About the internship
We are looking for an Arabic Culinary & Culture Intern to help research, cook, document, and improve recipes and food content for Matbakhli.
This is a remote opportunity for someone interested in cooking, Arabic culture, research, storytelling, and advanced technology. You will gain practical experience with AI-assisted translation, recipe-content generation, prompt writing, AI-output evaluation, and human-in-the-loop quality review.
You do not need to be an AI engineer. However, you should be curious about how AI can support culinary work while understanding that AI-generated content must be checked by people.
What you will gain
- Potential paid opportunity: Interns who demonstrate strong performance, reliability, and the ability to handle assigned tasks may be considered for a paid part-time or project-based opportunity with Matbakhli after the internship. This is not guaranteed and depends on performance, available work, and business needs.
- Advanced AI experience: Gain practical experience using AI-assisted translation and recipe-content tools, writing prompts, evaluating model outputs, identifying hallucinations, and improving human-in-the-loop AI workflows.
- People and teamwork experience: Work directly with the founder, product collaborators, recipe reviewers, cooks, and cultural contributors in a remote environment.
- Portfolio experience: Build real examples of culinary research, bilingual localization, recipe testing, AI evaluation, and food content that you can use in future job applications.
- Reference support: Interns who demonstrate strong work, professionalism, and reliable collaboration may request a truthful reference or recommendation from the founder for future opportunities. References will be based on actual contributions and performance.
Responsibilities
Cooking and recipe testing
- * Cook and test assigned recipes in a safe home kitchen.
- Record ingredient quantities, preparation methods, cooking times, yields, portions, and observations.
- Identify unclear, incomplete, unrealistic, or culturally inaccurate instructions.
- Take agreed photographs or videos of cooking tests.
- Report unknown information instead of guessing.
Arabic food-culture research
- * Research Arab dishes, ingredients, techniques, regional names, and food customs.
- Help distinguish Qatari and Gulf cuisine from Levantine, Egyptian, Iraqi, North African, and other Arab culinary traditions.
- Research the cultural stories behind recipes.
- Speak with home cooks, chefs, family members, and reliable cultural sources when appropriate.
- Help Matbakhli avoid generic, stereotyped, or inaccurate descriptions of Arab food.
Arabic and English content
- * Edit recipe titles, descriptions, ingredients, cooking steps, captions, and cultural notes.
- Ensure Arabic content sounds natural and culturally appropriate.
- Preserve quantities, units, timings, temperatures, servings, and safety instructions in both languages.
- Help create a consistent Arabic culinary vocabulary for Matbakhli.
AI product work
- * Use AI tools to create first drafts of translations, recipe descriptions, and culinary information.
- Write and improve prompts for recipe content and Arabic localization.
- Review AI-generated content for hallucinations, invented ingredients, incorrect quantities, wrong regional claims, and unsafe instructions.
- Compare AI output with the original recipe.
- Create examples of good and bad AI outputs for future evaluation.
- Test whether AI preserves grams, servings, timings, temperatures, and other structured cooking information.
- Recommend whether AI output should be accepted, edited, rejected, or reviewed by a human expert.
AI output will always be treated as a draft. The intern will not independently approve food safety, allergens, nutrition, or publication.
Required qualifications
- * Current Qatar University student or recent graduate.
- Preferred fields include International Affairs, especially Culture, Society and Heritage; History; Arabic; Nutrition and Dietetics; Mass Communication; hospitality; tourism; or a related field.
- Strong written Arabic and English communication skills.
- Genuine hands-on cooking ability.
- Interest in Qatari, Gulf, and broader Arab food cultures.
- Ability to measure ingredients carefully and document work accurately.
- Strong attention to detail.
- Ability to research information and record sources.
- Reliable internet access and a laptop.
- Access to a safe kitchen for recipe testing.
- Ability to work independently in a remote environment.
- Interest in AI tools, prompt writing, and reviewing AI-generated content.
Preferred qualifications
- * Experience writing recipes, food stories, captions, or cultural content.
- Experience with Arabic translation or localization.
- Food photography, video, or social-media experience.
- Familiarity with nutrition labels, food safety, allergens, or food service.
- Experience using ChatGPT, Gemini, Fanar, or similar AI tools.
- Familiarity with spreadsheets, online forms, or content-management systems.
- Knowledge of Qatari or Gulf ingredients, traditions, and household dishes.
Remote working format
- * Fully remote.
- Primarily asynchronous work.
- One scheduled weekly check-in.
- Work coordinated through shared documents and Matbakhli’s recipe tools.
- Cooking tests completed in the intern’s own kitchen unless another arrangement is agreed.
- Ingredient or equipment reimbursement must be agreed before expenses are incurred.
What this internship is not
- * This is not a machine-learning engineering position.
- It does not require advanced programming experience.
- It does not replace a professional chef, nutritionist, food-safety reviewer, or native Arabic reviewer.
- The intern will not publish recipes or approve their own work.
- The intern will not provide clinical nutrition advice or make allergy-safety guarantees.
How success will be evaluatedA successful intern will:
- Record real measurements instead of inventing missing values.
- Identify and explain AI mistakes.
- Write natural, respectful Arabic and clear English.
- Preserve recipe quantities and safety information.
- Distinguish verified facts from personal knowledge and uncertainty.
- Communicate blockers early.
- Meet agreed deadlines.
- Respond positively to feedback.
- Complete assigned work reliably and professionally.
How to applyPlease send the following to:
contact@matbakhli.com
Include:
- Your CV
- A short 150–250 word explanation of why you are interested
- Your university major and expected graduation date
- Your availability and earliest possible start date
- Examples of cooking, food writing, cultural research, Arabic localization, photography, video, or AI-related work, if available
