By Noimot Olayiwola/Staff Reporter


While some are featuring their signature cuisines, others are showcasing country-specific delicacies, but there is something for everyone at the four-day Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF), which began yesterday at the Museum of Islamic Art.
More than 40 outlets including four- and five-star hotels as well as smaller restaurants and Arabic food and sweets outlets are taking part in the event.
To further promote the Qatar-UK 2013 year of culture initiative, the St Regis is presenting diners with the English menu from its Opal by Gordon Ramsay restaurant featuring traditional British cuisine such as a collection of sandwiches, chicken with a tarragon mustard on crabatta, roast beef with horseradish bloomer, egg mayonnaise and mustard cress on granary.
The hotel is also offering hot British food like sausage rolls, quiche (vegetarian option), traditional cornish pasty beef and desserts including jam tarts, English fruit cake, Eton mess and British fruit punch comprising lemon, cucumber, orange and mint leaves.
Demonstrating its integration in Qatar and the region, the Ritz- Carlton hotel is serving authentic Arabic food including ouzi, tharid and saro to visitors to the festival, who are also being invited to sit and enjoy their meals in traditional Qatari tent.
The hotel is also making use of Arabic cooking utensils as its staff are also seen draped in typical Arabic regalia.
At the Wyndham Grand Regency, visitors from the Far East are being catered for as items including a variety of stir fried rice and noodles, fried prawns, shredded chicken with Szechnar sauce, stir fried shrimp with vegetable and oyster sauce, are included on the menu.
The Millennium Hotel is serving Lebanese and Armenian culinary aside from introducing its newly created Falafel salad, Sharwama shrimps and Soujouk Sharwama.
Gluten rice and wheat crusts are part of the menu at the hotel’s stand.
Brazilian theme is the choice at the Crowne Plaza’s store as the hotel is showcasing its Brazilian styled restaurant Rodiza with items on the menu including grilled chicken wrapped in turkey bacon, picanha sealed on the grill, picanha sandwich, Brazilian mixed salad, chicken Brazilian  salpica salad, brigaderio cake and passion fruits mousse.
The Renaissance Doha has also come to the QIFF with Brazilian and American themes featuring Ipaneme acaraja – the popular Brazil beach snack, champion sliders-all American cheese beef patty, fenway dog, loaded fries as well as tea and coffee.
While the Torch Doha is showcasing Mexican’s salsa and fajita rolls including a variety of chilli curries, the Holiday Villa has brought the Malaysian specialities including nasi lemak with chicken pendang, nasi dagang with condiments and roasted chicken rice aside an array of desserts and beverage drinks including Malaysian styled tea with condensed milk.
The Four Seasons and Radison Blu Hotel are promoting the Asian cuisines with the latter offering its Nus Antao restaurant’s variety of dumplings (sieu mai) spring rolls (po pie gai) and sweet corn syrup and the latter serving Indian and Japanese specific dishes including sushi and varieties of biryani as well as curries.
For those who love to have a taste of traditional Qatari food and sweets, the outlets of two Qatari women is must for them to visit.
In one of the smaller tents within the festival venue is a store by Um Fahad (Suad Jowher) who has for the past eight years been offering traditional Qatari food and sweets including harrisa, kusari, kam faroush, matriba, sagu, nteaa (hommous) and legmat (Arabic sweet).
She is taking part in the food fest for the first time and her ready-made food and sweet are being presented in a variety of colourful packages and jars aside her stall that is beautifully draped in bright traditional Qatari fabrics.
Next to Um Fahad booth, is another Qatari woman selling a variety of Qatari homemade sweets made mostly from chocolate (both white and brown) mixed with other items such as coconut, milk and dates.
She has been selling the items under the trade name Mrhb for the past five years and is taking part in the QIFF for the second time.
At Zenjbil Suites booth, sandwiches and traditional Qatari sweets and biscuits are part of the items on offer.
Food, sweets and drinks are priced from QR5-25 throughout all the outlets in the food fest.