What is the typical Qatari food?

What to eat in Qatar during the next World Cup?

2:08

(CNN Spanish) --

Little by little, eyes begin to focus on Qatar due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will be held from November 20 to December 18.

But the attention is not only focused on football, but also on various aspects that range from the history of this Persian Gulf country (for example, that its independence from the United Kingdom was in 1971), to its cultural offer (such as the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha or the National Museum of Qatar, both world-renowned).

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Within this aspect of culture, we also have very diverse things, including gastronomy, which is always a subject that generates questions because it is a foreign country.

What do you eat in Qatar?

What are the typical dishes?

Is it similar to the cuisine of other countries?

Qatari food

To answer these questions, CNN consulted Mohammed Alkuwari, who is Qatar's ambassador to Mexico.

The diplomat highlighted three dishes of Qatari food: falafel, shawarma and kabsa, which were presented to Mexicans at the "Gastronomic Day of the State of Qatar" event, held in Lincoln Park in Mexico City.

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In the event "we have three stations: a

station , (made with) vegetables; a

station , which is like a taco al pastor, but with lamb, Arabic bread and salad; and

, which is rice with lamb" Alkuwari pointed out in an interview.

Qatar's ambassador to Mexico commented that these dishes can be eaten everywhere in the country, both at home and in restaurants.

Kabsa

They are three typical foods from Qatar, Alkuwari pointed out, but also from other countries of the Persian Gulf, having kabsa as a standard throughout the region.

"When we talk about our region, the Gulf region, we almost have the same dishes with very few differences, but when we talk about kabsa, the whole region has the same dish," he added.

Mohammed Alkuwari said that his favorite Qatari dish is precisely kabsa, and he told us about its preparation:

"First we cook the onion with dried lemon, with many Arab spices, with water. Then we put the lamb and leave it there for three or four hours until it is cooked. Then we remove the lamb and put the rice inside to have this flavor of the fat of the lamb and the spices. And we both eat together".

Chef Guillermo Galindo, who participated in the event, explained to CNN that kabsa is one of the representative dishes of Qatar, which is served to welcome a person to a holiday or is simply cooked when a family member is visiting. .

"This is a very typical dish, very representative for Arab cuisine, for Qataris. It is something very important. In fact, it is very visual: it has seeds, almonds, cashews. It has a lot of spices, like cinnamon from Qatar. The spices are very powerful. Everything is steamed. (Also) it has mint, a little coriander, parsley, turmeric, saffron, "added Galindo.

Shawarma and falafel

As for the shawarma, Ambassador Alkuwari stressed that it is a dish with many similarities to the famous Mexican tacos al pastor.

"It's almost the same (tacos al pastor and shawarma). It's like taco al pastor but with lamb, we don't have pork. Most people there (in Qatar) eat lamb and beef, so there's a lot of mixing between the two," he said.

"When we talk about Qatar-Mexico culture and gastronomy, we talk about spicy: Qataris like spicy like Mexicans, Qataris cook with spicy. Mexicans like tacos; Qataris like They like shawarma, which is Arabic pita bread with lamb. Mexicans like rice and beans, and so do Qataris. So we have a lot of things in common," he added.

It should be remembered that, at the beginning of the 20th century, Lebanese immigrants (also from the Middle East such as the Qataris) brought to Mexico the technique of turning the meat on a vertical spit, shawarma style, but changing the lamb for the pork once in Mexican lands.

Another difference from shawarma is that it is eaten with pita bread, and can be served with a yogurt and tahini sauce (a paste made from ground sesame seeds).

This yogurt-tahini sauce can also be put on falafel, which, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, is another Middle Eastern dish "consisting of fried, spiced balls of ground chickpeas or fava beans."

It can also be served on sandwich-type pita bread.

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