DOHA: The South African Embassy brings the message of peace and unity to the table at this year’s Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) coinciding with the centenary of the revered freedom and unity icon Nelson Mandela.
“This year South Africa is celebrating the 100th year of Nelson Mandela. He is our father in terms of bringing all the different cultures and nations together, and that’s what we are trying to present at the food festival. That maybe through food we can let people start talking because with food on the table it doesn’t matter which nation you’re from; everyone enjoys food,” said South African Ambassador Faizel Moosa, while talking to local media at the festival.
South African Embassy is one of the nine embassies taking part at the ninth edition of QIFF being held at Hotel Park.
Moosa said South African community’s National Day celebration this year will be extra special because it will also mark the 100th birthday of the South African icon, thus, they are bringing Mandela’s grandson to Qatar as the guest of honour at the celebration on April 26.
While lauding the organizers for setting up a section for embassies at the festival, the envoy encouraged other missions especially African embassies to take part next year “to showcase South Africa as a continent and their culinary offerings.” The embassy has invited several African ambassadors on Wednesday for a showcase of South African cuisine and culture.
“I think it’s a good opportunity for us to showcase our culinary offering as well as our hospitality as South Africans. We are known to be extremely hospitable and I think it presents us the opportunity for people to begin to interact with South Africans, an opportunity for us to welcome the world to our country,” he said.
He was overwhelmed by the response from various nationalities to their culinary offerings represented by two famous South African brands, Nando’s and Ocean Basket.
“Nando’s and Ocean Basket are our brands partaking in the festival and amongst many others, they are international brands that have exported the culinary taste of South Africa into the world,” he said.
South Africa’s peculiar history marked by an amalgamation of various cultures such as Dutch, British, Malaysian, Indonesian and Indian is very much reflected in the diversity of its cuisine.
“Each one brought their own food to the table so we really got a diverse range of food. Anybody who visits South Africa would find something that he can identify with and that is something we pride ourselves in,” he said.
South African cuisine may appeal to Qatari foodies as the two unique cuisines share a number of similarities in the use of spices such as cardamom which is an ingredient in most of the South African dishes, he said.
“I’ve eaten some of the Qatari dishes and I like them and I’m assuming they are going to like our food as well because the taste is there and I think the spices make the difference in food, and they are coming to South Africa in numbers and I’m sure they are enjoying our food,” he said.
Commenting on the QIFF, he said: “I’m very impressed with the festival. It’s my first festival and the people are overwhelming. The response has been such very good. We will definitely be back and do something even more spectacular next year.”
