Sunday, March 23, 2008

Omani Halwa

HALWAOmani halwa (sweet) is famous at home and abroad as a symbol of traditional Omani hospitality. It is usually served in Omani homes before drinking Arabic coffee.The main ingredients which go into the making of halwa are: starch, eggs, sugar, water, ghee, saffron, cardamom, nuts and rose water from the Jebel al Akdhar. The ingredients are mixed, in proportions and quantities known only to the skilled halwamaker, and cooked in a mirjnl (large cooking pot used especially for halwa) for a time of not less than 2 hours.The cooking can be done over a gas or electric stove, but the preferred method is over a wood fire made up of snmr wood, known for its durability, smoke and odourfree properties.After cooking, the halwa can be preserved for more than four months without losing its quality, and without the need for refrigeration or preserving agents.Halwa is usually served in a dist, a large earthenware bowl, which can vary in size and composition according to demand or type of occasion. The list can also be made of metal or plastic. Halwa is invariably served at times of joy or sorrow and, on religious occasions and festivals. It graces the tables of every

American Food And Omani Food

Everybody eats food .It is one of the important things that give us life together with air and water. But the food gives us other things like health and energy. As we know many kinds of food give us protean and vitamin like vegetables, fruits, fish and eggs. As it has benefits it also has risks. But that risk comes when the people eat more than what they eat normal .For example sugar builds happen when people eat sugar or sweets a lot. Also, obesity is a very big problem the same as diabetes. Each country has his special food like Mexican people they love spicy food. Like in Marocco people love to eat sweet and they are famous for them. Also the Omani people they have them food as well as American people. There are many differences between Omani and American food. Many Omani Families eat at home on Weeknights and weekends as well as on special occasion. There are many kinds of Omani food there is sweet, spicy and delicious food. For example my family loves to eat spicy food the same as Mexican and Indian food. When lunching at home most older people eat traditional food. They drink coffee and eat rice at almost every meal. There are many kinds of food which have rice in it . Maqboos is one of our foods that uses rice in it. It is made with some of soup with meat or chicken.It is delicious with a salt.Other food that uses rice in it is to cook rice alone and eat it with fish or chicken barbeque .That food we eat it on a normal day.On occasions like Eid we eat one of the popular foods called Arosia that food also uses rice in it. It Cook by mixing some rice with chicken until it become like mashed potatoes. Then we eat with sweet soup or with oil. Every person loves to eat it with anything that he love .On other occasions like wedding people eat Halwa which is very sweet .They use a lot of sugar in it. Therefore it is one of the most famous traditional Omani foods . The problem is most older people get diabetes. Younger people As we know America has many cultures from the different people who live in it. So there are many kinds of American food. American people work long hours, so they don’t have too much time to cook food .They eat fast food most the time.So,American love to eat cheeseburgers and hot dogs. That is the most popular food in America. American use beef or meat to make fear wear cakes, which they put between 2 pieces of bread and add cheese or any thing that they love .Hot dog is almost the same as cooking a burger . Rods and superhighways are lined with establishments such as McDonald’s restaurants. Arabic people who live in America has special soup called Harira .Is a wholesome traditional soup of chickpeas and tomatoes, bursting with a heady mixture of aromatic herbs and spices. Flakes of lamb are added to the dish. American people same as the Omani people they have popular food in occasion like for Xmas they cook turkey .It is a very big kind of chicken they cook it in an oven and add vegetables .In America there are no different between what the younger people eat and what the elder eat

Saturday, March 1, 2008

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Traditional Omani Food

The Omani people are well known for their hospitality and offers of refreshment. To be invited into someone's home will mean coffee (kahwa), a strong, bitter drink flavoured with cardamom, and dates or halwa, a sticky sweet gelatinous substance which is made from brown sugar, eggs, honey and spices. It can be flavoured with many different ingredients, such as nuts, rosewater or even chocolate. Lokhemat is another accompaniment to coffee, which are balls of flour and yeast flavoured with cardamom and deep fried until golden then served with a sweet lime and cardamom syrup. The sweetness of this dish often counteracts the bitterness of the kahwa.More substantial meals often have rice as the main ingredient, together with cooked meats. The main daily meal is usually eaten at midday, while the evening meal is lighter. Maqbous is a rice dish, tinged yellow with saffron and cooked over a spicy red or white meat. Aursia is a festival meal, served during celebrations, which consists of mashed rice flavoured with spices. Another popular festival meal is shuwa, which is meat cooked very slowly (sometimes for up to two days) in an underground clay oven. The meat becomes extremely tender and it is impregnated with spices and herbs before cooking to give it a very distinct taste. Fish is often used in main dishes too, and the kingfish is a popular ingredient. Mashuai is a meal comprising whole spit-roasted kingfish served with lemon rice. The rukhal bread is a thin, round bread originally baked over a fire made from palm leaves. It is eaten at any meal, typically served with Omani honey for breakfast or crumbled over curry for dinner.Traditional Omani FoodIt is fairly simple, but by using various marinades and impregnating meat with spices, the result is a mouth-watering concoction which stimulates the tastebuds. Chicken, fish and mutton are regularly used in dishes. A favourite drink is laban, a salty buttermilk. Yoghurt drinks, flavoured with cardamom and pistachio nuts are also very popular.Although spices, herbs, onion, garlic and lime are liberally used in traditional Omani cuisine, unlike similar Asian food, it is not hot. Omani cuisine is also distinct from the indigenous foods of other Gulf states and even varies within the Sultanate's different regions. The differences between some of the dishes prepared in Salalah, in the south, and those prepared in Muscat, in the north, are so market that it is difficult to find anything common between them. However, one delight that remains a symbol of Omani hospitality throughout the country are the ubiquitous dates, served with khawa, or Omani coffee. Khawa is prepared from freshly roasted ground coffee mixed with cardamom powder.Special dishes are prepared for festive occasions. The Islamic world celebrates two main religious festivals - Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Eid Al Fitr is celebrated following the Holy Month of Ramadan when people complete their obligatory fasting for 30 days. Eid Al Adha is celebrated on completing the Haj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca, commemorating the sacrifice of Abraham. Dishes prepared during Ramadan are very seldom cooked on other occasions.Food cooked on important occasions, such as Eid, is of an infinite variety. Omanis across the country serve an array of dishes. In Dhofar and Wusta, the festivities start with ruz al mudhroub, a dish made of cooked rice and served with fried fish, and maqdeed, special dried meat. In Muscat, Al Batinah, Dahira and Sharqiya regions, muqalab, a dish of tripe and pluck cooked with crushed or ground spices (cinnamon, cardamom, clove, back pepper, ginger, garlic and nutmeg), dominates the menu. Other dishes served during Eid festivities include arsia, a dish of lamb meat cooked with rice, and mishkak, skewered meat grilled on charcoal.Lunch on the first day of Eid is usually harees, which is made from wheat mixed with meat. Lunch on the second day is mishkak, while on the third and last day, shuwa forms the whole day's meal.However, it is during Ramadan that one can experience Omani food at its best and two of the most popular traditional dishes served at Iftar, the breaking of the fast include sakhana, a thick, sweet soup made of wheat, date, molasses and milk and fatta, a meat and vegetable dish, mixed with khubz rakhal, thin Omani bread, made out of unleavened dough.Shuwa is a typically Omani delicacy prepared only on very special occasions. Whole villages participate in the cooking of the dish which consists of a whole cow or goat roasted for up to two days in an special oven prepared in a pit dug in the ground.The method of preparing shuwa is elaborate. The meat is marinated with red pepper, turmeric, coriander, cumin, cardamom, garlic and vinegar and then wrapped in sacks made of dry banana or palm leaves. These sacks are then thrown into the smoldering oven, which is covered with a lid and sealed so that no smoke escapes. In some villages, the meat is cooked for 24 hours while in others it is believed that meat tastes better after 48 hours.Everyday Omani cuisine includes a wide variety of soups - vegetable, lentil, lamb and chicken. Salads are also popular and are usually based around fresh vegetables, smoked eggplant, tuna fish, dried fish or watercress. Main course dishes are extensive and range from marak, a vegetable curry, to assorted kebabs, barbecued, grilled and curried meat, chicken and fish dishes.Rice is used widely and is served in a variety of ways, from steamed to elaborate concoctions bursting with meat and vegetables. Breads rage from the plain to those flavoured with dates, sesame, thyme and garlic. For desert, Omani halwa, or sweetmeat, is a traditional favorite.