The Emirati chef discusses his journey from civil engineering to the kitchen, his restaurant Falwa, and his contribution to Emirati Cuisine: A Culinary Memory. A Timeless Heritage, a new cookbook
A new cookbook documenting 76 traditional Emirati recipes was launched during Global Food Week in Abu Dhabi, bringing together the knowledge of five Emirati chefs in a bilingual record of the UAE’s culinary heritage.
Titled Emirati Cuisine: A Culinary Memory. A Timeless Heritage, the publication was launched by the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award and developed in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), the Abu Dhabi Heritage Authority and the National Library and Archives. It features contributions from Mariam Al Mansouri, Musabah Al Kaabi, Ahmed Darweesh, Meera Al Naqbi and Faisal Alharmoodi, with recipes organised across five sections: Fawala, Meat, Poultry, From the Sea, and From the Bounty of Our Land.
For Faisal, contributing to the book is part of a wider effort to preserve Emirati food traditions and share them with new audiences. “We want to share our culinary heritage with the world and put Emirati cuisine on the global map,” he says.
From civil engineering to the kitchen
Faisal’s route into hospitality was not conventional. He initially studied civil engineering, completing his bachelor’s degree before deciding to return to cooking, a field he had long been drawn to.
He says, “Traditionally, people expected men to become engineers, for example, but not chefs.” After graduating in civil engineering, he went on to train at ICCA Dubai before joining Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, where he worked alongside Michelin-starred chefs. He subsequently opened several restaurant concepts, gaining experience across different operations before deciding to establish a restaurant of his own.
“Every concept you open, you learn a lot of things, and that’s how it’s helped me with my own restaurants,” he says. Today, Faisal runs Falwa on Al Jubail Island. Named after an Arabic term for a young female mare, the restaurant reflects his interest in local produce and Emirati culinary identity.
“We bring all local ingredients from local farms in the UAE,” he says. That focus has also introduced him to ingredients he did not expect to find growing locally. One example is Emirati-grown quinoa. “The best local ingredient I’m loving currently is Emirati quinoa. I’m shocked at how there’s Emirati quinoa,” he says.
Documenting the Emirati table
The new cookbook takes a similar approach to Emirati cuisine, bringing together recipes that reflect the country’s ingredients and culinary traditions. The collaboration between the five chefs was central to the process, allowing different perspectives on traditional cooking to come together in one publication. Faisal further shared that the cookbook was a year in the making.
Beyond the recipes themselves, the publication aims to document the customs, preparation methods and cultural contexts associated with the Emirati table. Its Arabic and English editions are intended to make this knowledge accessible to readers in the UAE and internationally.
Putting Emirati cuisine on the global map
As more young Emiratis consider careers in food and beverage, Faisal believes the industry offers an opportunity to represent the country’s culture through food.
“I advise all the young chefs to enter F&B. It’s very important in the UAE,” he says. “We always try to represent our culture and our food, and we hope to see Emirati cuisine on the international stage.”
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For him, that work begins with understanding local ingredients, learning from other chefs and developing the skills to translate traditional food into a restaurant setting. His own path, from engineering studies to professional kitchens and restaurant ownership, has given him experience across several sides of the industry.
For Faisal, preserving Emirati cuisine means keeping its ingredients, recipes and traditions relevant to future generations. The cookbook provides one way to document that knowledge, while his work in restaurants offers another way to introduce Emirati food to new audiences.
