PWA Qatar’s cooking contest draws a large number of contestants
By Umer Nangiana


Offering a rare opportunity to women to prove their culinary skills, Pakistan Women’s Association (PWA) Qatar attracted a large number of contestants from different expatriate communities at the second edition of its Cookery Contest and Show.
Held in association with Shan Masala (spices), also the main ingredient spice for the competing recipes, the show put together women, mostly housewives, from Pakistani, Indian, Filipino and other communities in a competition for ‘best cook.’
Allowed to prepare their favourite recipes, the women presented the dishes in various innovative styles at the Doha Marriott Hotel.
“This is our second cookery show and we are promoting Pakistani products. Shan is a product that is popular all over the world and is available in many countries across the globe for its quality. But in addition to Pakistanis, Indian and Filipino communities also actively participated in the show,” Rahat Mansoor, the President of PWA, told Community.
From the registered contestants, PWA had shortlisted 21 people to compete in the show. “We made sure that no recipe is repeated. We had an overwhelming response from people. Initially, we had slotted 10 places but we had to increase it to 21,” said Rahat.
Contestant were monitored and judged by Chef Zakir (one of Pakistan’s top chefs), Jassim Mohammed (judge) and Chef Tony (Doha Marriott Senior Chef) on taste and presentation.
Prizes were given to the seven top contestants. Rukhsana Muneer won the first prize for Mutton Haleem with Dash Chicken and Honey Mustard Chicken. The second position went to Nelofar Ameer for Mutton Kadahi with Rasmalai and the third position went to Aiysha Ali for Shahi Haleem, vegetable cutlets with walnut halwa. Shabana Shoaib finished 4th, Henna Syed 5th, Afreen Yousuf 6th, and Hameeda Syed 7th.
The top three contestants won a Gold Ring from Malabar Gold. The fourth to seventh place finishes each got QR500 in gift vouchers from Malabar Gold and Diamond Jewellery. All winners also got gift hampers from Shan Masala and VLCC.
“It was challenging to choose winners from 21 contestants, as each contestant did a remarkable job with their hard work in preparing and presenting the dishes,” said Chef Zakir. He is considered as one of the most famous and successful chefs in Pakistan. Being an all-rounder in all cuisines, Chef Zakir has made his recognition all over world media having live shows in 42 countries.
“In judging the quality of the food, we mainly see three things. First of course is that how much the meat is cooked. If it is over-cooked, this means that the spices in it were over-cooked too. This results in waste of meat’s protein,” Zakir told Community.
The second thing, he said, was the quantity of spices used in proportion with the quantity of meat. There must be a fine balance between the two, or else it results in acidity or burning sensation in your throat or stomach.
The food should be balanced in such a way that everyone is able to eat it. It should have the right combination of salt and other spices.
Cooking has become relatively easy but good cooking techniques come with practice, said the chef. “Cooking is just like any other field like medical science or engineering. You have to spend time and energy to gain expertise in your technique. It is not just something gifted,” he added.
“In Pakistan, we do not have training institutes so we do not have much awareness about it. In developed countries, they study cooking in colleges and universities,” said Chef Zakir.
He said he wanted to become a soldier when he was young. His parents and certain mentors, however, pushed him to become a chef. “I thought about it and realised they were right. I can make name for my country with my work as a chef as well,” said Zakir.
Once he joined this profession, he said, he never looked back. He has devoted his entire life to it.
He said the contestants were mostly housewives and they did really well despite the fact they made Pakistani recipes whose complete ingredients are not available locally. The climate and water here are also different from that of Pakistan, he said.
It is the job of a chef to balance everything in a certain recipe between ingredients, temperature differences from the areas it is from, blend of spices available and so on. And this is an art. Whoever masters it, masters cooking, said the chef.