Sohla El-Waylly, Food Wizard

After leaving Bon Appétit’s Test Kitchen, the chef now has her own show—where she’s paid fairly for her fantastic creations.

- E. Alex Jung

SOHLA?” THE VIDEO begins. “Do you have a minute?” The stars of Bon Appétit’s Test Kitchen have so many questions, and Sohla El-Waylly is like their own human Alexa: Sohla, how do you temper chocolate? Sohla, how do you pronounce turmeric? Sohla, what’s a dosa? El-Waylly appears on command—busy, patient, with a neatly cut bob—to answer. The fan-made Sohla supercuts (there are many) did what Bon Appétit failed to do: reframe the narrative so that the background actor might actually be the star. “The Test Kitchen is really fun as long as you play your role, and I didn’t like the role I was put in,” El-Waylly says. “It became increasingly frustrating to become a sidekick to people with significantly less experience than me.”