The Singapore Tourism Board announced the start of the much-awaited Singapore Food Festival at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Jeddah on Thursday, in collaboration with the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Hotel (Singapore), Crowne Plaza Hotel Jeddah, and supported by the Consulate General of Singapore in Jeddah and Singapore Airlines.

The festival will run until Oct. 31 and was launched by Raziff Aljunied, the Singapore consul general in Jeddah, Rafique Izhiman, general manager of the Crowne Plaza Hotel Jeddah and Mohamed Firhan Abdul Salam, area director for the Middle East and Africa in the Singapore Tourism Board.

The Singapore Food Festival made its debut in Jeddah after a successful run in Riyadh in March 2015. The festival welcomes avid food lovers to discover Singapore’s food heritage and multi-cultural culinary traditions through the exciting line-up of Singaporean cuisines, set to wet the appetite of residents in Jeddah.

"Beyond the close cooperation in trade and business, the warm and friendly relationship between Saudi Arabia and Singapore is evident through our personal-level exchanges. Food is one of the best and easiest ways for people to connect and we are proud to bring a slice of Singapore culture through our multi-ethnic cuisines to Jeddah," said Aljunied.

He added that with the newly refurbished Al Zahra restaurant, Crowne Plaza Jeddah is delighted to host the Singaporean food fiesta, where two outstanding chefs, Mok Wai Seng and Boey Min Hwa from Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Hotel Singapore, have arrived to lead the festival with the full support of the team of talented chefs from the Crowne Plaza Hotel Jeddah.

"I am confident that the Singapore Food Festival in Jeddah will be well received by the local community and I hope it will intrigue and interest more people to visit Singapore to sample our diverse and rich multi-ethnic cuisines,” he said.

Mohamed Firhan also said that the Singapore Food Festival is an opportunity to showcase the gastronomic diversity and cultural melting pot that is Singapore, which is one of the factors that makes Singapore one of Saudi people's favorite family holiday destinations.

"2015 marks a tremendous milestone for Singapore, and with a year-long calendar of events and activities to celebrate Singapore’s Golden Jubilee; it’s no wonder that Singapore was crowned the 'top country to visit' in Lonely Planet’s 'Best in Travel 2015'. Hence, we have lined up a treasure trove of exclusive tourist experiences and privileges for our Middle Eastern visitors to discover what it has to offer. This is the perfect time to visit Singapore to indulge in a bit of shopping, eating and playing,” said Mohamed Firhan.

Chef Boey told Arab News that they have introduced special and traditional dishes from Singapore to satisfy all food lovers in Jeddah.

"In Singaporean cuisine, the main ingredients are lemon grass, shallots, ginger, garlic and turmeric. Singapore is a small island where people enjoy sea food," he said. "Today we have Black Pepper Crabs, Wasabi Prawns, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Chili Crab, Popiah, Soto Ayam Soup and Indian fish curry to make this food festival a successful one. I tried my best to bring all the tastes of Singapore, but it was a bit challenging because the ingredients we find over here were slightly different from Singapore. However we brought very special dishes from Singapore and we have arranged four live cooking stations to serve hot food according to the choices of our visitors," he added.

Other specialties to be savoured include chicken and curry potatoes, Sayur Lodeh (vegetables in coconut milk), Singaporean Chicken, and Mutton Satay with peanut sauce, with cucumber and onions.

Besides the live stations, there are two soups on the menu as well: Kambing Soup (Traditional Mutton Soup) and Soto Ayam Soup. There are also other dishes including Singapore fruits, Spinach in Egg gravy, Prawn paste chicken wings, Mutton Rendang (traditional spicy dish), “Gong Pao” Squid (spicy stir fried Squid), Fish in sweet and sour sauce, Cereal Prawns, and Stir fried Kway Teow.

For dessert, in addition to a range of continental sweets, the incredible chefs have prepared traditional sweet dishes, namely Ice Kachang and Cendol, to delight everybody's sweet tooth. “Ice Kachang, a dessert which is available everywhere in Singapore, is a special traditional dish. Ice kachang (ice with beans) evolved from the humble ice ball drenched with syrup to make it like a little ice mountain served in a bowl, drizzled with creamed corn, red beans, condensed milk, coconut jelly and brightly colored rose syrups. Dig into it and you’ll discover other goodies hidden within: red beans, palm seeds and cubed jellies," he said.

Paul Dorai Raj, Singapore Airlines general manager for the Middle East, said that the company is glad to be able to support the Singapore Food Festival in Jeddah so that residents can enjoy a range of popular Singaporean dishes. "Through this festival, we hope to promote Singapore as an attractive destination for travelers, assisted by our three weekly flights from Jeddah to Singapore, which will be increased to four times weekly from the 1st of December, 2015," he said.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is deepening its engagement in the Middle East market to increase the influx of leisure and business-related visitors to Singapore through various travel, trade and consumer initiatives.

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