By Ahmad Issam Maadarani — Founder and President, International Union of Arab Master Chefs
Professional reference bodies for the named judges within the Union’s institutional network
There is a moment when a teacher sees the purpose of education become tangible: when those who have learned alongside him step into professional practice, carrying their knowledge, accepting responsibility and earning their place through their work.
It is with that pride that the International Union of Arab Master Chefs welcomes the announced participation of its learners, members and accredited judges in the Saudi Culinary Challenge. According to the Chefs Carnival Club’s announcement, the club will supervise and organize the competition as part of its participation in the fourteenth edition of the international Foodex exhibition.
This is an opportunity to celebrate people we know, efforts we have accompanied and an educational and professional journey whose value becomes visible when knowledge turns into practice, discipline into conduct and confidence into responsibility.
According to the announcement, Chef Mounira Al Yaman leads the team in collaboration with Chef Waad Felemban, with Chef Fuad Asaad, Chef Abeer Alashi and Chef Asma Jamal AlDeen on the judging panel. The marshal team includes Chef Hussein Binyousef, Chef Majedah Abou Ouf, Chef Hiba Elayyan and Chef Manal. Every name has a place in this shared endeavour; every role contributes to its success.
President of the Chefs Carnival Club: leadership we are proud to recognize
Our appreciation also extends to Dr Howeida Jamalellail, President of the Chefs Carnival Club and a Union graduate who has earned a master’s qualification in tasting and restaurant evaluation. We are proud of her professional journey and the knowledge and experience she brings to leadership and teamwork.
The Union recognizes her efforts to support the team and help make its participation a success, bringing skilled professionals together and creating opportunities for them to contribute and develop their expertise. A team’s progress also reflects the work of those who support it and help create the conditions for it to advance. This is why her leadership and contribution deserve our appreciation.
We salute her as a graduate who makes us proud and a leader working for her team. We wish her continued achievement and contribution, and hope that this experience gives team members further opportunities to grow, collaborate and share knowledge.
These are learners whose competence and excellent professional journeys make us proud. We have seen their dedication, commitment to knowledge and continuing desire to improve. Today, we are delighted to see them bring their learning and experience into culinary competitions, each within their own role and responsibilities.
We are equally proud of the marshal team members who combine continued training with field participation. Their competence and diligence make this step worthy of recognition. We see promising talent in them and encourage them to continue with confidence, discipline and a love of learning.
Judging: a responsibility towards the work of others
When a chef presents a dish to a panel, it carries hours of training, experiences of success and failure, and part of a professional ambition. The judge’s responsibility begins with giving that effort a fair reading, connecting observations to clear criteria and offering an assessment from which the competitor can learn.
An effective judge knows how to observe, explain and express feedback that respects the person and supports improvement. Experience becomes more valuable when accompanied by composure, independent judgment and respect for different culinary traditions.
We are proud of our accredited judges’ participation and expect them to bring our educational commitments into practice: precise knowledge, fair assessment and professional ethics.
Mounira Ahmad Al Yaman
Membership: MC5550MS
Judging accreditation reference
ICGA-JA-20250047-A
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Waad Saleh Felemban
Membership: MC6803MS
Judging accreditation reference
ICGA-JA-20260001-A
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Fuad Asaad
Membership: MC5649MS
Judging accreditation reference
ICGA-JA-20260029-A
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Abeer Khader Alashi
Membership: MC5634MS
Judging accreditation reference
ICGA-Jd-20260045-D
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Asma Jamal AlDeen
Membership: MC5637MS
Judging accreditation reference
ICGA-Jd-20260043-D
Scan or select the QR code to verify membership
Fuad Asaad: leading the tasting team and passing on knowledge
The Union offers special recognition to Fuad Asaad as director and person responsible for the tasting team, and as a tasting trainer accredited by the International Union of Arab Master Chefs (IUOAMC), International Culinary & Gastronomy Arbitration (ICGA), and the World Supreme Authority for Culinary Arbitration (WSACA). We are proud of his competence and professional journey, and of his contribution in a role that combines team leadership, training and the sharing of knowledge.
We appreciate his efforts to support and guide the team, develop tasting and evaluation skills, and encourage precision, discipline and cooperation in practice. A trainer’s responsibility includes helping learners understand their observations, explain their assessments and continue improving with confidence and responsibility.
To Fuad Asaad: we are proud of you as one of our learners, an accredited trainer who passes knowledge to others, and a leader working for his team. We hope your contribution continues through those you train and support, and wish you further achievement and opportunities to give.
The marshal team: experience grows at the heart of the event
We extend the same appreciation to the marshal team members who continue their education while gaining field experience. This participation offers a closer understanding of competition organization, its rhythm and the relationship between competitors, judges and organizers.
The role opens an important path to learning: attention to detail, respect for time, clear communication, teamwork and understanding the procedures that help a competition run consistently.
We value their competence, diligence and readiness to accept responsibility. They continue their training while adding field experience in competition organization to their studies, a step we are proud to celebrate and encourage.
Hussein Binyousef
Membership: MC5652MS
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Majedah Hamed Abou Ouf
Membership: MC5657MS
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Hiba Yousef Rsheed Elayyan
Membership: MC6802MS
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We also extend our appreciation to Chef Manal for her participation and contribution to the marshal team.
A teacher’s message to his learners
To our learners and participating colleagues: we celebrate you and every step you earn through commitment. Bring a learner’s curiosity, a professional’s discipline and a colleague’s respect to this experience. Give every competitor a fair opportunity, share knowledge generously and return with new questions and deeper experience.
We want each of you to develop a distinctive contribution and become a source of knowledge and encouragement for those who follow. Education extends its impact when learners pass its benefits to others.
The Union appreciates the Chefs Carnival Club’s efforts in making this participation possible, including its announced live cooking, audience interaction and tasting activities. We wish the participants, organizers and competitors a successful and rewarding experience.
Our pride comes from knowing the journeys behind these names and seeing the room ahead for growth and contribution.
You have learned with us. Today you carry that knowledge into practice. Make your contribution worthy of your effort, and let your success open a path for others.
To those who read these names twenty years from now
We write these words to preserve a moment in the journeys of people whose competence and diligence we have witnessed, and whose capacity to progress we believe in. Behind each name is someone who learned, asked questions, trained and invested time and effort in becoming ready for responsibility. That effort deserves to be remembered, and we have a duty to acknowledge what we have seen.
If this article reaches a reader twenty years from now, may these names convey something beyond a single competition: that competence takes patience to build, that continued learning remains a virtue at every professional stage, and that success grows in value through what it gives to others.
To the participants who make us proud: we hope that your children and learners will one day return to these pages and find a record of a stage in your journey, your teacher’s confidence in you and your institution’s appreciation of your effort. These words recognize your journeys as we knew them when this article was written, with a sincere hope that the years ahead bring further knowledge and contribution.
A competition ends and its stage is dismantled. Knowledge passed on, fairness practised and a positive influence on another person can continue from one generation to the next. That is how we hope these names will be remembered.
