A delightful culinary spread at Dubai Food Festival

The Dubai Food Festival will have several activities like the Big Grill, the Grand Kerala Festival bringing the cuisines of the south Indian state, and The Taste of Peru. — Supplied photo

Fans and connoisseurs of all things food are in for a fantastic feast as the inaugural Dubai Food Festival (DFF) begins today with the opening of Dubai Food Carnival, a two-day family-friendly extravaganza at the Dubai Festival City, and other mouth-watering events and activities.

The Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and the organisers of DFF, is gearing up to lay out a wonderful culinary spread for residents and visitors to Dubai during the citywide celebrations featuring food-related events, tastings and activities until March 15.

As Dubai becomes the centre of culinary action for 23 days, the festival will showcase the abundance of ethnic cuisines on offer in Dubai, the region’s gastronomy capital, drawn from more than 200 nationalities in the Emirate, and featuring fine dining to high quality street food.

Making a spectacular entry on the opening day will be a fireworks show at 8pm at Dubai Festival City that is bound to enthrall visitors to the Dubai Food Carnival. The Dubai Food Festival also includes other family-oriented events such as the The Big Grill offering the finest grilled dishes from top grill masters, the Grand Kerala Festival, showcasing the cuisines of the southern state of Kerala, and The Taste of Peru, a celebration of Peruvian gastronomy.

Dubai Food Festival will also bring under one umbrella business events including Gulfood — the world’s largest annual food and hospitality trade show — and the Global Restaurant Investment Forum. Providing a fitting finale to the Dubai Food Festival will be the highly popular Taste of Dubai from March 13 to 15 at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre.

Global Village, Dubai’s leading family entertainment and cultural destination, will also join Dubai Food Festival by promoting a range of cuisines from around the world while The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2014, Gulf Photo Plus 2014 — a popular event dedicated to both professional and amateur photographers — and the Dubai International Boat Show will be joining the celebrations through specific culinary related activities and initiatives.

Further enhancing the overall foodie experience will be appearances and activities involving over 26 celebrity chefs. The line-up of food personalities include French Chef, Jean Christophe Novelli; Australian power pair, Greg and Lucy Malouf; Queen of the Arabic Kitchen, Egyptian Chef, Manal Al Alem; Lebanon’s Chef of the Year 2013, Maroun Chedid; and Indian TV personality, Sanjeev Kapoor.

Many restaurants will be creating special set menus to celebrate the inaugural edition of Dubai Food Festival while a number of other restaurants will enhance the dining experience through value-for-money meals, special offers and promotions. Further enhancing the festival excitement will be promotions that will be run by leading hypermarkets and malls, offering fabulous prizes to shoppers.

news@khaleejtimes.com