In season 12 of Top Chefbroadcast in 2021 on M6, viewers met Mohamed Cheikh. The young man who was 28 years old at the time amazed the members of the jury and especially Hélène Darroze since he was part of her brigade. Thanks to his victory, he opened several restaurants including Manzili (in Paris), Babor (in Paris) and, more recently Meïda (in Saint-Ouen). In addition, he is publishing a recipe book in 2022 entitled My Mediterranean Cuisine. In his private life, he is married and is the happy father of two children. If he is an accomplished man today, it is thanks to the effort he put in over the years. This Tuesday, November 5, he is passing through It starts today on France 2 to discuss his beginnings, marked by periods of harassment in the kitchens.
Mohamed Sheikh (Top Chef) harassed because of his origins
In 2010, Mohamed Cheikh completed his studies with a BEP in hotel and catering professions, cooking option. A pride, even if he suffered. “Throughout my career, I was told I would never make it because cooking is not for people like me, because I don't eat pork and I don't drink wine“, confides the one who has always worked “in silence”. Above all, Mohamed Cheikh suffered more because of his origins: “At the time, someone called Mohamed in a kitchen is the one who does the washing (…) before, I was told 'so you don't have a BM plan for this weekend?', I was even called Mahomet and Mohamed couscous“. During his training, he was also the victim of harassment: “I have always weighed on average 90 kilos for 1m85, so the physical barrier meant that people did not attack me too much, it was more moral“. But it happened to him that someone grabbed him by the jacket to annoy him: “After the second time, I slammed the guy against the wall and told him 'The next time you do it again, you'll remember it'.
He never said anything to his parents: “They gave everything for my education“
However, Mohamed Cheikh did not want to talk about these attacks with his parents, so as not to worry them. “They gave everything for my education, and to ensure that I am someone who advances“, he confides. Especially since they often came to pick him up at the end of the evening, because of public transport which no longer ran: “I wasn't going to tell them… Obviously, your mom, the only thing she's going to say is 'stop, it doesn't matter, do something else' but I wanted to do this job, so I kept my mouth shut.“
