Darine El Khatib — the multi-talented presenter of a travel and food programme, My World to You from the region’s very own food network Fata Feat — attracted a huge audience recently at the ongoing Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) 2016.
In her multiple roles as actor, director, producer, presenter and food enthusiast, Darine has done more than 500 hours of TV programming, many of which were original concepts developed by her. Through her travel and food show, she has had her audiences spread across the region and the world.
And the journey continues.
“I love acting. It is my passion and would continue to be. Doing a travel cooking show was closest to what I really love, which is acting. The show I was doing was a descriptive reality so I was traveling to different parts of the world, mingling with locals, eating what they eat and living the way they live,” Darine tells Community in a chat before her appearance at QIFF Qatar Airways Live Cooking Theatre.
“It is living the life of a people of a specific country. We have done two seasons already, in Thailand and Tunisia, and now we are preparing for the third season,” Darine explains.
She has also directed a mid-length feature film Houdoud Al Zaman that screened at the Monaco Film Festival.
She was the lead actress in Love’s Improvisations, a feature film that screened in DIFF, Madrid Intl Film Festival, St Tropez Intl Film Festival & London Intl Film Festival. She was nominated for Best Lead Actress in London Intl Festival. She has also acted in several independent plays in Los Angeles.
She is also the head of Fata Feat, the region’s first and largest food network.
Fata Feat was launched in 2006, after they felt the need for a food network in the Middle East, says Darine.
“There was, of course, a food network in the US and other places and we looked around the region and there was not even single [local] food channel around. So we decided why not we start the food channel,” says the head of the network.
“It started as a baby and now I always call it a rebellious teenager,” she laughs. The channel is not only dedicated to the Arabic cuisine. “Food is something that travels across the world so we have different chefs from different background and we shed light on different cuisines such as Italian, Indian, Chinese, Thai and others,” she explains.
Darine says she comes from a family where food is the key thing. “My mother is a very good cook and she is known for her recipes, so I grew up on good food. I personally always have loved experiencing new food, traveling around, so having a show was just a normal extension for me to something that I do without the cameras anyway,” she adds.
Her personal favourite cuisine is Thai, as she loves spicy food and likes the Thai balance of spices. “In the Thai cuisine, I love the mixture of the sweet and the spicy. They tingle my taste buds,” says Darine.   
However, she believes Arabic cuisine has also travelled a lot, specifically that from two countries in the region — Lebanon and Morocco. The cuisine from these two countries has travelled all over the world, she believes.
But all this talk of food does not mean Darine is not focused on health. “I am all for healthy lifestyle. But by healthy, I do not mean not eating at all. I mean eating in balance,” says the Fata Feat head.