"The top 10 chefs in the Middle East", Caterer Middle East Magazine - The worst culinary list that has ever graced my Facebook feed.

December 14th, 2015 -- a date which will live in infamy -- my Facebook feed was suddenly and deliberately attacked by an arabianbusiness.com report post on Caterer Magazine's Power List 2015 on the top 10 chefs in the Middle East.

As master of my own Facebook account I feel compelled to direct my thoughts in defence of the culinary landscape of the region.

First and foremost, albeit the U.A.E. being my country of adoption and Dubai being the city in which I have spent more than two decades, therefore the love I have for it, it certainly is not the Middle East. For those who do not know, the region known as the Middle East includes Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. To have a list in which only 1 chef is mentioned out of Dubai with further clarity needed on a 2nd, is exhibit A on the failure of this list. It is this editorial superciliousness that misinforms thousands of readers who follow this particular publication, and it should be redacted not because I feel one way or another about the chefs who have been selected but in its methodology or the apparent lack thereof.

I wish to continue to throw the book at this list by highlighting that I personally feel like it has made a mockery of its readers because it clearly spent very little time in its research. A qualitative and quantitative process, that if done with passion, professionalism and integrity will surely divulge a list of chefs that would not only highlight the culinary development of the regions urban metropolises as hubs that attract foreign talent to open a diversity of international cuisines but more importantly reward chefs who continue to keep alive the rich culinary heritage of the region that dates thousands of years. 

Furthermore, I see that absolutely no effort was spared, particularly in its analysis of Dubai based chefs, to identify culinary talent that is playing a non-neglible role in Dubai's home grown culinary identity. This editorial neglectfulness is probably true to every other country of the region despite the legions of young chefs that delight and inspire from the banks of the Bosphorus to bullet laden streets of Aleppo and Sana'a.

I could elaborate further on why this list is the most terrible list I have ever seen, but I would rather end on a note of supplication.

I pray that Caterer Magazine retracts this list with a promise that it will connect with its peers across the region, from chefs to critics and everything in-between and provide us with a list that inspires and that accurately represents the beautiful nations of the Middle East and the place it has earned amongst the global culinary community.