Özlem Warren had a corporate background in Istanbul before she and her British husband went to the United States for his MBA degree 15 years ago. While they now live in the U.K., they initially moved to Austin, Texas, where Özlem as a Turkish expat, first got the opportunity to teach her culture's food at the prestigious Central Market Cooking Schools in Texas. It was from that experience that she would begin publishing her recipes on the blog "Özlem's Turkish Table."

A self-described home cook, although she has gone on to take a number of culinary classes and certificate programs in the U.S., Özlem tells me she has always been passionate about Turkish cooking and her culinary heritage. She also was instilled with the importance of sharing from an early age. She not only wanted to share the southern Turkish specialties from her roots, but she also noticed that not many recipes are written down with accurate measurements.