A few tidbits from my food research:

I recently found a cookbook about Omani food:

Al Maskiry, Fawziya Ali Khalifa. 2004. A Taste to Remember, 3rd edition. Muscat: Al Nahda Press. 

Al Maskiry states that her first edition (2005) was first cookbook in English published by an Omani. She has a practical approach to measurements, instead of the American system (cups), metric system or using weights, she uses “coffee cup” (the small, handle-less cup used for Arabic coffee, finjan), “tea cup” and “mug” in the recipes, with ml, flour ounce and sugar ounce equivalents at the beginning of the book (4).

 

I had socially distanced coffee with two friends a few days ago and after ten minutes, their cups were empty. I always forget this big cultural difference. When I have a cup of coffee it lasts at least half an hour, usually longer. When working, two cups last me about four hours. But most people from Arab countries approach coffee (and tea) drinking as serious business. The cups are smaller and ones focuses on getting the liquid down quickly, then it’s time to talk (or work).

Part of this difference is that Turks and Italians, for example, drink small cups of heavy/ thick coffee while North Americans normally drink bigger cups of weaker coffee. This has lead to the (ghastly) appearance of “Americanos” in coffee shops – an espresso with hot water added. This awful drink combines the worst of both worlds!

 

There is a cute new advertisement about “the Omani sandwich“:  bread with processed cheese spread and crushed spicy potato chips. People may argue about which type of bread to use (pita/ Lebanese or white bread, toasted) and which kind of cheese, but everyone agrees that it has to be Chips Oman!