Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

The reason why I love cooking?

@m31ath-1_6
@m31ath-1_6
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It’s an art because it can be done in several ways. The possibilities are endless. You can use your imagination and creativity, play with the ingredients and innovate. It’s also like creating a masterpiece.


This is what Muath al Badi thinks of cooking. An emerging Omani chef who took it upon himself to explain Omani recipes to his followers in social media in a simple amusing way.


Unlike many of the chefs who cut corners, Muath decided to do things his way. The way he is talking about resembles his daily life.

“You get closer to people when you are not acting and being your genuine self. People get drawn to you when you show the real you without pretending to be someone else. The Omani dialects are varied and you can easily tell where I am from by the time you listen to how I talk. Someone who is always proud of his origin will always speak the accent and also use the Omani products, ingredients and botanicals around him,” Muath shared.


Muath said, “When you’re cooking you get to choose what you make and what goes into each dish. You also get to choose the quality of the ingredients. The Omani ingredients and products are also of high quality. When cooking, I like to support the Omani product and sometimes products from the Gulf countries.”


“It is who you are that makes you different. The Omani experience, products and botanicals are extremely trusted in the field of cooking. I want to encourage Omanis and others to trust the Omani product and consider it a priority,” he advocated.


“I concentrate on the Omani traditional recipes. I would like to spread them to the whole world. 70% of my Instagram page (m31ath) focuses on Omani meals and sometimes I give international recipes but I add the Omani touch,” he said.


“Cooking is my passion. I started to learn some basic recipes when I was around 10 years old, mostly by helping my mother in the kitchen. I remember asking her about all the details and the love for cooking grew up with me. I was given little tasks such as peeling the vegetables, slicing the ingredients and sometimes washing the dishes. I also enjoyed watching cooking shows on local TV,”  he recollected.


 


While others think of it as a dreadful chore that only fits those with culinary skills, Muath vehemently disagrees.


“It is easy to learn and to love! As men, we sometimes think out of the box on the ways of execution and the additions we put in each dish but I still believe that the woman is the original teacher of everything in life, not only cooking,” he said.


“I adore losing myself in the rituals of chopping, stirring and tasting. I forget myself when I start preparing a dish. Cooking always allowed me to show my creative side, to please people, and create something complex out of simple ingredients, although I try to make it simple all the time. I love to add flavours and this is what makes it different”, he said.


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