All activities / Culinary / Cooking / Doha
Culinary / Cooking in Doha
Qatar's capital on the Gulf, a fast-built city that pairs the desert-rose National Museum of Qatar and the Museum of Islamic Art with the restored lanes of Souq Waqif and the towers of West Bay. Doha fronts a curving corniche and looks out on the traditional dhows still moored along its harbour.
Why here
Qatari home cooking is one of the least-exported cuisines in the Gulf, which makes learning it in Doha a rare thing. The national dishes are built for gathering: machboos, the spiced rice with meat or fish scented with loomi, the dried Omani lime; harees, a slow-pounded wheat and meat porridge; thareed and madrouba; and the breakfast sweet balaleet of sweet vermicelli under a savoury omelette, with assida and luqaimat for dessert. The place to get inside them is a hands-on class with Chef Aisha Al-Tamimi, the first Qatari celebrity chef and the recognised ambassador of the national kitchen, whose Cooking Academy runs traditional Qatari courses alongside its wider programme. You shop the spices, learn the loomi and baharat blends that define the flavour, and cook a full Qatari spread to eat at the end. Paired with a wander through the food stalls of Souq Waqif, it turns a transit-hub city into a real culinary stop.
Best months
Classes run indoors year round, so this is a good hot-weather option and a natural pairing with the museums and souq. Sessions are scheduled and often themed, with dedicated traditional-Qatari courses among the calendar, so book ahead and ask specifically for the Qatari menu rather than the international classes. Group sizes are limited and popular dates fill, especially in the cool tourist season from November to March.
Getting there & around
Travel advisory · Reconsider Travel
US State Dept Level 3 Reconsider Travel (as of 2026-07), heightened regional tensions after the February 2026 US-Iran hostilities, with periodic Gulf airspace closures and flight disruptions; check your government's current advisory before booking. The Cooking Academy is in Doha near the Ezdan Palace Hotel, a short taxi or ride-hail from the centre. Book ahead through the academy and confirm a traditional Qatari class rather than one of the international or children's sessions. Classes are hands-on and end in a shared meal, so come hungry; sessions typically run a few hours. Hamad International Airport is about 30 minutes away.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (1)
The Cooking Academy
SchoolThe Cooking Academy in Doha was founded by Chef Aisha Al-Tamimi, widely regarded as the first Qatari celebrity chef and the ambassador of the country's national cuisine, author of seven cookbooks who began her first Qatar TV cooking show in 2006. The academy runs hands-on classes for adults and children across local and international cooking, with dedicated traditional Qatari courses teaching dishes such as machboos, kebab tahin and assida, taught in its own kitchens.