chef Shannon Smith.

It was through some life challenges that led Chef Shannon Smith directly to her passion.

“I got a job through a nonprofit organization in Tulsa, teaching underprivileged children how to cook,” said Smith.

She has a home economics degree, so the idea wasn’t completely out of the blue. However through working with the kids she did discover something.

"Food brings people together, and the impact that cooking and eating have on people of all ages,” said Smith.

It was a revelation that would start Chef Shannon on a journey around the world.

“I wanted to meet the people, I of course was interested in their food, so I wanted to learn their recipes, their techniques, their ingredients and all those things,” said Smith.

She had without question found her passion.

“I have been to 53 countries in the world, many of them multiple times,” said Smith.

Her experiences impacted her so much she had to find a way to share them.

“I decided to also produce these dinner experiences out of my home,” said Smith.  

She serves five course meals themed around a specific culture and cuisine in her home or in her backyard depending on the weather.

“I tell the stories between each course; I tell the story of the dish. It might be the story of the person that taught it to me, or it might be the ingredients,” said Smith.

The responses have been so great Chef Shannon has now documented her experiences in a book that she titled, “The Hidden Table”.

“These are places that people took the time to share their stories with me,” said Smith.

The 12 chapter book contains recipes, pictures and stories behind the cuisines.

“The book is not just a recipe book, it’s a story book, there are 120 recipes,” said Smith.

Chef Shannon will be in Oklahoma City on July 13 at Common Place Books in Midtown. For information about her appearance and everything else she has going on visit her website: www.chefshannon.com.