Canadian-Bangladeshi chef Madiha Turshin has advanced to the quarter-finals of the Favorite Chef 2026 competition, where public voting will determine who progresses to the semi-finals.

Turshin, Chef and Creative Director of Yum Moments, is currently ranked first in her quarter-final group.

Voting closes at 7pm Pacific Daylight Time on Thursday, 23 July – equivalent to 8am in Bangladesh on Friday, 24 July. Supporters may cast one free vote every 24 hours, while additional votes are available through donations.

Favorite Chef is presented by celebrity chef Carla Hall and operated by Colossal on behalf of DTCare. The competition raises funds benefiting the James Beard Foundation but is separate from the foundation’s James Beard Awards.

The winner will receive $25,000, be featured in Taste of Home magazine and cook with Carla Hall on an episode of “Chewed Up”.

Turshin is using the competition to present Bangladeshi cuisine through classical techniques, food history and cultural storytelling.

“My signature is not a single dish but a style showcasing Bangladeshi cuisine through a global, technique-driven lens,” she said.

“I transform the flavours and traditions I grew up with into refined, contemporary experiences while staying deeply rooted in my heritage.”

Her featured creations include “Verdure”, a seasonal vegetable composition served with coriander-mint oil and kasundi turmeric aioli; “Rohu à la Bengal”, a contemporary interpretation of Bangladesh’s fish-and-rice tradition; “Comfort, Coloured”, an elevated red lentil soup; and “Monsoon Tea & Memory”, a dessert inspired by sandesh and infused with Bangladeshi milk tea, saffron and hibiscus.

A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu’s Grand Diplôme programme, Turshin works across culinary practice, food history, research and media.

If she wins the competition, Turshin plans to publish a culinary coffee-table book reinterpreting traditional Bangladeshi recipes through contemporary techniques and global influences.

She also plans to establish Yum Moments in Dhaka as a culinary and cultural space bringing together chefs, artists, researchers and international collaborators.