Sponsored by Gulf Air, Century Park Hotel and Classic Fine Foods Philippines, Inc., the food festival will run until March 22 and is open for lunch and dinner.

Roberto Hukom, Gulf Air Country manager, said that Gulf Air brought in two expert chefs from Gulf Hotel Bahrain to prepare the cuisine with the hotel chefs. "This is one of the contributions of Gulf Air to the event and we do hope that many people will participate and come to actually taste the authentic Arabian delicacies,’’ Hukom said.

Hukom said they want local and foreign patrons to discover the kind of Middle East cooking herbs, spices and aromatics that give rich flavor to Arab dishes.

The kick-off was attended by Hukom, Alp Atakcan, third secretary and deputy chief of mission of the Embassy of Turkey; T.K. Tan, executive vice president of Century Park Hotel; Salah Alshawoos, Gulf Air Airport manager; Suzette Tongson, Gulf Air Marketing and Sales officer; food enthusiasts, hoteliers and journalists.

According to Ahmad Ismael, the Bahrain-based chef, they have prepared authentic Middle Eastern delicacies, including hommos, fetoch, tabouli, mehhoese, sech-tewog, lennanric, lemkala, Arabic sweet, meatballs, Iranian rice and shawarma, to satisfy patrons.

Jessie Rivera, director of Sales of Century Park Hotel, said the event aims to create awareness among patrons, food enthusiasts and other people on Middle East delicacies.

Rivera said Arab customers and guests have requested the hotel to host such a food festival as they would like to savor Middle East food.