Story
Childhood
Hey! My name is Mélina Greiss! I am a Chef that loves Nutella and healthier things too!
While growing up in Saudi Arabia I was submerged in a melting pot! We all came from everywhere and that opened up my eyes and hunger for other cultures.
As I made international friendships, I was given the privilege to taste food from all over the world at a very young age; French, Egyptian, Lebanese, Chinese, American, Texmex, Pakistani, Saudi, Turkish, Persian, Indian, Ethiopian etc…
I was always the first one to wake up on weekends, went down to the kitchen and watched my nanny preparing the food, I was fascinated!
I also watched Tv programs like Bon Apétit Bien Sur with Joël Robuchon and I would write down all the instructions for his recipes. My first “fancy” dessert I made was a “clafoutis aux pommes” and I would bake it every time I had a friend over…
Studies
I’m French originally from Egypt, I went to the International French school in Riyadh and graduated with my baccalaureate. Determined to study and work in the restaurant/hotel industry, I headed to Nice and spent 3 years there at the Lycée Paul Augier. I got to learn a completely different picture of the cooking industry; toughness-aggressivity-discipline-initiative-productivity. I also learned marketing, accounting and all the areas one would need to open a business.
As a student, I had to go through 2 trainings, after the first year, I trained in Monaco at the Monte Carlo Beach both at the brasserie and the gastronomic restaurant Elsa, elected first Michelin Starred restaurant 100% organic in the world.
After the second year, I then went to the Japanese adventure, learned 6 months of Japanese language in two weeks, went to Asian cooking school and cooked Japanese and Chinese typical dishes at the incredible Hokuto Bunka Academy in Muroran (Hokkaido). After that, I was ready to jump to Michel Bras, 3 Michelin starred back then, in Toya, Hokkaido. One of the best experiences in my life. We hand-picked all the flowers and herbs for the famous “Gargouillou” and all the other dishes and desserts. Everything made from scratch, loved it!
The third and last year of school, I challenged myself into competing in the kitchen and applied for the Trophée Boiron Frères, organized by Les vergers Boiron and sponsored by the Bocuse d’Or Winners. The prize was to work for a year in 3 different countries with Bocuse d’Or winners’ chefs: In Norway with Geir Skeie (Bocuse d’Or 2009), in Belgium with Ferdy De Becker (Bocuse de Bronze 1999) and in Sweden with Henrik Norström (Bocuse d’argent 2001). This allowed me to work with new perspectives, strategies, organisation etc…
Work
After studying and working in Monaco, Japan, France, Norway, Belgium and Sweden, I came back to Stockholm and started working in the cold section at restaurant B.A.R and Penny and Bill (Lux company), Djuret in the cold station, was promoted as responsible for desserts and in TAK (Frida Ronge) promoted responsible for the preparation for the whole restaurant during a year.
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Restaurant Experiences
Here are photos of my food experiences in different places of the world!
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Travel
Travelling is one of my favorite things in life, to go and conquer the nations and tasting new products, the unknown has always attracted me!
Here is a list of the countries I’ve been to:
Saudi, France, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Italy, Spain, Egypt, Germany, Tchek Republic, Switzerland, England, Turkey, the United States, Australia, Japan, Indonesia.
After all my craziest so enriching life experiences and working with the best chefs in the world, I developed 70 food intolerances. Tiredness, sleepiness, depression, lack of strength, lack of focus, memory loss, insomnias, stomach and intestine disorders, terrible stomach pain were some of the symptoms but it never stopped my passion for cooking and baking.
I truly believe that whatever comes your way is meant to bless you or to strengthen you, It’s meant to open up your eyes on something new and push you to places you never thought you’d be in. This situation actually opened up a whole new world to me, something that was so unknown back in the days such as: gluten free recipes, sugar free treats, egg free cakes and so on. I started testing and trying and of course many times things didn’t work out but I persevered and read, looked everywhere I could to learn how to make it all work without the traditional ingredients. Today, I can help those who have allergies and support them with amazing menus. Recipes and programs that are so tasty it breaks the frustration of not being able to eat like others/like before. This was actually my battle as a “sick chef”, I was looking for the genuine flavors and textures without the ingredients I was used to cook and bake with (such as butter, eggs, flour). Today I can comfortably bake a gluten free cake without sensing it’s compact, or dry and I want to share it all with you!
Also having a crazy life style, we tend to go for the fast and unhealthy food and this is where I want to tell you, there is always a way for super healthy and super quick homemade food. There is nothing tastier than homemade meals, it’s just a matter of planning and structuring ourselves, this will help you manage your health, economy and time better.
Finally, if you do not know anything about cooking, I am happy to give you online cooking classes, private or you can pick the basic course I specially prepared for you to feel comfortable in the kitchen. Currently working on a whole gluten free recipe book , I am testing and developing the best of the best so you can start to make your own treats at home, say goodbye to your frustration and to stomach pain.
Creating Milk and Honey is for me the opportunity to reach out for others, share my passion and impact your life style through all kinds of tips and secrets when it comes to cooking. It is also a privilege to make your special day even more special through catering and cakes designed for you and last but not least, helping you improve your daily cooking routine with Thermomix. Welcome to my website and blog!
