Omani Cuisine

Omani cooking carries the marks of a long trading history: Indian spice, Persian rice technique and Zanzibari coconut and cassava sit alongside Arabian meat and dates. Shuwa is the dish of celebration, meat rubbed with a spice paste, wrapped in banana or palm leaf and buried in a pit oven with embers for a day or two, made for Eid. Majboos is spiced rice with meat, related to the Gulf kabsa. Mashuai is kingfish grilled whole and served with lemon rice on the coast. Harees is wheat and meat pounded to a paste, eaten in Ramadan. Dates and kahwa, coffee with cardamom, are offered to any visitor, and halwa, a dense date and rosewater sweet, comes with them.

What you actually see

• Shuwa - meat buried in a pit oven for a day or more at Eid.
• Majboos - the spiced rice and meat plate of everyday meals.
• Dates and kahwa - the coffee and dates offered at every visit.
• Omani halwa - the dense rosewater and date sweet.

When to go

Year round. Shuwa is made at Eid al Adha rather than to order. Harees appears in Ramadan, when daytime eating is restricted for everyone including visitors in public. Fish is best on the coast in the cooler months.

Honest expectations

Restaurant food in Oman is largely Indian, Lebanese or Turkish; genuinely Omani cooking is domestic and hard to find commercially. Shuwa is a festival dish, not a menu item. During Ramadan eating and drinking in public in daylight is prohibited. Spicing is mild rather than hot.

Nearby

Mutrah souq in Muscat for halwa and dates; the coast for grilled fish.