Qatar food festival: A feast for the senses

Qatar Tourism Authority and Qatar Airways staged a feast for the senses at the 4th Qatar International Food Festival, a four-day event that ended yesterday at the Museum of Islamic Art Park on Doha’s waterfront.
The festival was launched on Wednesday in the presence of Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, Minister of Culture Arts and Heritage, Issa Al-Mohannadi, chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority and Akbar Al-Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways and a total of 40 food stalls entertained the guests.
Qatar Tourism Authority Chairman Issa Al-Mohannadi said: “This year we have greatly enhanced the event in its new location in the Museum of Islamic Art Park to provide residents and international visitors with an exciting program of innovative events and activities. The event has an overall flavor of world class five-star cuisine to appeal to visitors from home and abroad with a unique emphasis on wholesome food for a healthy lifestyle.”
Akbar Al-Baker added: “We are thrilled to be part of such a great community event and look forward to welcoming a large number of people during the weekend.”
The festival allowed visitors to sample international cuisines prepared by celebrated chefs and international hotels including 16 in the ‘Snack Zone,’ 16 in the ‘International Zone,’ five in the ‘Qatar UK Zone’ and five in the ‘Healthy Zone.’
This is the first time that Qatar Airways has sponsored the festival. The event has seen remarkable improvements, offering five-star gastronomic experience at a low price and an interesting array of activities for visitors in a spectacular venue.
The biggest highlight of the event was the experience of dining in the sky, in which 22 diners enjoyed gourmet food on a high dining table that goes up to 55 meter, enabling the diners to watch the beautiful skyline of Doha from the Museum of Islamic Art. The 45-minute meal included appetizers, a main dish and a dessert catered by the W hotel in Doha.
Another highlight of the event was the BBQ Donut, which was offered by the Diplomatic Club. It is a floating food barge that seated up to eight diners and featured a special installed BBQ grill that allowed those seated to enjoy the atmosphere while maintaining an intimate group setting floating in the sea.
Qatar Airways Cooking Theatre booth was hosted by two of the airline’s culinary ambassadors, chefs Ramzi Choueiri from Lebanon and Vineet Bhatia from India, who participated with live cooking demonstrations throughout the event.
The Qatari zone included authentic local homemade food presented in Arabian tents. “We are here to give a chance to the festival visitors to learn more about our culture and what we eat everyday,” said Um Jassem, host at one of the Qatari food stands. “I am offering around five different local food items and three desserts that I can proudly say represent our country and our people. I have prepared them myself with my grandmother’s recipes,” she added.
Entry to the event was free. Vouchers for food and drink at the festival were sold on site at the event.