laban, guruz al gamar and the villagers of Sahami

A tale of laban, guruz al gamar and the villagers of Sahami
Feb 1 2010 B and W

Some 240 kms away from the bustling city of Muscat, a 40-plus-year old Omani woman is sitting on the ground, in the village of Sahami (in Saham) and gently shaking a dark sack-like bag mounted on some sticks.
A soft Arabic song escapes Dhahiwa Hamad’s lips as she rocks the bag. At a distance you would think she was singing a lullaby and gently rocking a baby to sleep. A closer look will actually reveal her shaking a traditional Omani sheepskin bag. As you sit silently on her side and watch, you will find her shaking the bag with increasing tempo.

Dhahiwa is a resident of Sahami. Modernity has, of course, crept into the lives of the villagers in Sahami, but Dhahiwa prefers to sit on the side of tradition. Every single day, Dhahiwa, like many women in Sahami, would be engaged in this traditional method of making laban. This cold, refreshing laban is part of the daily diet of almost all Sahami residents.

In Oman, when we may go chasing after the expected, we may often bump into the unexpected. The unusual, unexpected, the extraordinary is always waiting around the corner…waiting to be discovered.
So, the other day, when we went chasing after an enthusiastic young Omani from Saham who said he knew people who made laban every day, we stumbled on to a mini-traditional Omani set up, apparently arranged for our benefit. Our mission was to find out how some families made laban in their homes, instead, we were given everything we wanted to know about laban and MORE (all the other things that went along with it).
So, it was not just about laban. If they made, drank and relished laban, the Omanis in Sahami detailed to us how there were more things to laban and how other food; how their travel in Oman was all related. So, in short, they linked the laban with food, with families, with travelling (across the desert and from village to village on camels under a sweltering sky) were all interlinked and how laban played a role in this mix.
This mini village, in Sahami, gave us a glimpse of a unique slice of Omani life that blended with culture and tradition and also gave us an idea of how Omanis (as well as Arabs) have been facing the harsh desert-like elements for millennia.
The setting was replete with Omani men making Omani bread in the most traditional manner possible (on aluminum sheets from a fire on the ground); Omani women in traditional garb making various camel wear accessories, children flitting around the scene with their pet dogs, Omani men and women engaged in various other daily work, camels decked in finery, displays of colourful camel gear in a small makeshift tent…
And amidst all of them was a cheerful Dhahiwa(who incidentally is a school bus driver) making laban in the midst of nowhere.
Dhahiwa broke away from her intense shaking to give us an idea into her life and how laban was an integral part of their existence. Newfangled methods of making laban were introduced (which included churning milk in a small ‘laban-only’ washing machine). “There are other methods now, but I prefer the traditional method,” Dhahiwa said, vigorously shaking her sheepskin bag. Her cows have been providing a good supply of milk. Laban and milk has therefore become their staple diet.
Going with tradition, she ferments the milk, and once it curdles, she puts into the sheepskin bag to churn the butter out, leaving the buttermilk (laban) behind.
Laban a must
“Originally laban or buttermilk is the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cream.I grew up drinking laban and I learnt how to make it from my mother. For an Omani, especially from our region, laban and guruz al gamar (handmade flat bread) are two items, we cannot live without. It is a tradition we grew up with, especially when we travel. When you grow with certain traditions, you pass it on,” Dhahiwa said. The younger generations are now following the same tradition. “Buttermilk is a term that was originally used for the leftover liquid after churning butter out from the milk cream. It also refers to various fermented drinks of milk that are more a part of the warmer climates than the cold regions.
There are many uses and benefits of the buttermilk. Buttermilk is low fat and rich with calcium, protein and carbohydrates. The cultured buttermilk is very low in fat and calories. Many traditional recipes like pancakes and cakes are incomplete without buttermilk,” Dhahiwa said.


Buttermilk recipe
She then gave us an on-the-spot lesson on how to make butter and buttermilk: “I am about to reveal to you an ancient and traditional butter making secret from milk and curds; to make butter it requires nearly non-stop shaking and more. But, the end result is butter and buttermilk. Homemade butter can be fun to make (if you are a butter enthusiast).And cleaning up is very easy as you only need a few things.
You need to shake the cream until the butter starts to form. Once you notice those little yellow globules forming, shake some more until they start to congeal together.
Next, pour the laban out in to a pot, pour cold water in to bring out butter embedded in the sheepskin. You can scoop out the butter into a bowl of ice water and squeeze/mash. This is necessary to wash the remaining buttermilk out of the butter. Otherwise, the butter will spoil very quickly.
You can either keep it in the refrigerator (make sure you use it within a week or add salt to make it last a little longer) or freeze it and thaw it out when you need it.

“It is easy to churn butter out and make laban the traditional way, we still follow it. Milk is a staple diet and because of the warm climate laban soothes the heat down. Every day after the milk is used for daily consumption, we ferment it to make curds. The curds are then churned by shaking in the sheepskin (saqah) and laban ideal for drinking is made. We use the butter for other dishes. Most of our womenfolk make laban and butter this way and for the younger generation it is fun watching us do it. I don’t believe it is hard or crude, it is a way our ancestors lived and these traditional ways kept them healthy and sane.”

Traditions don’t fade away
Memories fade, but traditions won’t fade away, unless you are dying yourself, says Dhahiwa. “It is our duty to hold on to our traditions and pass it on to the younger generation. Modernity is not to destroy tradition, it is for easy living. Our youth go away to the cities, but, they still come back home during the weekends.
Our family is a prime example: we are four brothers and families living together. We are closely knitted by our traditions. We have camels, donkeys and even dogs with us…”

Bread over fire
While Dhahiwa was detailing the finer points of laban to us, Said Hamad Al Ba’adi, who many in the group said was almost 100 years (but he looked only late 70s or early 80s), was busy making a fire. As we watched him, he placed some aluminum sheets on the fire. From an earthen pot, he took a thick white wheat bread mix and then plastered the same on the sheets.

Because of the mystery behind his age, Said Hamad is quite revered within their lot and although he seemed to suffer from partial blindness, he squinted away to making some tasty coal-flamed Omani bread.


Guruz Al Gamar and laban
The link between Guruz Al Gamar (the Omani bread) and laban was that they both complemented each other. The other Omanis present there explained their passion for holding on to such traditions and said that Said Hamad was the best example of those who linked themselves with the past without falling to the temptations of modernity. “We believe in our traditions. Like Said Hamad, who is an expert at making the Guruz Al Gamar, there are others too.”
There are different types of bread, thick, thin and in different shapes and sizes. The beauty of the Guruz was that it can be made literally from the elements, sans cooking utensils.
“The thick bread is put over the fire, actually hot coal and cooked; this method of cooking gives a grilling effect to Omani bread which can be kept without being spoilt for many days. We use some butter taken out of the laban too. The thick variety has more life compared to the thin variety. The bread making skills are imparted to a number of women and men in family, some of them today are engaged in bread-making, making a living out of it,” Said Hamad said.
Guruz is mostly made while travelling; the kneaded wheat dough is taken along with fresh laban in a pot of sheepskin, some dried fish during travel. Since many years this has been the tradition. The thick variety of Omani bread can be preserved for nearly a month, if required, but it is mostly made fresh and hot and consumed immediately. Ideal combination is the Guruz, dried fish and laban.

By Adarsh madhavan and Priya Arunkumar, photos Najib Al balushi