Posted on by Cleverona Kitchen

Featured Food Blogger of the Month: Rizwan Asad of Chocolates & Chai

Rizwan Asad of Chocolates & Chai is a self-taught baker with an impeccable palate. He currently resides in Toronto, Canada where he constantly whipped up amazing home cooked meals. For him, the kitchen is a place for creating stories and building memories. He is a connoisseur of many things and has been a resident of many places. Ask him about his story and he’ll tell you fascinating stories about your childhood and all the exotic places he has been. His blog is a place for food lovers especially those who love dessert and brunch.  The blog is about love and the story behind every dish he makes.


1. We know you love cooking - and eating food, but can you tell us more about you? Maybe start with the five interesting things that people don't know about you.

Oooh, five interesting things people don't know about me. Let's see:

  •  I have Oral Allergy Syndrome and, for me, this mean that I'm allergic to apples.
  • I've lived in five different countries.
  • I'm a total neat freak. I can't cook when my kitchen is a mess, I end up cleaning instead!
  • I'm also a high-level procrastinator.
  • And I have a slightly weird (hopefully in an endearing sort of way) habit of naming the inanimate objects. My coffee machine is named Nessy, my Xbox is Boxvati, my ukelele is called Leho, and my umbrella is named Big Blue...just to name a few!

rizwan asad

2. Have you always loved cooking? How did you discover your passion for it?

In the culture I grew up in, it was unusual for boys to enter the kitchen, let alone learn how to cook! I ended up learning out of necessity once I attended university, you can read about it here. The passion to really experiment in the kitchen was something that developed slower for me. It happened once I started baking - many recipes just didn't really taste the way I wanted them to...so, I began tinkering. And tweaking. And eventually completely overhauling recipes to make them my own.

3. What made you fall in love with desserts and breakfast? Does one ever need a reason to love?

blueberry buttermilk pancakes

I mean...that warm breakfast smell, those lovely dessert colours, I think it was inevitable!

4. Can you give us your best cooking tip?

I'll give you two! Firstly, prep all your ingredients before you start cooking. And secondly, start washing your dishes while you're cooking - as soon as your done with something, use your free moments (e.g. waiting for the oven to heat up) to clean the dishes you no longer need. Time is so hard to come by these days, it's helpful to be as efficient as possible with the boring parts. (If you're someone that actually likes washing up, then..well, let's be friends! Please.)

5. What are the three original recipes that best represent your kitchen?

Raspberry Cheesecake-Stuffed Pound Cake

  • Dutch Baby Pancake - this recipe kind of represents what my blog is all about. Delicious. Low effort. Easy on the eyes!

Dutch Baby Pancake

  • Nutella & Dark Chocolate French Toast - this is one of my personal favourites. It's actually one of my older and less popular recipes, but everyone that's taken the time to try it has written to me over and over again about how much they love it.

Nutella & Dark Chocolate French Toast

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