*Anna Olson, Masaharu Morimoto and Damien Leroux to share their culinary secrets between March 15 and 25

Three internationally-renowned chefs will share their culinary expertise with food enthusiasts in six Live Cooking Classes at the Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) 2018.

In a statement, Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) said the ninth edition of QIFF, scheduled from tomorrow to March 25 at the Hotel Park, is giving residents and visitors a chance to join Food Network’s baking guru Anna Olson, US Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto and IDAM’s Doha-based executive chef Damien Leroux in an interactive cooking and tasting experience.

“QIFF’s Cooking Classes are one of the festival’s new concepts that take the gastronomic celebrations beyond the grounds of Hotel Park,” QTA’s QIFF project manager Sara al-Kuwari said.

“We are particularly excited to team up with these international chefs to offer residents and visitors an opportunity to savour exclusive live cooking and dining experiences,” she added.

QIFF opened its registration for foodies who want to learn from the world’s best chefs, according to QTA.

Leroux, who has been with IDAM since October 2016, is set to cook live on March 16 between 2pm and 5pm at the IDAM restaurant, located on the 5th floor of the Museum of Islamic Art. The class costs QR500 per person.

He was born into a family of restaurant owners and developed his passion for food at a young age.

After spending years of training under world-renowned chefs along the Mediterranean, Leroux adopted the philosophy of “La cuisine de l’essentiel,” which is rooted in a respect for fresh produce.

The chef’s Mediterranean fusion style dishes are a celebration of ingredients that are locally sourced in Qatar. He will be at the QIFF Live Cooking Theatre on March 16 at 9pm; March 22 at 9pm; and March 23 at 6pm.

On March 17 between 1pm and 3pm, Morimoto will showcase the art of rolling sushi at his restaurant at Mondrian Doha, his first in the Middle East. It costs QR650 per person and includes a five-course lunch.

Japanese food lovers will also have the chance to watch Morimoto’s live cooking at QIFF on March 16 at 6pm.

To conclude the last weekend of QIFF 2018, Canada’s baking sensation Olson will be holding three cooking classes at a leading hotel from March 22 to 24.

QTA said that her Classes are free and seats will be given on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Olson started in the banking sector. She discovered her passion in cooking after spending a sleepless night in the kitchen baking banana muffins.

She realised that if she removed the “N” in banking, her career would totally shift to another exciting endeavour.

Olson is now one of the renowned pastry chefs who has programmes on international TV networks. She will be at the QIFF Live Cooking Theatre on March 22 at 10pm and on March 23 at 7.20pm and 9pm.

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