Sohla El-Waylly Snaps Back at 'NYT' After Bowing out of Cookie Week Over Show Drama

It may be a surprise to learn that the cooking world is occasionally filled with drama. Sometimes it's silly, and sometimes it's a little more serious.

For New York Times Cooking star chef Sohla El-Waylly, she's been dealing with drama of the latter type recently.

The beloved NYT chef took to her blog to explain what was happening after she stepped away from the outlet over some behind-the-scenes disagreements.

Here's what we know about what led to the cooking drama, and where she's taking her award-winning recipes now.

Sohla is known for more than her dishes and skills in the kitchen. She's also a teacher and mentor, helping people hone their culinary skills and learn enough to create her recipes confidently in their own kitchens.

But unfortunately for fans, she will no longer be doing so with NYT.

On her blog, "Hot Dish with Sohla," the chef explains her reasons for leaving. As a child, Sohla explained, she grew up in a conservative family, and her family demanded strict rules, discouraging her from learning to read in alignment with their religion. In a post written, "Sorry about your cookies," she wrote, "This not only disappointed but deeply embarrassed my family and I always felt torn, flipping between feeling proud and disgusted by myself."

Things escalated when Sohla lost friends in college after a specific incident; "It’s an uneasy thing believing that your mother will only love you if you do what she wants. When my parents found out I had a boyfriend in college, they stood outside my dorm room on their knees, crying and screaming, hollering my name."

She explained, "I’ve finally realized that my f--ked up family s--t is why I repeatedly struggle at work."

Sohla added, "I cannot more emphatically express how much I did not want to have to tell anyone that I’m no longer working with the Times. I know this would make me a repeat offender, the girl who cried low pay. I was convinced no one would notice, and I’m sure the folks at the Times were, too."

But after fans were desperately wondering where she was after she failed to appear in NYT's Cookie Week, she felt the need to explain.

Sohla says she felt pressured into filming a Season 2 of her show, and it was all about the algorithm and spitting lines. A frustrated Sohla admits to snapping "when they tried feeding me lines." She concluded, "Afterwards I pulled out of the show. They asked if I was okay with them airing the already shot episodes and I said no. Then the deputy editor called me and screamed. She screamed and shouted like mom did outside my dorm. She said all the things my mom said to me."

"I was ungrateful, I was a disappointment, and of course, I was difficult. So no, I’m not in cookie week this year."

It sounds like a painful departure from the outlet she called home for years, but never fear to fans; Sohla's not going far.

Sohla is now running a YouTube channel called "Sohla and Ham." It will showcase both her signature recipes and her style of teaching and mentorship.

On TikTok, fans are celebrating her return to filming and cheering her on. One fan hoped that more dollars would go into her pockets this way, suggesting that even though it may not have been the original plan, it could open a door to a better future.