JEDDAH: Looking at the dish changing colors while it is being cooked and tasting it are the best ways for a cook to know if the recipe is perfect.

But Mohammad Saad simply depends on his sense of hearing and smell to judge whether the dish is ready. The reason: He is blind.

The visual handicap has not deterred Saad from being a cook. In fact, he is a cook par excellence because he not only prepares tasty dishes but also modifies them into something unique by adding his own ideas, local media has reported.

The adventure does not stop at that. In his diary that he shares with the thousands of followers on Snapchat, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, Saad takes his selfies while preparing the dishes such as Kabsa, Arabian bread mingled with pizza spices, pasta with different flavors, Arabian sweets such as Basboseh.

He also takes photos for his daily program doing some errands around the house and shopping.

Saad lives alone in his own apartment after he moved from the Eastern Province, where his parents live, to Riyadh to continue his university studies specializing in translation and languages.

He suffered visual impairment since childhood, but has been independent with no limits to his ambitions. He has set up his own photography studio, which will open soon.

Saad says blindness is not an obstacle to accomplishing his goals, including the invention of a menu for food delivery in Braille. He even plays Play Station using his hearing and concentration to beat his colleagues. “I opened a Twitter account but many thought I was conning them because they felt how a blind man could tweet. But I proved to them that a blind person can lead a normal life,” he said.

On cooking during Ramadan, Saad believes that husbands, blind or not, should participate in house work, including cooking. “Sometimes I invite my friends to eat what I cook.”

“I believe women should have more freedom and the right to drive a car. Men and women are partners in building the nation,” he said.

Saad looks at the challenges and difficulties he faces in life as a means for excellence and creativeness. “Blind people no longer need pity from society. They are not incapacitated and can do all things, including cooking. One must believe in oneself whether he/she is blind or not, should not fear to engage in activities in his environment and society,” he added.