A food tour and a coffee break in Qatar
Qatar 365 treats your taste buds visiting the Qatar International Food Festival and an exhibition dedicated to coffee.
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00:00Qatar is a diverse melting pot.
00:05You see all the different types of people all around from everywhere, from young to
00:09old.
00:10They're all here enjoying.
00:11I think food really brings everyone together.
00:13Every majlis you'll find a coffee pot and a tea pot, and it's accessible by everyone.
00:18So if you have a guest coming into the majlis, serving them coffee is an honor.
00:22It's a medium for bonding and communication here in the Middle East.
00:27Coffee plays a very important role.
00:29It is beyond just a commodity and drink.
00:33It is a kind of a social rule in our daily life.
00:41Hello and welcome to Qatar365.
00:44Join me, Laila Humaira, on a culinary journey through the country.
00:48We'll take you to a coffee exhibition where I explore the shared appreciation between
00:53Qatar and Indonesia for hospitality and coffee rituals.
00:58But first, we begin at the Qatar International Food Festival, where Adel Haleem joined thousands
01:04of foodies here at Al Bidha Park to take a bite of what's on offer.
01:14The sights, the sounds, the smells.
01:16So many cuisines from around the world are on offer at this year's Qatar International
01:21Food Festival, which organizers hope highlights the country's appreciation for its diverse
01:25population and the importance of food in Qatari culture.
01:34Qatar is a diverse melting pot, and I think just coming into the food festival, you can
01:39see that from all the different food offerings, but then you see all the different types of
01:44people all around from everywhere, from young to old.
01:48They're all here enjoying.
01:49I think food really brings everyone together.
01:52We can be around.
01:53We don't put our hands in here, okay?
01:59To celebrate this year's Qatar-Morocco Year of Culture, Chef Najat prepared some Moroccan
02:04sweets in one of the festival's popular attractions, the cooking studio.
02:16Today we're going to make, bring the flavors, the colors of Morocco, the sweet, the sour,
02:22all the sensorial part of fruits and vegetables, the way of how you should eat the probiotics,
02:28for example, how you preserve, how you cure, how you mix with fruit and vegetables, how
02:33you mix with chocolate, for example, yogurt, how fermentation works to be able to do something
02:39good for us.
02:41Lemons, preserve, sugar, then we put lemon, honey and sugar, pineapple.
02:50Chef Najat's avant-garde cooking style has led her to be described as one of the most
02:54critically acclaimed female chefs in the Middle East and North Africa region.
02:59Food means, for me, it's a language of communicating and bringing people together.
03:03It sounds like a cliché, but actually it's the only time when you are happy or you're
03:08sick, you want something, you always choose for, crave for something, you know?
03:11Love, yeah, love can be there, but also when you, when you, if I'm like a little bit
03:17melancholic, I want Chinese, and if I want, I'm a little bit like a chili pepper, I want
03:22Indian food.
03:23And, you know, I learned to identify my mood with food.
03:26What can I say?
03:27With more than 100 food stalls, live cooking shows, and master classes from world-class
03:32chefs, there's something here for every food lover.
03:35But one new addition this year may be an acquired taste, dinner in the sky.
03:40Fine dining at 50 meters in the air may not sound appetizing to everyone, but I'm not
03:45one to turn down a unique gastronomic experience.
04:05It is an experience.
04:06You can also see the whole city.
04:08Like now, we are in Albedo Park, so you see the West Bay skyline, and it is really amazing
04:13because you are belted to a seat, and in front of you, you have the chef who is providing
04:18you the food.
04:19You can turn around with your seat, and you can even lay back to have the experience of
04:23being a little bit like a bird.
04:26Alexander Hildebrandt's roughly 3 out of 10 dinner guests have some fear of heights,
04:31but by the time they're back on ground, they've already posted their aerial adventure on social
04:36media.
04:37He believes partnering with the Qatar International Food Festival is a natural fit.
04:42We are very proud to be a significant part of the food festival for 10 years now because
04:48we combine experience with food.
04:52We are in the garden area where Bonham Souleity has brought in around 15 different vegan and
05:00healthy food brands.
05:06This is for the first time.
05:08I'm going to try this.
05:09It's amazing.
05:10I'm going to taste it.
05:11It's amazing.
05:13I'm going to taste it.
05:14It's so good.
05:15healthy food brands.
05:20This is for the first time that we actually have vegan options in the Qatar
05:23International Food Festival, and it's really to provide something for everyone.
05:27But there's unhealthy options for me, too, right?
05:29Of course. That area is for you.
05:37Sheikha Hessa Al Thani says KIFF contributes to the Qatar national vision,
05:41where the target is to welcome six million visitors a year by 2030.
05:47What's next for KIFF is I'm hoping that we can grow this to really becoming
05:52regionally and internationally known.
05:55I think it's a product that people would be excited to come and visit for.
06:00Qatar and Indonesia may be thousands of kilometres apart,
06:13but the two countries have more in common than you think,
06:17especially when it comes to their love for coffee.
06:20Call it kopi or kahwa, the drink transcends borders and taste buds
06:24so much that the National Museum of Qatar brewed an exhibition
06:28on the beans that bind.
06:30And I got a special tasting experience.
06:35This is clover.
06:37Clover?
06:42Coffee plays a very important role.
06:44It is beyond just a commodity and drink.
06:48It is a kind of a social rule in our daily life.
06:53Like many Indonesians, His Excellency Ridwan Hassan loves starting his day
07:02with black coffee.
07:04You can say it's a ritual that defies language and culture.
07:08Around the world, having a coffee in the morning is a daily habit to fuel work,
07:13conversations and interactions with others.
07:17Particularly in Indonesia and Qatar,
07:20the shared love for coffee began centuries ago.
07:23And that's what growing kopi, drinking kahwa is about.
07:29So here you can see these are the coffee cups.
07:33I like the cardamom and some spices, maybe like a spicy.
07:39In this exhibit, we explain the story of coffee from the discovery of coffee,
07:43the name, how it moved around in the world, starting from Ethiopia all the way
07:48to Indonesia, and the history of coffee in different parts of the world.
07:53We trace back our history on the 1600s.
07:57Coffee was brought and introduced by the Dutch as a part of the global trade at
08:03that time. And since that time, coffee is widely spread to Indonesia and become
08:09one of the important commodities in our economy.
08:13From a short film about a traditional Katari majlis to a coffee shop in the
08:17heart of Jakarta, a big part of the exhibition explains how the two
08:22countries serve coffee, where presentation goes hand in hand with
08:26enjoying a cup of joe.
08:28For generations, coffee has played a major role in Katari households in
08:33creating a respectful and welcoming environment for visiting guests.
08:37In every majlis, you'll find a coffee pot and a teapot, and it's accessible by
08:42everyone. But usually you'll find someone, usually the youngest man, pouring the
08:46coffee for the guests. So if you have a guest coming into the majlis, serving them
08:50coffee is an honor. It's a medium for bonding and communication here in the
08:56Middle East.
08:57Coffee has even been used as a mediator between feuding tribes in ancient times,
09:03while today it can be the game-changing factor to seal business deals.
09:08This tradition is now being adopted by the corporate world, actually.
09:13So here in Qatar, there are many corporate companies and even foreign
09:19people that come to Qatar, for example, Chinese, they would learn these
09:24traditions and even offer these coffee cups for the Arabs when they want to
09:30talk and strike a deal.
09:32While most Katari households serve Arabic coffee, Indonesia is home to at
09:37least 10 varieties of coffee beans. So it's no wonder the country is one of the
09:41world's top producers of coffee. Last year alone, Indonesia exported more than
09:47430,000 tons, amounting to around $1.2 billion.
09:54Indonesia consists of thousands of islands, 17,000 islands, small, medium
10:00and big size, you know, and every region has its own uniqueness.
10:06When you are talking about the diversity of the coffee, the taste of coffee,
10:12Indonesia is the place.
10:17From Robusta, to Arabica, to Liberica, and even one with an unusual, or some
10:24would say, acquired flavor profile.
10:27It is very interesting, Kopi Luwak. Luwak is a small animal, it's like a
10:33civet, something like that. And it chews the base of the coffee beans, and
10:43then it's swallowed by this animal, and it has a certain digestive process.
10:50After a rigorous process of cleaning, the final outcome brews a cup of coffee
10:55that can cost up to $500, the most expensive in the world.
11:08It's not everyone's cup of tea, but for the adventurous, the bitter taste may be
11:13well worth the money.
11:16What better way to learn more about each other than over a meal, or a cup of
11:20coffee?
11:45We hope you've enjoyed this episode, but that's all the time we have for now.
11:49For more, check out euronews.com and connect with us through our hashtag.
11:53Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time on Kata365.