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A magical teleportation with the Qatar-Indonesia 2023 Year of Culture
Our perception of the world itself powers the way we foster new dialogues with one another, and as humans, we are the byproducts of culture and perhaps an entanglement of many as well.
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A transformative Qatari Night held by Indonesia Years of Culture in April. (Courtesy of Years of Culture)
Everything we do is culture.
Our perception of the world itself powers the way we foster new dialogues with one another, and as humans, we are the byproducts of culture and perhaps an entanglement of many as well. Especially in the contemporary world.
A unanimous language is then created across the globe, a language that symbolizes unity deriving from all of our differences, one of which is our joy in food.
Hence the birth of Qatar–Indonesia Year of Culture 20203 special event in the Qatari Nights Festival, a unique yet transformative collaboration with Qatari and Indonesian chefs presented by the ramu Rasa cooking studio.
Held in The Dharmawangsa, you are enveloped under the sheer fabrics of royal blue and scarlet red that hang above your head with elegance, your feet swiftly padding across the electric-design carpets as you delve deeper into this instant teleportation from the traditional flavors of Garangao to the nostalgic local Apem, unveiling the home of Indonesian flavors.
And as if on Aladdin’s magic carpet, you find yourself whisked away to The Qatar Food Corner, seduced by the rich aromas trailing from the live-cooking of Qatari chef, Noof Mohammed S H Al Marri.
No culture has a truer worldview than any other; we are all floating in the metaphysical realms of many truths. These many truths could be revealed as a multisensory experience.
Such it is for one of Qatar’s stars specializing in local cuisine. Cooking for chef Noof is a form of art as “the eyes also eat as well”, as she explained when speaking to The Jakarta Post on Thursday, revealing the true magic of the culinary world.
Her cooking communicates a storytelling experience of every glossary found in her spice-and-seasonings selection, which poignantly diffuses through her nakheh, mardouba and sago dishes. When desserts are indulged in, guests unravel a hint of rosy aftertastes that unveil themselves with time, becoming a signature to her multilayered dishes.
Chef Noof’s culinary art often finds itself plated in a delicate floral touch that speaks of nothing less than her identity as a female Qatari chef.
Seen in her homemade cheese-filled dates drizzled in minimalist berry and floral reds, an artistic creation is made from her heart and soul, to be devoured by the eyes of the beholder. You.
Whether that be through the generational exchange of culinary techniques, literature, musical knowledge and many others that have been touched by the face of globalization, the many truths that communicate through various symbolic systems is our global language.
“We are different but also one”, forever rings the heart of The Year of Culture, once again enlightening us with the magic of intersecting our nation with various souls across the globe.
