Farah El Charkawy​

Biography

​Farah El Charkawy has an unusual background. Lawyer in international arbitration in Egypt, she retrained as a pastry chef. After completing a training in French Pastry Arts Essentials at ENSP, she created the "Foû by Farah" in Cairo, Egypt. Farah discovered pastry in Toulouse when she was doing her master in law. She enjoyed it and discovered a real passion for pastry. After graduating, she took a 6-month break to learn cooking in Egypt. She joined a large law firm in Cairo without putting her passion aside. Farah tried to do both for a few months and then decided to devote herself to law for 5 years. Despite a successful career at the firm, Farah still longs to feed her passion. "It was too intense, I had reached a good level as a lawyer, so I could move on and discover my passion, pastry.“

After discovering the ENSP on the internet, she talked with alumni and then applied to discover the basics of pastry. She then moved to Yssingeaux, in the bucolic French countryside. "Every morning, I got up to do something I love! Life in this pleasant village was easy, I was focused on my training. I met other international students who are now friends. We also traveled on weekends to discover France. I loved it!" ​

After her studies, Farah returned to Egypt. She wanted to introduce the excellence of French pastry to Cairo. The young pastry chef launched "Foû by Farah". "In my creations, I mix French pastries with oriental flavors such as pistachio, orange blossom, bitter almond and rose. I was introduced to the beauty of these flavors during my internship with Chef Michalak. I work with quality products and the returns are good.”

With her experience, Farah is convinced that a career change is not something to be feared. "It is a big step and life is made of big steps. You have to experiment! In order to succeed in a career change, it makes sense to get training. The training course and the work placement allow you to succeed in this change.” ​