If molten banana bread, topped with yoghurt and drizzled with honey sounds like a breakfast dream, this masoob – an Arabian Breakfast staple – is for you!
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Molten banana bread, fresh yogurt, caramelised banana, dates, almonds, a drizzle (make that a flood) of honey… are we doing this?
You betcha bottom dollar we are doing this. We are making a bowl of warm Masoob, covering it with delicious garnishes and stuffing it into our faces like there is no tomorrow. And, if things could not get better than that, Masoob is a breakfast food which means all this stuffing-food-into-face action is going to get your day off to the most amazing start.
Food and Life goals will be achieved people!
Because Masoob is that little something different to put on your everyday breakfast menu, without out being too weird and out there and complicated.
Bananas and dates are blended together into a paste. This paste is added to a pan along with mascarpone or clotted cream or yogurt and heated slowly before flat bread crumbs are stirred in along with the obligatory seasonings such as cinnamon and cardamom (if you are one of these people that don’t like cardamom, it can be omitted without compromising the taste but, seriously, who doesn’t like cardamom!?) before being spooned into bowls and topped with the aforementioned toppings.
And a kick-ass breakfast is served.
What is Masoob?
Masoob is the name given to this dish in the countries across the Arabian peninsular, such as Saudi Arabia and Yemen where – apparently – it is most popular, however there is also a version of Masoob that is commonly eaten in Somalia, known as Feetamuus, which follows a very similar except that the flat bread of choice is Somalian corn bread known as garmash.
However, I was introduced to the Yemeni version.
It happened around a year ago (yes, I’ve been sitting on this recipe for all this time) when the Paramedic and I were travelling overseas. Oh a whim we decided to stop off in Qatar during our journey home to Australia from Europe.
To some of you, Qatar may seem like a strange choice of places to stop off for holiday (perhaps some of you are even asking, where is Qatar? Answer: next to the United Arab Emirates) and, in retrospect, it was certainly one of the stranger destinations we have chosen but, since we were flying with Qatar Airways (aka Best. Airline. Ever!) and flying through Qatar, it was a “why not” moment.
However, aside from taking a 4WD safari across the dessert dunes to the Arabian Sea (which was totally awesome) and sitting beside the pool of our swanky hotel, there’s not a lot to see and do in Qatar (it didn’t help that the paramedic and I landed in Qatar in the middle of summer and the 45°C/ 120°F plus heat did not provide any enthusiasm to do anything) – it’s more of a business/ transit location.
However, one awesome part of Qatar – or more precisely it’s capital, Doha – is the market place known as Souq Waqif: a historic market place that has been preserved by the Qatari government and is just what you can imaging of an Arabian style market: small alleyways filled with shops and stalls selling everything from wooden crafts to spices.
But Souq Waqif is also filled with restaurants covering every Middle Eastern, Western Asian and East African cuisine you could possibly think of: Lebanese, Iraqi, Iranian, Sudanese, Somalian, Yemeni, you name it, there is a restaurant for it in Souq Waqif.
The Paramedic and I decided to visit one of the Yemini restaurants because it was highly rated by trip advisor. We found ourselves seated at a table staring at a menu that, although translated into English characters was devoid of English descriptions of what each dish was
So, we did what was natural in this sort of situation: when the waiter came to take our order, we simple pointed at a few things and said, we’ll have that.
The waiter was a little confused when we pointed to Masoob (because it is a breakfast item and it was 8pm) but his English was not at a level he could express his confusion, he simply shrugged his shoulders and took our order.
And so we dined on a magnificent feast of Yeminei flat breads, curries, vegetables, cous cous, lentils, and the molten banana-bread-like awesomeness that is Masoob.
Yes, we indulged in a Yemeni-style breakfast-for-dinner situation, in Qatar. And it was awesome!
So, make yourself a bowl of Massob – at any time of the day – and enjoy a big bowl of Arabian style awesomeness!
Until next time foodies,
James
Masoob – Arabian Banana Bread Breakfast Pudding
If molten banana bread, topped with yoghurt and drizzled with honey sounds like a breakfast dream, this masoob – an Arabian Breakfast staple – is for you!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
- 90g flat bread (such as pita or tortilla), roughly torn
- 300g bananas
- 100g fresh, pitted dates
- 50g butter, melted
- ¼ cup milk
- 200g Mascarpone/ Clotted Cream
- 100g dried fruit, such as raising, sultanas
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- Caramelised banana slices, dried fruit, almonds and honey, to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Place the flat bread pieces into a blender until you have fine breadcrumbs, set aside.
- Place the bananas, dates and melted butter into your food processor or blender until a thick paste-like consistency is reached. Transfer to a saucepan and place over medium heat.
- Add the milk, and mascarpone / clotted cream and whisk until combined. Heat until the mixture begins to bubble. Stir through the dried fruit and spices until evenly distributed. Stir through the flat bread crumbs and remove from the heat.
- Divide among bowls and top with desired garnishes
Wow, does this look delicious! And it’s very different from what I think of as bread pudding – which is a plus in my book. I wish I had seen this a few weeks ago. I had a bunch of bananas, and was searching for something to do with them. I’ll keep this in mind for next time!
Let me know if you try it Jeff!