I am an ethnomusicologist originally from Indiana, United States, and have recently finished my thesis on American Muslim musicians through Indiana University. I’ve also become interested in Bosnian music (ilahije and sevdah), which I hope to research further. I enjoy many different kinds of music.
As for the “chef” part of my name, I enjoy cooking. I especially enjoy cooking desserts. I enjoy watching Iron Chef and imagining what I would make if I were on there. I would welcome the opportunity to take cooking classes someday.
I also enjoy animals (especially birds), languages, painting and other art, traveling, movies, and reading until books come out of my ears.
I lived in Prague, Czech Republic for 8 years, and I developed the “Muslims in Prague” page in the first few years. I hope the page is helpful, but I might not be able to answer questions as I no longer live there. If you’re on facebook, you can visit this page:
https://www.facebook.com/MuslimskaObecvPraze/?hc_ref=SEARCH
I will be including music reviews on my blog, translations, recipes, links to articles and sites, and my observations on life in, well, wherever I happen to be living at the time! So sit back with a spicy slice of ginger cheesecake and enjoy!
By the way, the contact form below is if you want to send me an email. If you want to leave a comment, that form is at the bottom of the page, below the other comments.
Or visit me on facebook.
musicalchef.wordpress.com 
hey another cool blogger going to move to Jordan, when you get there please get in touch:)
Hey yeah, I’m here in Amman too….Um Ibrahim is my friend. Please, anything you want or need, feel free to ask! Lots of great sisters here mashaAllah.
Umm Ibrahim and Umm Farouq: Thanks for stopping by! I’ll definitely get in touch with you when I get to Amman. See you soon, insha’Allah!
The best of luck to you in Jordan! You have an interesting site which I will be putting on my blogroll now.
btw, thanks for the comment and link on my site. I just read it.
I look forward to your recipes and music reviews. Both subjects in which I am interested… I love to try preparing different dishes. I also love animals, birds, nature… A tiny bird has decided to begin its family in one of my little bird houses that I have hanging in my small, cosy garden. I’ve put out some bird seed and a nice birdbath for them all to enjoy, which they do, especially on warm, sunny days. Birds of all colours enjoy splashing around in it. I sleep with my bedroom windows wide open (they face my garden) and it is a great joy to awake to lovely bird songs. I even try ‘talking’ to them by imitating some of their sounds, and sometimes I get answers back. It is fun and relaxing for me to simply sit out there under the big apple tree which is now full of lovely pink and white blooms, and listen to the songs of the birds. Nature is God’s exquisite canvas.
You’ve got me hungry now for some spicy ginger cheesecake… Sure wish I had some! If you know how to make it, can you please put it in here so that I can try my hand at it?
take care and very best regards from Canada,
~Annamarie 🙂
wanted to say jazakillah khairan for the DEE-lish food you served us this past monday. i feel blessed to have been on your invite list. where i come from this is how we say that the food you cooked was delicious: girl, you put your foot in it!
Post up some yummy recipes pls. Especially the ones that you made at that dinner we were at a couple weeks ago.
Nice Blog… i will visit again next time…
may i link to my blogrool?
hmcahyo.wordpress.com
just anothe indonesian blogger
Thanks for visiting! Of course you can link.
Salaams Musical Chef,
Thank you for stopping by at my blog. I work at a University in the UK and we have a PhD student in our dept. who is looking to study Muslim music in the UK. You may well share interests.
Abdur Rahman
you need to change this page to “i am an ethnomusicologist”! i need to ask a favor of you and i don’t have your email. please email me!
Abdur Rahman: Sounds great! Sometimes I think there are actually more artists in the UK than the US. And TJ Winters is there, who is a musician himself.
Dear Friend,
Salaam ‘Alaikum
It is a pleasure to share with you an Unpublished Historical Exhibit – Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records – based on Historical Research and Documents provided by the Bikaner Museum Archives, Rajasthan, India.
Kindly view online exhibition at http://according-to-mughal-records.blogspot.com/
You are welcome to share this interesting exhibit online on your esteemed website and share with you friend and family.
Aslam D.
Weld County
as salamu ‘alaykum
Not originally from Indiana myself but have lived here for a few years! Maybe one day you can share what you enjoyed about Indiana with moi.
Where in Indiana do you live? I lived in Warsaw, Bloomington, and Indianapolis. I liked the latter two!
We live in Indianapolis. Bloomington is beautiful. We actually considered moving there because it is just so peaceful and accessible.
VERY nice blog- check mine out! I’ve lived in Fishers, IN (about 45 mins from Indy) and my lil bro goes to IU Bloomington. I think there’s a Bangladeshi-American ethnomusicologist who graduated from there recently, too!
My goodness, how wonderful it is to come across folks interested in music. Does anyone else have experience with singing in a Slavic chorus?
Mary Sherhart [www.marysherhart.com] is an American who sings mostly sevdalinka, but I think some of the musicians around her (mostly in Seattle) sing other Balkan forms.
Musical Chef, thank you for suggesting Mary Sherhart! I have contacted Mary and she has been very gracious. I am also discovering ilahija and nasheed presentation and performance, and the devotional aspects of the genre have overwhelmed me!
Peace/Salaam/Hello, thx for posting a link to my blog.
Richard (Czech rep., Prague)