Alia Al-Kasimi was born and raised in Rabat. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Al-Akhawayn and Master’s in Computer Science from the University of Indiana in Bloomington. She is currently the director of process management in a Fortune 500 insurance company. Prior to her current role, Alia was a consultant at Deloitte, one of the Big Four US consulting companies.

Soon after she moved to the U.S. six years ago, she spent the first twelve months discovering new foods around her, not missing Moroccan food, which she had eaten her whole life. Then homesickness crept in. A full time job and a busy schedule with American standards didn’t leave much time for cooking the traditional way. Her longing for home drove her to learn how to cook Moroccan food the easy way and she started a website www.cookingwithalia.com and a YouTube channel with easy to follow videos on preparing delicious Moroccan cuisine using ingredients and utensils available in the US. With over two million views and thousands of subscribers, cookingwithalia.com is the leading English language destination for learning how to make the most intricate gastronomic creations despite a busy schedule. Alia’s viewers come from all across the US, Europe and Morocco. Some are people who visited Morocco and after returning back to their countries are trying to recreate those unique flavors they experienced while in Morocco. Many are Moroccans living abroad, trying to re-create a taste of home for themselves or their friends.

Alia has been featured on america.gov and has conducted Moroccan cooking classes at Whole Foods. She just published her bookwith DVD on Amazon.com, “Moroccan Cooking: The Easy Way” and says this is the first of many to come. She feels its important to share with her viewers the delicious memories of her childhood and encourages more people to visit Morocco to experience for themselves the unique sights, sounds and flavors of Morocco.