Two of Qatari community’s ‘culinary heroes’ treated Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) visitors to various dishes and delicacies during their recent live cooking demonstration.
Alongside chefs from Thailand, France and Mexico, Qatari vegan food guru Ghanem al-Sulaiti and “the treasure of the Qatari kitchen” Umm Issa took the centre stage at the annual festival to provide the audience with unique culinary experiences.
The activity was part of ensuring the widest possible participation of members of the community in the week-long QIFF, which concludes today.
“I am passionate about healthy eating and having a plant-based diet. Using organic food and locally produced greens makes your body react more positively and that’s something I really want to raise awareness of through QIFF,” said al-Sulaiti, owner of the up and coming Evergreen Organics cafe.
In contrast, Issa offered her audience deep fried khanfaroosh and kebabs, traditional foods that she says are going out of fashion because “everyone these days is on a diet.”
Issa, after decades of professional cooking, now lends her cooking talents to Ihsan (Qatar Foundation for the Elderly) where she is resident.
Students from various schools across Qatar can watch the two chefs’ live performance at the festival today also. Yesterday’s demo was dedicated for students of Shafallah Centre for Children with Special Needs who had the opportunity to experience the festival’s unique offering and interact with the cooks at their leisure.
The Centre’s executive director Mohamed Badr al-Sada thanked the organisers for giving children the opportunity to visit the festival and enjoy its offerings.
“QIFF is an important part of developing Qatar’s tourism offering and we wanted to make sure the community played a big part in it to ensure it was reflective of Qatar’s culture and traditions,” Qatar Tourism Authority’s festivals and tourism events co-ordinator Fatma al-Sayed said.
“In the lead up to this year’s edition, we also took the festival to Qatar’s schools, having partnered with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Your Health First and Qatar Culinary Professionals to deliver a healthy food and nutrition awareness programme to 30 schools around Qatar,” she added.