Food for Thought Turns 1 and a Pre Ramadan Special

Time  flies and here we are on the 25th of June, 2014. (Oman time)

Today,  its exactly one year since I started 'Food For Thought' and this also happens to be my 50th post. I've had a really great time writing each and every one of these posts and my journey through this year has taken me to kitchens in France, Oman and India in addition to my very own. 

However, 'Food For Thought' is not merely about cuisine- I have also tried to share my love for art and culture through some of these posts  and am fairly satisfied with the outcome. I've received feedback from readers as well as many of the restaurants and locations that I've featured. Best of all, I know for a fact that I've learnt a great deal as well!

Top of mind, I recall the three sessions I had at Paul Muscat, with Pastry Chef Mohammed Kessrwani who unhesitatingly shared his  Chef's secrets, special tips and allowed me to ask him "anything at all". Similarly, a Chocolate fondue making experience at the Al Bustan Ritz Carlton, the delightful new Anar Cafe, Caramel Bakery, Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, I could go on and on.... 

Creations by Chef Mohammed Kessrwani of Paul Muscat

    

Delightfully decadent

A special occasion ought to be marked by something special and I'm going to try and do exactly that. Oman is currently in the grip of Football as well as Date fever and we are enjoying the very best of both. There are so many uses of dates in recipes and over a period of time, I will share some of these with you. Meanwhile, here's a glimpse at what most of the date palms in Oman look like at the moment.

Ripe for picking

As mentioned in my previous post on Pre Ramadan musings, I'm going to to write about some of the Ramadan Specials that various hotels and restaurants in Oman will be offering during this one month period.I will also try and get into the kitchens of some of these places and watch the chefs at work creating the most amazing delicacies and share that with you as well.

To start with, I've got some special Iftaar recipes which  Erika Anggreini, the Public Relations Manager at the Al Bustan Palace, A Ritz-Carlton Hotel has very graciously shared with me.

The first one is a Rose Water Rice Pudding served with Mango compote 

Rose Water Rice Pudding

Ingredients 

·         114gr Arborio Rice

·         ½ Ltr water

·         ¼ Tblspn Salt

·         1 Ltr Milk

·         57g Powdered  Sugar

·         118 ml Heavy Cream

·         60 ml Rose Water

·         1 tbspn Cardamom Seeds

Procedure

Combine water, salt and rice.Cook until rice is tender, adding milk, cream and sugar and continue cooking on low heat until it becomes a pudding consistency. Add the  rose water & cardamom seeds and cook for 10 min. Finally, chill before serving.

Mango Compote

Ingredients

·         4 Mangoes

·         2 Oranges/ Juice

·         100gr Powder Sugar

·         1 Vanilla bean stick

Procedure

Cut two mangoes. Place all ingredients in a pot and caramelize for about 10 minutes, then blend to make sauce.

Once the sauce has chilled,  cut the remaining two  mangoes into small cubes and mix in with the compote. 

In a bowl serve the rice pudding and mango compote garnishing with pistachio crumbs. 

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And here is a great Summer cooler, a very special Ramadan inspired beverage also from the Al Bustan itz Carlton. This is Coconut Ice Tea which is really simple to make. Try it, I'm sure this will immediately become a family favourite!  

Coconut Ice Tea

·         ¼ cup of coconut puree

·         8 black tea bags

·         Lemon for flavor

·         Sugar

·         Ice cubes

Fill a blender with ice and blend all the ingredients.

Finally, sit back, relax  and enjoy!

To close for today, here's wishing all of you Ramadan Kareem and peace, happiness and joy in the month ahead and looking forward to hearing from you on what else you would like to see in Food For Thought.

The Taimur Mosque -Muscat

Pre Ramadan musings

Beautiful Ramadan nights

It was a very hot summer in Meerut and I was studying in Sophia convent. I must have been in class 8 and fairly interested in playing basketball at the time. We played matches with the neigbouring schools every now and then and if we won, we were on top of the world. If we didn't, we would try harder. 

Our captain was a girl called Azra and on a day after we had just played a particularly strenuous match and won it, we headed to the school water coolers to gulp down some badly needed elixir of life. I remember waiting for my turn and when I got to that cooler, I just couldn't get enough of the water. When I finished, I looked around- most of the girls had moved away and were talking in small groups. 

All except one- Azra was standing away from the coolers. I couldn't help myself and asked, 

'Aren't you thirsty'? 

"I'm fasting" she replied.

I was confused-I  really didn't know what she was referring to. So I persisted.

'What kind of a fast is this Bushra?"

"This is Ramzan and I'm keeping a Roza" she explained.  

And that is how I first understood the huge significance of what a Roza meant to a devout Muslim. She had played a whole match and she wouldn't drink a drop of water.

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It's that time of the year again, a time when there are just a few days left for the holy month of Ramadan to begin

During these four weeks, every Muslim is supposed to fast from  dawn to dusk (with the clear exception of expecting mothers, or those who are physically unwell.) 

In fact, ever since I came to live here in the Gulf over two decades ago, this is something that has always fascinated and intrigued me. Might I add, coupled with a certain degree of admiration.To to me a fast without even a drop of water through the day, even for one day, is nothing short of miraculous, since I'm highly dependent on numerous cups of tea and coffee to keep me going through the day.

This is exactly where the discipline and structure of what Islam has to offer to the devout comes in. That particular feeling that the 'Rozas' are being undertaken for a specific purpose, that of the upliftment and cleansing of the body as well as of the soul. Added to which, are the donations that people choose to make to the needy.

While the day is quieter and more solemn, it is the evenings during Ramadan that are really worth their weight in gold. With the shops, restaurants and malls thronging with people who have successfully managed one day of their fast and have the privilege of being able to eat the well deserved evening meal as well as to undertake their preparations for the next day's fast.Truly a time for fasting and reflection as well as to make the most of what commercial businesses have to offer in terms of schemes, benefits and deals, I'm really looking forward to yet another Ramadan in Muscat.

During this period I will share some special recipes and information about events from some of the leading hotels and restaurants in Oman, so look out for some interesting posts in the days ahead.

Here's wishing all of you Ramadan Kareem in advance.. 

The Chocolate Room Muscat-Revisited

Any good restaurant is definitely about more than the food. It has to have a total package, of which the front house service, the customer care and the efficiency of response to feedback rate very high on my list.In that context, some of you may recall my blog post on my first visit to The Chocolate Room Muscat a couple of months ago. While I had loved almost everything about the place, this is what I had to say about the coffee on that day.  

"The presentation looked great and must add, the tart tasted good too. However, call me fussy, but the coffee was another story. It wasn't anything like the Latte I'd been expecting. Of course, this wasn't my regular brand but to me the coffee tasted overly  sweet( in my book, sugar is never mixed in the cup before bringing to the customer). It also tasted nothing like coffee.

So when Vic came around to ask me if everything was OK, I promptly pointed that out. That was when I learnt that it was actually a Belgian chocolate concoction and that all their coffees have an element of that flavour. Must admit, I wish I'd known that earlier......."

Shortly after the blog post came up , I was pleasantly surprised to receive an e mail from  Jergen Enriquez, The Operations Manager at the Chocolate Room. 

"Thanks for visiting our cafe & trying out our menu! It was a pleasure to serve you and we look forward to do so again in the near future! :)

We are also thankful that you spared some time to give us your honest feedback which is very valuable for us.

It is great to know that you loved our ambience, food & service - we assure you that the standards will be maintained  at all times.

We noted your comments on your blog. We will assure that our staff will educate our guest when it comes to our products in our menu before taking the final order. 

I would like to know if it is possible to meet you or contact you so I can discuss our whole products and our specialty coffees available in our cafe

Chocolaty Regards

I thought that it was an extremely positive response to my comment and I found myself looking forward to my next visit to The Chocolate Room. As it happened that took quite a  while but let me say it was well worth the wait!

Last evening I found myself back there with a group of friends to  cclebrate the birthdays of three of the ladies and this time Jergen  was there to take us through the story of coffee in general as well as the Chocolate Room coffees in particular.

Jergen talks to us about Coffee

If I  told you all that we learnt about coffee from Jergen, I think I would need a couple of pages, so I will come straight to the point and show  you what we ordered. 

Cappuccinos and  latte -good old fashioned coffee which tasted even better than it looked

It was just past 6 pm and we decided to order a range of  coffees, crepes and open sandwiches followed by a chocolate  dessert and at the end of it were delighted with our choice. With the smiling Jojo to serve us and obligingly click photographs we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly for a couple of hours at the Chocolate Room. 

Would we go back there again? The answer - a unanimous Yes! 

You see we haven't even gone through a thirtieth of the wide ranging Chocolate Room Menu...

All of us- Clicked by Jojo

Open sandwiches- Great anytime treats

A triple chocolate dessert- Fabulous!