Omani Halwa, for the 'real' taste of Oman

I still remember the first time I tasted the famous Omani Halwa. As part of shooting an advertising film for a local cooking oil, some of us from my agency had gone to a local Omani gentleman's home and the shoot lasted for the better part of the day. It was a very interesting assignment for me in more ways than one, for not only did we get to use his home, which in turn created a fabulous ambience for the film, but I also learnt a great deal about Omani culture, food and traditions from his wonderful wife and elder daughter. The fact of the matter is that a trip to Oman is incomplete without trying some of its delicious local delicacy, the famous Omani 'Halwa' .This halwa is considered as the ultimate symbol of Omani hospitality and is traditionally served with Omani Kahwa (coffee), at homes as well as all kinds of restaurants.Its popularity spikes up exponentially on special occasions such as weddings, birthday celebrations, Ramadan and Eid. The recipe is usually a closely guarded family secret and comes in different flavours and colours..In fact, each local resident here seems to have their own personal favourite, and the different tastes and flavours can prove to be a most interesting topic of conversation , particularly if accompanied by numerous cups of Kahwa.

The yellow coloured halwa is made of saffron and different kinds of dry fruits whereas the black coloured Halwa is made of Omani dates.Broadly speaking, the ingredients used to make Halwa are eggs, red and white sugar, corn flour and fat. These items are combined to produce a gelatinous sweet, which is then flavored with spices such as cardamom and saffron. Fresh rosewater, usually from the Jebel Akdhar region is used to give the sweet a light rosewater fragrance.

Watching him measure out a portion for a customer

Spoilt for choice Twenty plus years later, I'm still hooked on the delicious Omani Halwa..

Leo's Artisanal Pizzeria - a real slice of Italy in Delhi

Pic courtesy- The Family Table ( NB-All other pics on this blog are mine) Last Sunday we went to Leo's Artisanal Pizzeria and enjoyed the evening thoroughly. In fact, I've decided to write about it because it was truly 'one of a kind' experience, as were the pizzas themselves. 'Artisanal'- Relating to the characteristic of an artisan- Artisanal skills- made in a traditional or non mechanised way-Which was exactly how the pizzas were made. With a very simple 8 pizza menu, a great chocolate pudding, a limited range of beverages and a basic but well designed space, it gave us quality as well as good value for money. Located inside a farmhouse in Ghitorni, the meal for three cost us about Rs 2,000 and we came home with a takeaway as we couldn't finish all the food that we had ordered. he pizzeria is named after a lovely dog called Leo who passed away in 2016. As a tribute to him, the space is pet-friendly so that your pet can enjoy some time out. The menu has deliberately been kept simple so the focus is primarily on the pizzas. As we discovered, there are 5 non-vegetarian options along with 3 vegetarian ones. We started with a focaccia and when it came, we were surprised to see that it was a large one- Shaped like a pizza and almost as large, it was delicious! Being fairly hungry, we wolfed it down then waited for our two other pizzas to arrive.

We had ordered a margarita pizza earlier but changed it to a four cheese pizza after checking out the list of specials for the day. The other one was Pollo - a chicken topped pizza. Must add, that my favourite of the three items was the focaccia- felt almost as if we were eating the real deal in pizzeria sitting somewhere in Italy.

What was really interesting was the fact that there was a real wood fired oven and that was where delicious aromas were emanating from.Having asked the gentleman making the pizzas if I could click photographs, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he was Amol, the restaurant owner himself. Making sure I got the correct angles, Amol showed me how the pizzas were made- Simple, delicious and fairly large- my top of mind thoughts when the food came to our table.

Heading home after after having shared a delicious bitter sweet chocolate pudding, we were happy- you see we had finally discovered a real slice of Italy in NCR...