Years of Culture
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2025/03/10
Pastry Chef Juli Duca moved to Qatar from Argentina over 20 years ago as a young child, an experience that has shaped her connection to both cultures, especially when it comes to food.
After training at prestigious culinary institution Le Cordon Bleu, Chef Juli gained experience in acclaimed 5 star hotels. In 2024, she launched her own brand, Medialunas by Juli, bringing the beloved traditional Argentinian pastry to Doha.
As part of the Qatar-Argentina 2025 Year of Culture, we spoke with Chef Juli to find out more about her journey to becoming a pastry chef, Argentinian dessert culture and her dream of opening the first Argentinian bakery in Qatarcoming to fruition.
I think I had it pretty clear growing up that I wanted to do something with pastry. There was never a click or a turn of events that led me to want to start baking, I just always knew it. When I was around 6 or 7 years old, I told my parents I was going to have my own bakery one day and it would be called ‘Juli’s Cupcakes’. After having worked in Five-star hotels and a start-up bakery, I realised that I didn't want to work for other people. My biggest realisation was when I was working at the start-up bakery. If I could do it for someone else, I was for sure going to do it for myself.
I started my culinary journey in Madrid at Le Cordon Bleu. I did the Grand Diplome which is both a pastry and cooking diploma. Le Cordon Bleu is one of the best culinary schools in the world because they have the best chefs as mentors. Each and every one of them deserves so much recognition for taking care of all of their up-and-coming chefs.
My biggest mentor was the Head Pastry Chef at The Wellington, where I worked, who gave me the confidence to be a pastry chef. After just one week of starting my internship, he left me on my first shift alone, something he did not do with the other interns. I think that was when I realised that I am more than capable.
It was always my biggest dream to have my own bakery and it felt so far away. I was incredibly fortunate to have found Mariam, who opened her doors and allowed me to start my business from her kitchen. Without her, my business would not exist.
I think my biggest challenge was learning and accepting that I cannot do everything on my own and also how to be a leader. I started my business from scratch and allowing someone else to be in my dream was hard at first.
I am also very hard headed, so to accept constructive feedback was a challenge at the start. My biggest milestone was the 1st of September 2024, the day I launched Medialunas by Juli with only 10 days of preparation. Looking back, I should have given myself more time before the launch.
For us Argentinians, it is very common to have the herbal drink Mate in the morning, afternoon or evening. It is very traditional to have something sweet whenever we have Mate and that's where our pastries come in.
In Argentina we have bakeries on almost every corner. When walking down the streets, it is common to smell freshly baked medialunas. We also have ‘Merienda’ which is usually between lunch and dinner. This is when you enjoy a nice coffee with a medialuna or some other pastries. I wouldn’t say we have pastries every day, but we definitely enjoy them 3 to 4 times a week, and at any social gathering.
A croissant is known for its flaky, airy texture which is the complete opposite of a medialuna. Medialunas are fluffier and sweeter. The difference is also in the dough, the butter and the glaze. I don't think medialunas can ever really be ‘perfect’ since they are baked closely together, you never know which way they will go when they bake.
In Argentina we have a whole list of traditional pastries! Medialunas are the most common but then we have all shapes and sizes. My personal favourite is the Tortita Negra which is made with black sugar and the Vigilante, made with dulce de leche.
Yes! My top 2 Qatari sweets are Umm Ali and Lugaimat. I remember when I was in year 2 or 3, one of my Qatari classmates brought Lugaimat for the whole class. I think I ate around 6-7 on my own.
I wasn’t able to eat Lugaimat for a good 5 years after that because of how much I ate that day. Luckily, we are back on track and I eat them during the holy month of Ramadan.
As of today, there are no Argentinian bakeries in Doha other than my own personal brand, Juli’s Bakery which we will be launching soon. It gives me great honour to be the first Argentinian bakery in Doha.
I think in Qatar we are very lucky that we have thousands of coffee shops to choose from. Some of my personal favourites are Flow, Piccolo and Plan B.
I was invited to give a quick masterclass at the Qatar International Food Festival 2025, to showcase something very traditional from my country. Due to the time crunch, I decided to make Alfajores de Maicena which is another Argentinian delicacy. It was such an honour to be able to do this representing my country and also a great learning experience for me as it has always been a dream of mine to give a masterclass.
I was invited to give a quick masterclass at the Qatar International Food Festival 2025, to showcase something very traditional from my country. Due to the time crunch, I decided to make Alfajores de Maicena which is another Argentinian delicacy. It was such an honour to be able to do this representing my country and also a great learning experience for me as it has always been a dream of mine to give a masterclass.
After the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a lot of people started getting more interested in Argentina and a lot of Argentinians became more interested in Qatar. For me, I am excited for everyone to be able to see what I have been seeing for the past 23 years. I also can't wait for the population of Qatar to learn more about our culture and traditions.
We are hopefully going to be relaunching Medialunas by Juli once again for Ramadan. As for other exciting products, we have new cakes coming soon which I cannot mention just yet. We also have an upcoming collaboration with one of my favourite coffee shops and hopefully we will be back in Torba Market soon too. There is a lot of growth coming for the business in 2025 - I am very excited for everything that's to come.
I think if I had the chance, I would introduce the Chocotorta which was voted the best cake in the world a few years back! If I find a way to bring Chocolinas to Doha, I will definitely introduce it to the market.
Follow Chef Juli Duca on Instagram for all the latest updates on Juli’s Bakery and Medialunas by Juli, as well as fascinating insights into the daily life of a Pastry Chef in Qatar, and Doha's growing foodie culture.
Find out more about upcoming events as part of the Qatar-Argentina 2025 Year of Culture.
