More Food…

One afternoon we visited Bait Al Safah (House of Peace) in Ras Al Hamra. This mud built home has been transformed into a museum showing traditional Omani ways of life.  The women cooked on open fireplaces in the floor. They toasted and ground coffee beans ready for brewing, and made rukhal bread on huge cast iron pans. “Do you want to try?” asked the woman making the bread, as she slapped the dough onto the pan with her bare hands. I could imagine my singed finger tips and declined politely. We sat in a room which was once the library and study to enjoy the coffee, ginger tea and dates that are always served to guests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date groves are everywhere in Oman and every part of the date palm is used. At this Halwa shop we saw the sweet cardamom flavoured dessert being made in a copper pan set into the floor. It’s usually served on special occasions and this almond embellished batch was for a wedding.

Jars and buckets of date syrup were for sale in the Souq in Nizwa while down another walkway was the spice market, where anything from preserved lemons to pumpkin seeds and whole nutmegs was for sale. Saffron, so expensive in our supermarkets at home, was packaged in a myriad of containers of all shapes and sizes. The vendor showed us the different grades of Saffron, and explained how the quality equates to the price. Even so it was much cheaper here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But of all the foods we ate in Oman my favourite was the rosewater milkshake at Fast Food and Juice. It was a pale pink, frothy concoction of milk, rose scented and rose flavoured – with a rose created out of ice cream floating serenely on the top!

 

Food Glorious Food!

There were many dining options as we travelled through Oman, from the traditional to modern international foods. On our first day in Muscat we had lunch at Fast Food and Juice on the Corniche just outside the Muttrah Souq. We’d heard about Shawarma – strips of meat grilled on a spit and then shaved, wrapped in a pita bread and served with tomato, cucumber and toppings like tahini or hummus. At Fast Food and Juice we could have had whole chillies in our wraps as well, but we declined! The menu is testament to the lunch choices available – and look at the range of milkshake flavours. We ate outdoors on the Corniche, and watched the passing traffic of cars and people with the sun sparkling on the waters of the bay.

 

 

 

One night we had dinner at The Turkish House. The food was simple and delicious and there was plenty of it. We chose our fresh fish from the fridge and it was baked whole and served with hot Turkish breads and salad platters, with lettuce, cucumber, Spanish onion and cheese. There was more than we could eat and at a cost of only seven Omani rial each, it was fabulous food at a bargain price!

 

 

 

 

 

Another night we visited the café that had been recently voted the best Shawarma house in Muscat. It was beside an Oman Oil service station, right on the freeway, with road works continuing into the night behind us, which made for a unique dining experience. But the voters were right – the Shawarma was delicious – hot, spicy and full of flavour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Bread Talk we saw not only bread in all shapes, sizes and flavours, but the most amazing cakes, lavishly decorated and named.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bateel Date shop sells gourmet dates, loose or in luxury gift boxes. They come plain, chocolate coated, or filled – it was difficult to choose because the range of fillings was so large. Finally we decided on ginger and apricot. Luscious!

 

                                                                                                                                                                                              

We also had fresh dates from my brother’s tree. He had picked them a few weeks earlier when they were still green and then kept them in the freezer. When they defrosted they were ripe and ready for eating – don’t ask me how this works but they were sweet, plump and tender and we ate them all!

Shopping anyone?

It’s shopping time any time at the Mutrah Souq on the Corniche in Muscat and it’s an amazing sensory experience. Frankincense pervades the Souq with its strong, sweet scent and it can be bought in all sizes of packaging, along with beautiful incense burners. In all directions colour abounds – in fabric stalls, clothing and shoe shops, glassware and jewellery. Decorative wares fill the walkways and this fat bellied brass frog is just asking to be stroked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The vendors keep up a constant stream of chat to potential customers: “Madam, come in. Madam, what size? Madam, what colour? You try?” The pashminas are so tempting, in all the colours of the rainbow, silky, soft and luxurious. There are woven carpets from Pakistan, cushions and beaded shoes from India, silver boxes, rose water sprinklers and Turkish coffee pots delicately engraved and embellished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the more quirky and slightly weird side are the embalmed, mounted and framed creatures including butterflies, scorpions, centipedes and frogs. They’re not exactly to my taste but fascinating all the same.

 

One alleyway is devoted to the jewellers’ shops, which are much more upmarket and way out of our league. The solid gold and silver jewellery is priced according to weight and the current value of gold per ounce. We’re told by one shopkeeper that the local ladies like to wear these necklaces when they go to parties to show off their husbands’ wealth.

It’s best to go to the Souq in the afternoon when the rush of tourists off the cruise ships has gone. Then it’s cool, the light is dim and you have the time to browse and enjoy with all your senses, and even make a purchase or two. Would anyone like a fat bellied frog?