Hospitality is deeply rooted in Oman. Throughout history, visitors to an Omani home would be greeted with a warm welcome and offers of dates and coffee – a tradition that still holds to this day.
This cultural heritage has allowed the Sultanate to build a thriving tourism sector. However, such success has come at a price. Local food production has struggled over the years to keep up with rising demand, prompting the hospitality sector to rely on imports.
Although contributions from the agricultural and fisheries sectors to the Omani economy have more than doubled during the past decade, competition from imported food products has added to the existing challenges facing the farming sector, which constitutes the main source of livelihoods for many communities in the Sultanate.
Water scarcity, high temperatures, soil and water salinity, as well as unsustainable agricultural practices, are all affecting the productivity of the agricultural sector. Moreover, the vast majority of Omani farms are small and family-owned and face a number of barriers, such as limited access to financial services and market integration.
To help offset these challenges, FAO and its partners have initiated a number of projects designed to encourage the production and consumption of healthy food products and improve the livelihoods of farmers and food producers in Oman.
Master Chef
One such project is the Oman Chef Competition, which has been held yearly since 2013 to celebrate the country’s culinary talents. The theme of the latest edition (held in December 2021) was “Think local, buy local, eat local.” FAO joined forces with the Oman Tourism Development Company (better known as OMRAN), Oman Tourism College and Celebrate Oman Co. to encourage local food production and consumption as part of FAO’s Better Nutrition initiative.
A total of 89 professional sous-chefs employed by hotels across the country were tasked with preparing gourmet dishes using only local food products. Thirty percent of these contestants were women, a notable increase compared to previous years.
Prior to the start of the competition, each chef was given a list of ingredients from which they could select to cook a dish of their choice. Upon being told about the rules, many of them called it an impossible task, believing that there weren’t enough local products to complete their dishes. But as they started reading through the ingredient list, they soon realized that Oman produces enough varied food to accommodate their creativity.
Issa Al Balushi, one of the judges presiding over the competition, remarked: “It was a great chance for the competing chefs to work with and experience local products from Oman, which I hope will play a larger role in similar future initiatives in the Sultanate.”