The Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) 2015 will host a number of famous world chefs who will prepare mouthwatering dishes to suit all tastes.
Chefs Vineet Bhatia from India and Massimo Capra from Italy, QA’s celebrity chefs, will be cooking live throughout the sixth edition of the festival, co-organised by Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) and Qatar Airways (QA).
Bhatia, a double Michelin-starred chef who managed the kitchens of several top international restaurants, won many awards and titles including the “Chef of the Year 2004” award and the “100 Most Powerful Indians in Gulf-Arabian Business 2012” award.
In 2001, his restaurant “Zaika” was awarded a Michelin star, making him the first Indian chef-restaurateur to receive this honour. Three years later Vineet was awarded the Michelin star for the second time for “Rasoi,” his restaurant in London’s fashionable Chelsea district.
In 2009, history repeated itself when the Michelin star was awarded to his restaurant “Rasoi” in Geneva.
Capra, adviser for a number of international restaurants, is regarded by many international cooking magazines and websites as a star in the culinary arts.
He worked for many years in Toronto, Canada, and appeared as a regular guest expert on City TV’s Cityline and as a chef host on the Food Network TV.
He recently inaugurated his own restaurant “Soprafino” located at the state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport where he offers passengers a selection of his delicious recipes.
Fatafeat, the pan-Arab cuisine television channel, is also taking part in QIFF this year. It will feature live-cooking contributions from chefs Salma Soliman and Daad Abu Jaber. Qatari culinary expert chef Aisha al-Tamimi, known for preparing tasty local dishes, will also hold daily workshops in co-operation with chef Fawwaz al-Omaim to train the chefs of hotels and local restaurants on cooking traditional Qatari and Khaleeji recipes.
To enrich the activities of QIFF 2015 and build upon the “Qatar-Turkey 2015 Year of Culture,” the festival will also host chef Baran Yucel, head chef of Sukar Pasha Ottoman Lounge in Katara, who will prepare delicious Turkish dishes.
In addition, other chefs from different hotels and restaurants in Qatar will also participate in this unique cultural and entertainment festival.
The event is known to provide tourists and guests from around the globe with wide ranging culinary options, focusing primarily on families and children.
Philips, a company specialized in cooking appliances, will also participate in the festival as an event partner, with chef Deema Hajjawi, Philips Middle East brand ambassador attending.
Deema is famous for preparing tasty meals. He is the star of a number of cooking programmes on pan-Arab television channels. She presents the show “Dunya ya Dunya” on Jordanian Ru’ya TV. Chef Deema has also published two successful cookbooks and is now preparing to publish a third.
QIFF is a cultural and social event highlighting the various foods and their relation to the history and civilisations of people around the world.
QTA launched QIFF in 2010 as part of its efforts to work in partnership with stakeholders in the public and private sectors to plan, organise, promote and develop a sustainable tourism sector that would contribute to Qatar’s future and make Qatar a top tourist destination.
