Hospitality and food in Oman

Hospitality:

In Oman hospitality is a very important and it very culturaly impacted. Traditions have set very high standards in omani culture as when a guest is over at someones house they must be treated a certain way. must be served and fed right. it is a shame if one does not serve his guest porperly. this post will be talking about traditions when having a guest over and how he must be presented with certain foods and drinks. this post will aslo talk about the food which Omani people eat on diffrent occasions.

How to welcome a guest to your house in the Omani way?

When having a guest in a Omani household you must always have dates and Omani coffee ready to be served. Even if the guest came with no notice prior to visit. The images above show what need to be presented. A big bowl of dates, a pot of Omani coffee and a plate of Omani halwa.in an Omani family, normally the dad or eldest son will poor and serve these to the guest. The presenter of the food must be standing beside the guest throughout his stay in the house to assist him with the food and to keep fulfilling his needs. The person who’s assisting the guest must refill the guest coffee until the guest hands the cup back while genteelly shaking it. When shaking the cup it’s a sign that he’s had enough. The person poring the coffee must never fill the cup to the fullest as it’s a sign of saying to the guest is taking their time. Its also rude of the guest to extended his stay too long and should not take more then 3 cups of coffee.

Lunch? Dinner?

When having an organised lunch or dinner with guests coming over this is what should be presented

People would garther around a number of big plate of this dish called "makbous". this dish is made of any of fish , chicken and meat with rice and spices. this is the tgrtaditional dish in Oman. each plate can be shared between 4-6 people. when this dish is shared is usually enjoyed while sitting on the floor. other side dishes might be present on the lunch/dinner such as salads, soups,yougurt,dates and spicy souces. the meat is usally barried under neeth ground while warpped around banana or palm tree leafs with mixed spices. this makes the meat tinder and very spicy at the same time. this dish is usally prepared a day prior the event as the meat cooking takes alot of time. these types of dishes are in celebrations like Eid or weddings. the picture below will show a weddings prepared dish for many people.