‘Cook For Change!’ Sustainable Chef Challenge 2024

Corporate Responsibility Food
Nov. 26, 2024

Nabila Kerbout

Representing the Middle East and Africa in this year's Cook For Change! Sustainable Chef Challenge will be Nabila Kerbout. Originally from North Africa, Nabila is Chef De Cuisine at a client site in Abu Dhabi. Her cooking is heavily influenced by her upbringing in Morocco where her grandmother inspired and cultivated a love of cooking and food that has lasted and flourished throughout her career. She is also passionate about the environment so this challenge is the perfect showcase for her talent.

Chef Nabila draws from her heritage and weaves Arabic and Berber influences into her cooking. Her entry, “Mahshi Batatise Bil Quino,” is a modern take on a traditional Arabic dish, featuring quinoa—one of the Future 50 ingredients from the cereals and grains list.

Chef Adam Collinson

Sodexo UK&I

Secret Ingredient: My love of competitions

“I started in catering at 15 years old, working as a kitchen porter at the Belfry Hotel, and I got the bug from there, really.”

Chef Gaurav Pawar

Sodexo India

Secret Ingredient: A roasted mix of millet and legume flour with spices

“I love the fast-paced environment of the kitchen where precision meets artistry. The constant innovation makes every day exciting. Turning simple ingredients into something special is what I enjoy most.”

Chef Michał Fabiszeski

Sodexo Poland

Secret Ingredient: Telling a story

“Curiosity was my initial inspiration to become a chef: what happens when you mix seemingly incompatible ingredients?”

Chef Ryan Hickey

Sodexo US

Secret Ingredient: Innovation

“I love the creative freedom you get when cooking, when you can play around with different ingredients and the creative or the artistic freedom of plating. And, you know, making something special from scratch.”

Chef Cristopher Paredes

Sodexo Chile

Secret Ingredient: Precision cooking

"What inspired me to become a chef was seeing, as a child, everyday the love my parents put into food. Coming together at the table with something prepared with love and care inspired me to continue doing it and to keep delighting the people I care about."

Chef John Oliveira da Conceição

Sodexo Brazil

Secret ingredient: Creativity

“My family inspired me to become a chef, the Sunday lunches during childhood, and the curiosity of seeing what my mother was putting in the pan.”

Chef Nabila Kerbout

Sodexo UAE

Secret Ingredient: Passion

“I became a chef because of my grandmother. She worked as a chef at a school and at home she made wonderful food. I can never forget the smell of bread, lamb tagine and couscous. Because of her I was inspired to become a chef.”

Chef Sandrine Leriche

Sodexo France

Secret Ingredient: Wild plants

“Cooking is, above all, a passion. As a child, I would spend my time in the kitchen, watching the magic unfold. Later, I had the opportunity to explore various culinary worlds, which reinforced my desire to create an authentic, delicious, and creative cuisine.”

Why do we celebrate sustainable chefs?

We are holding this competition for the third year because cooking in a sustainable way can make a huge difference, especially when this happens all over the world.

As a company, we are working towards 70% of our main dishes being labelled as ‘low-carbon’ by 2030. With so many passionate sustainable chefs all over the world you know those dishes are going to be absolutely delicious!

This is just one of the ways we are working towards Net Zero by 2040!