O is for Oman

O is for Oman

Oh man, it’s Oman! And oh man, Oman is the only country in the world that starts with the letter O. Just Oman. That’s it. Nothing else. None. Not a sausage. So, shall we?

It’s not just the fact that Oman was my only option that made this week a little trickier than usual, but also the fact that, as countries go, Oman is not exactly what you’d describe as a heavyweight. Tucked over on the end of the sticky-out bit between Africa and the big bit of the Middle East (you know, that bit that Saudi Arabia is also on?), it’s home to a modest population of about 4.5 million people – about half the number of people living in London, to put it in context. As you’d expect for a country over that way, Oman isn’t doing too badly financially, although it’s still a little fish in the big oily pond of the Persian Gulf compared to its neighbours. It’s also an absolute monarchy, with the sixth longest-serving monarch in the world, the delightfully named Sultan Qaboos, sitting pretty atop his probably wildly lavish throne. He’s been hanging around the Al Alam Palace in Old Muscat since 1970 – almost 47 years – and it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere soon: compared to our dear Lizzy, who celebrated her 91^st birthday this year, Qaboos is a fresh-faced whippersnapper, turning a youthful 77 years old later this year.

Rice is nice

But friends, we’re not here to talk royalty. No, the most important question about Oman is of course: what the Dickens do the Omanis like to chow down on? Even before doing my research I was fairly certain that whatever I cooked would involve rice. If there’s one thing I’ve learned on this quest so far, it’s that rice really is nice. A good chunk of the individual countries that join together to form this big multi-coloured patchwork quilt we call earth count the golden grain as the cornerstone of their cuisine: whether it’s the bobor vendor hawking her goods on the streets of Phnom Penh or the lady churning out steaming plates of rice and peas to her kiddies in Jamaica, you can be sure that wherever you are in the world, rice is never far away.

But apart from rice, what does your average guy or gal in downtown Muscat like to munch on? Well, it would appear that traditional Omani cuisine has a lot in common with that of its neighbours: think lots of spices, herbs, marinades, chicken, lamb and fish. Having said that, it seems that Omanis are not into setting their mouths on fire or exposing themselves to a sensory overload by way of an overzealous use of spice, which – apparently- makes Omani food particularly palatable. Some typical dishes include mashuai, whole spit-roasted kingfish with lemon rice; albadhinajan mae tawarikh, which is a savoury cake of aubergine, onions and dates; and machboos, a dish of rice, meat, vegetables and basically every spice you can throw at the pan. That last dish hails originally from Saudi Arabia, where it’s known as kabsa, but the Omanis (and Qataris and Bahrainis and Iraqis…) obviously decided that it’s just too darn good for the Saudis to have all to themselves and have well and truly adopted it into their own arsenal of dishes.

Dried Persian limes: delicious or just very good for cleaning?

After trawling the internet for some time, the search was beginning to get desperate. The thought of an aubergine and date cake did not really fill me with joy (although writing about it now, it’s exactly the sort of thing that I would definitely eat) and kingfish ain’t too easy to come by in the middle of Germany. As luck would have it, I finally stumbled across a recipe for a dish called madrouba. The ingredients all looked harmless enough, although whoever said that the Omanis aren’t heavy-handed with the spice obviously has never eaten this before: the ingredients list was essentially just the entire product catalogue of Schwartz Spices. Luckily, I’m not one to shy away from the spice rack, so madrouba it was!

Apart from the above-mentioned 12 metre long list of spices, this little dish is made up of chicken, tomatoes, onions, garlic, dried Persian limes and – guess what? RICE! Surpriiiiiiiiiiise. Hands up if you’ve ever used dried limes before? Good, I’m glad I’m not the only one. Man alive (or rather O-Man alive – hahahaha), they are weird little chaps. The ones I bought came vacuum-packed and looked very much like lemons that had been bought and promptly dropped under the kitchen cupboard, only to be retrieved 2.5 years later during a long-overdue “proper” clean (i.e. not just wiping the surfaces and pretending that’s enough). Cut open the packet and the smell is not unlike a very strongly scented citrus cleaning spray, which is fine if you plan to do said “proper” clean of the kitchen, but less so when you intend to cook a delicious dinner for your dear parents/guinea pigs. But, who knows, maybe they’ll be a taste sensation?!

All dat spice

The history is madrouba is rather elusive, I have to say. I can only assume someone just decided one day that this particular set of ingredients would work well together and got on with it. No swashbuckling European invaders, no fussy royals making demands, no horrible horrible slave trade. Just someone poking around in their cupboards and throwing stuff in a pan. The interesting thing about this meal is the amount of time you cook the rice for. I just want to say now that I’m not known for my rice-cooking prowess, but even I was a little sceptical when the recipe suggested cooking it for 2 hours. 2 hours! There’s a lot of things that require 2 hours to do, but cooking rice generally isn’t one of them. Oh oh oh, people – it’s the KEY! The key to all things good and delicious, seriously. By cooking it for that long, the rice breaks down into this lovely, gloopy porridge-like mass, and it absorbs all the delicious spices and tomatoes swimming around in the broth. Those fiendish dried limes come into their own and pierce the gloop with a sharp tang that in no way resembles cleaning fluid (hoorah!), and the chicken has been relaxing, doing its thing, in the pot for so long that it just falls off the bone. Lordy, it was good. Granted it’s not the meal to go for if you’re in a hurry, but O-MAN (gaaaaaaahahaha, so funny), it’s a winner-winner-chicken-dinner if ever there was one!

Madroubaaaaaaa