Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Bahrain-based chef and food consultant Faisal Aldeleigan is joining hands with 11 Michelin-starred chefs to share their culinary creations and raise awareness about reducing world hunger.
The #CookingforWorldPeace initiative brings together 12 chefs, with 24 Michelin stars between them, including David Toutain and Claude Bosi from France, Atul Kochhar from India, Franck Giovannini from Switzerland and Jan Hendrick van der Westhuizen from South Africa.
Each chef is offering up one of their unique recipes to raise awareness and funds for the United Nations’ World Food Programme ‘Share the Meal’, which was awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.
“We are hoping to donate 10,000 meals to the programme, focusing especially on children in Jordan, where hunger has become a critical issue,” Chef Faisal, 38, explained to GulfWeekly.
The Saudi-born chef, who has called Bahrain his home for the last 22 years, has offered up his recipe for a Choco Beef Burger.
Meanwhile, Chef David contributed his favourite recipe for Mushroom Soup, Chef Claude gave some tips for Cornish Turbot a La Grenobloise and Chef Franck offered up the secrets of how to make delicate Green Asparagus Royale soup.
Chef Faisal’s latest endeavour is the cherry on top of a rich tapestry of culinary experience which, although only five years old, has encompassed more than 50 clients and 7,000 recipes.
Cooking was not his first passion – in fact, he only came around to it, after more than a decade in banking. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master’s in Business Administration from the New York Institute of Technology.
During his banking stint, Chef Faisal started to take culinary courses across Europe and then made the leap into becoming a restauranteur.
He soon found that with his business background, he enjoyed the consultancy side of the business more. Although at one point he owned six restaurants, he decided to delve into menu engineering and helping other restaurants market their brands.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, despite facing initial turmoil, he found a niche amongst cloud kitchens, helping brands in Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia get discovered by customers in an increasingly competitive delivery world.
“My journey in food was not very nice in the beginning, but it turned out to be nice,” he said.
“I went through a lot of experience; a lot of failures; I lost money. That experience taught me a lot.
“There was a lot of negativity coming to me. I was almost afraid, to be honest. There were challenges and difficulties; a lot of pain. But coming after that, a successful story.”
Visit www.cookingforworldpeace.org for more details about the Cooking for World Peace initiative.
