The biggest bowl of pasta and the longest sandwich; on a rainy Saturday, Qatar broke those two records previously held by the United States and Italy. Qatar Tribune’s reporter Lani Rose R Dizon and photographer Hanson K Joseph were witness to the event.Qatar broke two Guinness World Records on Saturday while setting new records for the largest bowl of pasta and longest line of sandwich in world history. Wataniya Restaurants collaborated with Al Markhiya Primary Independent Girls’ School in setting the new world records at a function held at the Doha Golf Club.
More than 200 Wataniya staff laboured to create an overwhelming 4,300kg of pasta in just about two hours. The 2- metre wide, 6-metre long Wataniya Pasta surpassed the previous Guinness World Record Pasta by more than 1,000 kilograms. The previous record belonged to the US which set a record of 3336kg of pasta in 2004.
In great spirits, Nasser Beydoun, CEO of Doha-based Wataniya Restaurants QSC, said, “This is the first time that Wataniya attempted to break the world record, and we’ve successfully broken two world records, the longest sandwich in the world, and the largest bowl of pasta. We’re honoured to be part of this opportunity working with Al Markhiya Primary Independent Girls’ School in putting Qatar in the Guinness World Record and promoting Qatar as the place to be in the world”.
Another world record-breaking event at the function was the successful completion of the 1,730 meter-long ‘Wataniya Sandwich’, which earned Qatar its second world record, and successfully setting the new Guinness World Record for longest line of sandwich. Chefs and volunteers laboured for 10 days to prepare the 500 kilograms of cold cuts, mushrooms, onions, garlic, spices and bread to make the 1.73 km Wataniya Sandwich a world record snack. Italy held the previous title, when it set a 1545.3metre-long world record sandwich on March 8 this year.Corporate Chef Kamal Mustapha, said, “Our goal was to successfully accomplish the two new world records, while taking into serious consideration the safety and sanitation of the food products. Public safety was still one of our main concerns”.
Guinness World Record Adjudication Executive from London, Talal Omar, later certified the two new world records for Qatar and presented the awards to Wataniya Restaurants CEO Nasser Beydoun and Al Markhiya Primary Independent Girls’ School Manager Samira Al Zoubi. More than 200 students from Al Markhiya Primary Independent Girls’ School also participated on the occasion. A programme organised by the school followed the award ceremony. Sadia al Shabi, vice principal of the school, told Qatar Tribune, “We’re happy that we achieved our goals despite the rain and inclement weather.
This event fulfills our school’s vision and mission, which is to impart the importance of healthy food to young people, as well as to prepare our students actively in becoming citizens who are globally aware”.
