With Ramadan right around the corner, fine dining restaurants in hotels across Qatar are prepping up for the culinary challenges of Iftar and Suhoor with renewed gusto. At the Ritz-Carlton, Doha, the Ramadan tent, for the fourth consecutive year, seeks to celebrate the regional culture through its 1001 Arabian Nights theme, and authentic Qatari and international food.
Set apart by its sophisticated ambience and subdued lighting, the regal tent in Al Wosail ballroom will pack in everything from live carving stations and regional cuisines to live music and tanoura dance performances that can be enjoyed from the private Majlis seating or the main dining area.
Starting June 7, the 1001 Nights-inspired Ramadan tent opens; Iftar starts at sunset, approximately from 6:30 pm to 8:00pm, and Suhoor is set to be served from 8:30pm to 1am. Iftar and Suhoor are priced at QR216 per person, and include Ramadan juices buffet and water service. While it’s 50 per cent off for kids aged between 5 and 12, the food is complimentary for kids aged 4 and under.
With a diverse menu on the cards, the 374-room, five-star hotel turns to a most suitable man to pull off this feat. Chef Gael Cruchet, executive chef, The Ritz-Carlton, Doha, who has been working with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company for more than 16 years spanning four continents and currently oversees the culinary team with eight restaurants and lounges as well as catering of the hotel, gives Community insight into the special Ramadan menu.
 
What is the focus of your Ramadan menu this year?
We will offer dishes that are true to the Ramadan tradition and all the varied Arabic cuisines from the region, most importantly from Qatar, of course. What’s most crucial for us is to ensure that our food is authentic so that our Qatari guests and expats get to experience the rich culinary culture of this nation.
 
Did you take any extra measures to ensure that the Qatari dishes are at their authentic best?
Yes. We have Qatari dishes such as Shrimps Jareesh, Chicken Machbous, Vegetable Salona, Lamb Haris, Seafood Sayadiyah, and Chicken Madrouba, which are expected to be enjoyed by the expats as much as the Qataris as the spice levels and the taste are easy to like and appreciate. What we did to ensure authenticity is consult two lady Qatari chefs for our Qatari dishes. In fact, we have been collaborating with them over the years and training our staff under them as well. I cannot reveal the names of these two chefs as everybody will then try and reach them (smiles). In any case, anybody can Google a recipe but to make it the exact right way as it’s meant to be is another story. When one is looking for something authentic, one is usually looking for something that their mother or grandmother used to cook. They are trying to find that same experience. So it’s very important to achieve that feel. For instance, I don’t go to a French restaurant that often because I am very likely to be disappointed when I won’t be able to taste the food that my mother used to make for me. All of us, therefore, are trying to strive for that perfection.
 
Apart from Qatari delicacies, how wide is the spread on the menu?
We have dishes from GCC countries, Morocco, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, and European food like Italian and French, and also Asian food such as Malaysian, Thai, and Indonesian. Each of these cuisines is handled by chefs who specialise in it because we are interested in authenticity and not fusion.
 
How challenging has it been for you to put out something different this year?
Since this will be my third Ramadan in Qatar, the challenge for me has been to keep things interesting. We make sure that every year we hear what guests are looking for, talk to a lot of people, and try to reinvent our food. This time, we have a five-menu rotation, for instance. So if you come on five different nights, you will experience different menus – a good 40 per cent of the menu would be different, each night. As people visit various tents during Ramadan, they can visit us more than once and get to taste new dishes each time.
 
From the previous Ramadan experiences, could you share something that you have learnt about what guests like?
As I mentioned before, people are looking for authentic cuisine. And it’s not easy to find. Qataris are proud of their culture and food. We are in Qatar, and we must make sure that we make excellent Qatari food. And then there are expats from different countries, who want their little piece of culinary story represented as well. So the end objective is to enjoy, celebrate and offer good, authentic food.



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