UMN Cooks 2013: Omani Feast

This weekend, my sister invited me out to visit her school, UW River Falls, and enjoy a traditional Arabic meal with her roommate Rahma, who is from Oman. I was treated to one of the best tables of food I've ever had the privilege of sitting down at and even got to help with the preparation! The meal consisted of:

- Chicken boiled in a yogurt curry sauce
- Biryani Rice (over which the chicken and sauce were served)
- Ground goat and sauteed vegetable pastries
- Fresh cucumber tomato salad
- Corn cake with saffron sauce

Rahma takes a good deal of pride in the traditional cooking learned from her family and was ecstatic to have a fellow cook with whom she could share them. Like me, she usually runs a one person operation in the kitchen with multiple items cooking at once but in this case made an exception and was generous enough to find tasks that I could perform while learning about the food she makes. The undoubted best dish came in the form of stuffed meat pastries, and this recipe I'll try to outline as best I can -

First, we sauteed the "hard vegetables" as Rahma calls them: carrots, onions and cabbage. Those cooked in oil with a mix of spice blends whose names I never found the ability to pronounce or remember. Once well browned, we added in the "soft vegetables": tomatoes, bell peppers, cilantro and spinach. In another pan a pound of ground goat was being cooked with some garlic and salt. After both cooked sufficiently, they were combined in a bowl with a jar of Puck, a cheese resembling thick yogurt with a noticeably salty taste. The resulting paste was placed in a pastry wrap and folded over like a calzone, then cooked in the oven until flaky and brown. The taste was warm, sour, sweet and spicy with the overall "dark" taste I've come to appreciate from East African, Arabic and Indian culinary traditions.

Rahma further explained many of the traditions surrounding food in her culture. An example of interest was the strict use of one's right hand in many aspects of life including eating. She explained that the left hand, and indeed the left side of ones body at large, is reserved for dirty things while the right side is holy and clean. One should enter a bathroom left foot first and leave right foot first. At the dinner table, one should hand things only with the right hand and use utensils in the same way.

Regarding community and food, Rahma described the events surrounding one leaving the community to study abroad. Upon hearing of someones future travels, the members of the community will offer gifts like luggage, cameras, journals and other things that could be of use in travel. The expected reciprocation comes upon the traveler's return. They ought to have gifts for all their patrons that are given in personal visits for coffee or a meal at each person's house. Often there is a great deal of commotion around whose house the person chooses to visit for the feast commemorating one's arrival.

I get the idea that the sense of community in Oman is very strong because of such traditions. The evidence was clear in Rahma's warm praise of her people and great pride in her ability to convey her culture through food and conversation. I was grateful to be a part of this and I now have 2 pounds of goat that I'll try and prepare in the same fashion. Wish me luck!