FOOD FOR THOUGHT?

Fact Magazine

A distinguished local chef is championing an end to world hunger through a new campaign.

Renowned chef, restauranteur and culinary business consultant Faisal Aldeleigan has just launched an initiative to encourage an altruistic effort towards relieving world hunger.

The Bahrain-based culinary campaigner brought together 11 Michelin-starred chefs from across the globe to each contribute one of their exclusive recipes, which he put together with his own special recipe to form a cookbook as a way to raise awareness about the state of hunger in the world and encourage an active role in reducing it.

The #CookingforWorldPeace project, which was presented to the United Nations, was then approved and included as part of the UN World Food Programme ‘Share the Meal’ initiative, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020.

“Our goal is to raise enough funds to provide 10,000 meals for children in Jordan, which is now suffering a significant economic upheaval. So far, we have achieved 3%,” said the Saudi-Arabian chef who made Bahrain his home 22 years ago.

The chefs who contributed to the project include David Toutain and Claude Bosi from France, Atul Kochhar from India, Franck Giovannini from Switzerland, and Jan Hendrick van der Westhuizen from South Africa. Recipes include Vegetable Masala, Poke Dolomites, Scarpariello Spaghetti, and Faisal’s very own and very special Choco Beef Burger.

Each meal costs just 800 fils, and people can donate as much as they like.

“The recipes are freely available to download and enjoy. Donations come from the heart. The opportunity is there for anyone who wants to give a little to the world, say a small thank you, and contribute to providing even one meal to a child,” he adds.

Every contribution goes directly to the UN, we just get the joy of knowing that there are kids being fed and whose lives are just a bit better than they were,” says the chef.

I’m humbled by the outpouring of support for a cause so close to my heart. Ultimately, it is about lending a helping hand to children, one of the most vulnerable groups of citizens, who have no access to even a basic meal.”

Chef Faisal, once a banker, left the corporate world on a quest to forge a new path for himself in the culinary realm. Through challenging times, countless obstacles, and years of study in the UK and Italy, he emerged as a respected chef in Bahrain. After having success as a restaurant owner, he became a restaurant consultant in 2018, providing services under his company Chef Faisal Consultancy. Over the past 11 years he has mentored and tutored various restaurants around the island and region, as well as other businesses in the food and beverage industry.

His plans going forward include initiating similar projects to relieve economic distress, as well as a local initiative to tackle food wastage in restaurants and homes, both in terms of reduction and transforming waste into usable material, such as compost. Anyone interested in donating towards the cause can do so through the #CookingforWorldPeace website or through the UN’s Share the Meal app