Ali Salem Edbowa

Who is Ali Salem Edbowa?

Ali Salem Edbowa is a television chef from the United Arab Emirates. He has had three cooking shows on television and is known more famously for his popular restaurant Mezlai in the Emirates Palace hotel, the first authentic Emirati restaurant in the UAE, in which he works as the executive chef. Edbowa specialises mostly in Emirati cuisine, having a mastery over several local dishes. His passion for cooking grew while during a trip overseas, where he had become fed up of the food and asked his mother for recipes; "I started to cook and I felt something in me. I see it when I cook, I’m happy. So what do I do? I cook and cook and cook."

In 2007, Edbowa was named best Arabic chef by the Emirates International Salon Culinaire.