Meet Fiona Afshar, the home cook whose artistic pasta has made her an Instagram star

“I usually eat with my eyes first,” Fiona Afshar says. It looks true - the self-taught cook has made a name for herself on social media as something of a pasta artist. She makes her own pasta yourself, forming it into unique shapes and making geometric and floral patterns on her behalf colourful creations.

The finished products and dishes rise on her behalf Instagram page, where her creative imagination has earned her a lot more than 100,000 followers. A lot of her fans also tune into her YouTube channel, which she shares other recipes.

Afshar, 54, used to are a computer programmer and then a florist before she considered cooking as a potential career. Her love for food, however, extends completely back to childhood. “My best birthday present at aged 12 was a 500-page cookbook without pictures. I loved reading it again and again,” she recalls.

She learnt steps to make pasta on her behalf own, following tutorials on YouTube. She eventually mastered making the many shapes - fettuccine, rigatoni, fusilli and ravioli, among others - and learned her flair for playing with patterns and hues. “Creating art and beautiful things is definitely my passion,” she says.

She achieves her vivid colours by adding natural ingredients, such as for example spinach, kale and beetroot, or dried vegetable powders. On her behalf purple pasta, for instance, she mixes in blueberries or blue spirulina with a red vegetable.

This started through pure experimentation. “I usually ask myself what flavours would go with a dish or what herb or spice can I add to make it more healthy and vibrant without overpowering the flavours. THEREFORE I started incorporating ingredients that I would normally put in the sauce, and it completely worked without affecting the texture of my dough,” she explains.

Afshar’s palette is inspired by the sights at her local farmer’s market in Malibu, California, where she lives. “That's where I get inspired for almost all of my pasta colours, with the seasonal herbs and veggies,” she says.

Her patterns and shapes are created with cookie cutters or other household items. She's also taken up to adding herbs and edible flowers to her creations.

Afshar also bakes, sharing her tips about sourdough bread and home-made pizza dough online. She describes her design of cooking as “rustic, beautiful and easy to prepare”, and although she actually is known on her behalf Italian food, she has other recipes up her sleeve. “I actually get inspired by a number of cuisines, and make an effort to make them my very own,” she says.

She also likes to improvise as she prepares her meals. “A very important factor to learn about my cooking is that I really do not like to follow a recipe, regardless if it’s mine. I love bringing new ideas and flavours into my dish as I’m in the process of cooking.”

When it comes to presenting her meals, aesthetics are section of the experience. “I feel that changes the conversation at the dining room table. There is a wow factor and an excitement that I see in everyone’s eyes. To me, that’s priceless and incredibly gratifying,” she says.