It’s my cousin who works in the hospitality industry who motivated me to choose this industry and build up my career. I started my career as a waiter in India, and when I came to Dubai, I grabbed an opportunity to work as a steward, as it was my first international platform in the culinary industry.

Since cooking is my passion, I wanted to grow further in my career and always wanted to have a professional qualification that could help me put my skills to best practice. Undergoing this scholarship program has upgraded my skills to a professional level. It gave me a second chance, to help me share my opinion at work, motivate me to be a team player, as well as give me a platform to share my knowledge with my colleagues.

This diploma and qualification has given me great confidence in my work as a chef and I am certain that this will help me endorse my skills as a professional chef. I see myself being a high profile chef in time, hopefully making the culinary department proud of my achievements.

As I grew up and learned a little bit more about cooking, I realized culinary is the world I wanted to belong to. When I was a little boy, I watched cooking shows with my grandmother. I always loved to eat good food the way my grandmother makes it, so I thought: one day I will also make delicious meals for my family.

For me, cooking is not a job; it’s a way of life. I love the opportunity to work with a lot of talented chefs so that I can always upgrade myself, and pick up new skills and ways of preparing food. I love culinary because I can always learn new things. It gives you the opportunity to travel around the world, meet people from different cultures, and make different types of food. And if you are really passionate about doing all of these then it is important to have proper training to achieve your goals. It helps you understand food and the different ways of preparing it. When you learn new things, you are always up to date, always upgrading existing menus.

I have a lot more confidence in the kitchen after this training. Before, I was doing things just because somebody said that’s the right way of doing it. Now I understand the science behind it. It has helped me to move to a completely new level of cooking. My goal is to become an Executive Chef, and I strongly believe this Diploma will get me one step closer to that. And then, the sky is the limit!

Back in India, while I was doing my Bachelors in Commerce from the University of Calcutta, little did I know about the great culinary career that awaited me ahead. Although I had to choose this career soon after the completion of my bachelors due to poor financial conditions, I didn’t hesitate to jump at the very first opportunity that came my way.

I started off as a Tandoori trainee and slowly discovered that I actually have a knack for cooking which inspired me to work harder. It is only after working in the industry for some time I realized how challenging and vast the food industry is. Being a chef is not that easy; there are many ups & downs but every day I learn something new and that taught me to never give up.

I believe a chef requires discipline, motivation, and most importantly professional training to strengthen & improve their skills, along with increasing the ability to adapt to new methods and strategies. As a scholar of ICCA Scholarship Program, I’ve learned to manage my priorities, improve my performance at work, enhance my creativity and obtained the ability to separate the relevant from the irrelevant.

It’s a great honor for me to be a part of ICCA and this program has helped me to have endless opportunities in the world of culinary. Now, being a chef is not just a profession for me; it’s a passion, an achievement and a dream come true.

I take great inspiration from my mother and two elder siblings in whatever I do in my life. My mother inspired me the most; her consistent efforts in putting delicious food every day on the table is what made me want to join the culinary industry. I love creating new dishes and working with people from other countries.

The scholarship has helped me develop as a chef, improve my theory base and has set the foundation for a better career ahead. It gives me a deeper understanding of the operation and what is cooked and why is it cooked in that particular way. I have learned different flavour pairings as well as some classic techniques.

The diploma with a world-class certification has helped me stand out among the other chefs. It has built up my confidence to a level where I see myself as a well developed and confident young chef in the industry in the future.

I love travelling and that’s one of the reasons I chose to have a career in the culinary industry. Being a chef allows me to travel for competitions and work, and I can learn many things while travelling.

I am glad I got the opportunity to get professional culinary training as it is important for a professional chef. We can clearly see a difference between people with qualifications and without them from the little things they do. Training has let me learn from some of the best chefs in the UAE, and now I can share the things I have learned with people I work with at the Atlantis. This diploma will certainly help me a lot in the future; however, I believe that no matter how qualified you are, you can never succeed if you stop trying to improve yourself. In the future, I see myself still learning and improving, and I do believe that this qualification will open doors for me down the line.

It’s my passion to cook that made me pursue this kind of career that I have chosen which drives me to do my best. I love being a chef as I can express myself through my food. It gives me that kind of fulfilling feeling when I am cooking, and kitchen is a place where I feel alive.

When you have such passion and love for cooking, I feel a little bit of professional training could do wonders for you. No matter how talented or passionate you’re, it’s very important to have a vocational qualification and proper training because it is the platform and base to acquiring better skills that a qualified chef should have. After proper training, one will have the knowledge of effective methods and techniques to use in cooking. This program has helped me very much as I am working with more flexibility and efficiency in the kitchen.

Having the diploma, I can now proudly stand on my feet and can aim higher than before. I have the self-confidence that wherever I go, I will conquer the challenges my professional life brings me.

I started in Dubai as a steward but kept watching the chefs in the kitchen, longing for an opportunity to cook. The head chef at the J.W. Marriott, where I now work, gave me the opportunity to go for the professional training at ICCA Dubai after me expressing my interest in cooking.

I learned things during training that I can now bring with me anywhere. Having proper training is very important because without it, I wouldn’t have realized that I was doing things the wrong way. After training, I have learned to manage my priorities at work, improve my performance in the kitchen, and develop a positive learning attitude, which I have adopted from my colleagues and mentors at ICCA.

I feel so honored to have been chosen for this program, and I hope that one day this experience will help me reach my goal of working at a five-star hotel or luxury cruise line in other countries.

I have loved to cook food ever since I was young. My grandmother’s food always made me happy, and I took great interest in how she prepared such delicious food. This is the reason I have strived to become a chef. I started working in Sri Lanka for a couple of years and there after moved to the UAE, where I have been working for the past 5 years.

I always wanted to make people happy and healthy with my food. And now, as a trained chef we can ensure better outcomes of our final products. I believe training is very important to make people better at their chosen career and improve their skills. I have learned a lot of techniques and improved my knowledge in food from the professional chefs at ICCA.

I try to replicate what I have learned in my day to day work in the kitchen to help better my skills. I believe that having an international diploma is very important for a faster growth in my career. One day I wish to be an Executive Chef and I believe this qualification will help me get there.

Due to my family’s financial situation, I had to discontinue my studies to help support my family. And that’s the time fate brought me to an agency that was sending applicants to a 5-star hotel in the UAE. Luckily, I got the job and started working at Rixos Bab Al Bahr for almost 3 years and later on moving to Sheraton Grand hotel.

Slowly and steadily I was learning but last year things got a little better when my executive chef enrolled me to ICCA Dubai for the scholarship program to provide me with professional culinary education. This scholarship program has helped me do a lot at work as I can apply the things that I have learned in the school, and can also share the knowledge that I have with my colleagues.

I chose a career in the culinary industry because I know that this is the job that I can succeed at in the future. For me, being a chef is not only a job but is also my passion which I discovered after joining the industry. I love it and I am proud of being a chef. I am sure this diploma will help me fulfill my dream to become a successful chef in the near future, as I represent my home country.

Ever since I was young, I have always been keen on reading books and learning different languages, so it was my curiosity that led me on to study a foreign language in the university.

During that time, my family was going through an unfortunate financial crisis and I had to take up work to support my family and pay for my education as well. That is how I came to the culinary industry.

I started my career in the industry as a waiter, then moving into the kitchen later on. One of the main reasons why I chose this career was my father. His hobby was cooking for our family and I always helped him cook some of our traditional dishes.

Creating and making a new recipe that turns out great puts a smile on my face and in my heart. Cooking brightens other people’s day when they taste your dish. To achieve that, proper training is very important especially for learning the fundamentals of each cooking method, traditional recipes, and also understanding the ingredients.

The scholarship program is a great opportunity to develop and hone my culinary skills, including the ones listed above. Now having obtained this diploma along with a base-knowledge built by this program, it will surely help me grow further in my career.

Being in the culinary field is always a challenge; however, opportunities to learn new things occur every day, since food is constantly changing. What makes me happy is that we as chefs are the main part of it. As a chef, I get the immense privilege of having the freedom to create my own dishes and menus. This is my passion and I have learned a lot over the past few years under the guidance of great chefs.

Doing the proper thing and serving hygienic & tasty food is very important in this field. For that, we need trained staff in the kitchen. It will be easier to handle busy situations with proper technique and methods if you are trained professionally.

Now, having an international diploma, I can see further growth in my career. When competing with others, we can easily move to other countries where I can gather more experience for my dream- a high profile in the industry.

When I got a job in the Pastry Kitchen of Emirates Flight Catering after 10 years of working with fast food chains such as Dunkin Donuts and KFC it opened my eyes to new possibilities. Working in a big & real kitchen only affirmed that I was doing what I really loved to do. And later, when the scholarship program at ICCA came along it made me feel that I am at the right place at the right time.

Proper training really makes a big difference in honing one’s skill, knowledge, and passion. And for me to be a professional chef, one needs to have a good foundation which is important to be successful in this career. Passion with proper training can take you places. I feel so blessed to be part of this program, to be trained at ICCA and to finally have a diploma that I never thought I would ever have.

Now that I have the knowledge and the skill, all I have to do is to embrace it, share it whenever possible and most especially, put everything into practice to improve myself and my future as well. With this foundation that I now have, by God’s grace, I know in my heart it will lead me to a better career and opportunity in the future.

From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank all the people behind this Scholarship Program, for making it possible for us to be in a better place than we were. Thank you ICCA! God bless your hearts!

My culinary story starts from my childhood, taking interest in watching my mom and my grandmother cook family recipes. The food they cook is amazing, so I always attempted to cook like them. When I was in school my homework was making dinner for my family. I love to be a chef because I feel it is something I am good at.

I always wanted to have professional training to improve my knowledge and skills. Now that I have a vocational qualification it helps me understand better standards, hygiene, and safety at work. This scholarship program is very helpful at work, as I have learned a lot of things about basic kitchen work that I didn’t know before. What I have learned from this scholarship has helped me grow so much as a person and a chef. I know I still have so many things to learn, so I want to learn as much as I can, one day at a time. My priority is to become the best chef that I can be.

My mother and aunt have always been my inspiration to take up cooking. As a born foodie, cooking naturally was the area of interest for me and I began my culinary training. Soon after the completion of my 12th grade, I joined the industry as a Commi at the Lal Qila restaurant in Pakistan, before moving to Shakespeare and Co., Dubai.

When I started at Lal Qila restaurant, I became really passionate and motivated to continue on this career path, quickly taking a job opportunity in Dubai as a chance to enhance my skills.

I feel vocational qualification is a must for all professional chefs, as it provides a better understanding of basic techniques, such as awareness in the kitchen and the handling of ingredients. It also allows the individual to grow personally in their chosen career. The scholarship program has helped me better understand my work environment and provided me with a high degree of culinary knowledge that I did not have before joining the program at ICCA.

This diploma from ICCA will give me more recognition if I have to move to any other institution or workplace. Earning this diploma has helped me envision further professional growth as a chef.

I always push myself to strive to be my best, hoping to get the best possible outcome. My mom, who raised me as a single mom has always been an inspiration to me and she always gives me the strength to keep going.

My interest in culinary arts began with an inspirational cookery program that I used to watch on the television when I was younger. I was amazed by how the chef conducted the show making it look effortless with the various cooking techniques. I decided there and then that I would love to do the same, and soon started my journey in the culinary industry.

Chefs are recognized by what they can do, and with a vocational qualification, I believe one will have more opportunities to achieve greater heights in their career. After completing the program, I am more confident in everything I do. I now have the will to try out as many dishes and menus as possible, and it has helped me relate to many issues pertaining to the kitchen.

The diploma has given me the thirst and ambition to strive for growth in my career. I wish to grow further in the ranks and travel the world, learning more. This diploma has just boosted my career to another level. I am so grateful for this opportunity.

When I was a student, I used to stay far from home to attend college, so learning to cook became necessary for my survival. At the same time, I also took up a part-time job in a restaurant which marked the beginning of my culinary journey. It was a great opportunity as I loved cooking and eating a variety of food, eventually inspiring me to become a professional chef.

I have a passion for creating new dishes and presenting food. Professional Training has helped me boost my confidence and consistency in the kitchen. Comparing my performance before and after the Scholarship, I feel that there is a vast difference, as my performance has improved greatly. After getting professionally trained, I feel more like a professional chef now, and I enjoy cooking and creating beautiful food presentations even more.

Now I have attained the culinary skills and knowledge which I will invest in the hotel industry, I am very confident that it will help me grow further as a chef. With this qualification, I see myself as an executive chef in the future.

After the completion of 10th grade in school, I discontinued my studies and started working occasionally to help my father. It was my father’s friend who’s a professional chef, and it was he who inspired me to become a chef. Ever since then, I had wanted to do a diploma in cookery but I couldn’t afford to do it. That is when I joined a hotel for 3 months of training which eventually leads to three years of permanent job in the kitchen.

The profession of a chef is very different from any other profession; it is very unique. My passion for cooking comes from the celebrity chefs who I strive to be like. I love chef jackets, I love to cook food, and most of all I love to work in the culinary industry with great, talented chefs.

While attaining this vocational qualification, one can polish their skills and learn the different attributes needed to become a professional chef. One can accept the different challenges that come with the profession, and also help the people around us improve, by sharing with them the knowledge we have obtained. In the future, my goal is to open my very own restaurant.

To be honest, I didn’t exactly want to go to the culinary field in the beginning. It all happened out of necessity. I was in need of a job and ICCA had hired me as a steward back then. As I watched the students enjoy their work, I became interested, wanting to feel the same. I was chosen for the scholarship program after expressing my interest in cooking. And I could say it was the best thing that happened to me in my entire life.

I believe earning good culinary experience to fine tune your skills is a necessary step in getting a job in a competitive industry like this. ICCA Dubai has helped me grow in this industry, and their efforts are really appreciated. This scholarship has brought me to one of the best restaurants in UAE (COYA-DUBAI) where I work as a Commi now. After training, I'm more passionate and confident in my work. Taking up culinary as my career has already made a huge difference in my life, and I would like to establish my own restaurant in the future.

I grew up in a family where food is as essential as the love we had for one another and that kept us all connected even though we all are living in different places for our work and career. It was my mom who put the very thought of learning to cook in my mind so that I can enjoy eating whatever, whenever and wherever I want to. Probably that’s how I developed the interest in cooking and chose a career path in the world of culinary.

This vocational course is very direct and precise. It has helped me improve my confidence level and also my skills in the kitchen. I am pleased to say that it has helped me a lot. Learning from industry professionals who actually know what they are talking about is a big help. I am optimistic that with this diploma, I will be able to conquer the world, being able to work with the best chefs and learning even more from their skill sets.

When I came to Dubai after my graduation I was lucky enough to find a job in the culinary industry that I am very happy with. What I love about being a chef is that there is so much to learn every single day; it has no limit, no boundary. I always find myself happy whenever I am cooking. I get tired of course- I’m a human being after all, but it doesn’t actually feel like I am working when I am cooking; you are getting paid for doing what you love to do.

Having professional training is extremely helpful for people like me who do not have any formal culinary training because it teaches us not only how to use a knife or so, but also the fundamentals behind every cooking method, classic recipe, etc. Through this scholarship, I now have a better understanding about the kitchen, including not only how we do things and also why we do them.

However, I didn’t come this far only to come this far. I will use this diploma together with my experiences and dreams to widen my culinary capacity. This might include going to other countries, learning more about various cuisines, and working with different kinds of people. I will use this diploma as my “passport” to explore the endless journey of cooking.

I chose a career in the Culinary Industry over other careers because of my passion for food. Being passionate helps me develop my self-confidence and with this confidence I can prepare, cook and present different kinds of food.

The vocational qualification that I have gained through this scholarship program has helped me a lot at work especially when making decisions and handling challenging situations. I am sure I will grow further by preparing myself for the next level of culinary arts, and having a diploma is a definite leg up on my competitors. This doesn’t mean I have a guaranteed great job, but I will have a big advantage on having this qualification in helping me take my career to the next level.

I went back and forth between a few industries before choosing one that I wanted to continue with and dedicate it to myself as my career. When I finally ended up in the culinary industry, it awoke my passion for creativity and became something I was committed to and satisfied with. Cooking is an art, and every single time I make a dish that tastes & looks good, and people start loving, it simply makes my day.

When you already have so much of passion, I think the vocational qualification and proper training presents a prime opportunity to expand the knowledge needed to become a professional chef. The knowledge and skills I gained during this program have benefited me in every aspect of my work. The program provided me with vast knowledge, starting from basic kitchen activities to maintaining a fully functional kitchen.

I think having a strong theoretical and practical understanding of the science behind the food will lead me to greater opportunities. I see myself as an executive chef where I can utilize my knowledge, abilities, and experience which I have gained throughout this program.

After graduation, I started my career as a lawyer and worked for a few months, during which I had the chance to work in the UAE. Although my job was going good I wanted to work in a field where I felt more connected. So after one year of working in the front office, I applied for a cross training in a kitchen in 2016. I enjoyed that training period and realized how much I love to work in a kitchen. It made me feel that I can do much more in this field and can make people happy as well. However, to be a professional chef is not that easy. You need to have proper vocational training that qualifies you to become confident in the kitchen with the right knowledge.

This scholarship program has taught me so much apart from helping me in my work. Once the graduation is done the certificate would probably be kept in a file, but what I have learned from this scholarship will always be in my mind helping me to go to the next level. My idol and godfather is Chef Uwe, who is also my Head Chef. I hope that one day I will be able to become like him or at least close to what he is.