Loomi Luvin'

      My  palm reader said I'm going to hold
 something old and withered in the palm of my hand. 
Perhaps this was what she meant?!

Unless you are familiar with Persian and khaleeji cuisines, most likely, you have never seen nor heard of lumi (pronounced as "loomi").   They are preserved limes boiled in salt water and dried out in the sun until they become brittle and  reach that tan or black color.  Sometimes, they're called "black limes" or "black lemons," which is a misnomer.  

Before I go on to expound on lumi, khaleeji (Arabic for "Gulf," in reference to the Persian Gulf) collectively refers to what is known as the Gulf States or "Persian Gulf Arab States,"  which is made up of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Oman; whereas the Levant, on the other hand,  is made up of Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Israel-the Mediterranean countries of the Middle East.  The Gulf States share a common regional culture and cuisine different from the Levant.  These states  speak what is known as Gulf Arabic dialect within the Middle East or "khaleeji Arabic" as opposed to Maghrebi Arabic, a variant of Arabic spoken in North African countries,  or Levantine Arabic.  

Unfortunately,  upon repatriation to the States when I was 12 years old, somewhere along the way, I must have subconsciously abandoned my  khaleeji Arabic  (or any kind of Arabic) language skills in the powdery dusts of the quiet, desolate, soft  and fluid Kuwaiti desert in an attempt to  adjust to my then-unfamiliar birthplace of hard and unyielding, asphalt-paved, chaotic, billboard-strewn, sprawling  Los Angeles.

From a culinary standpoint, unfortunately, Middle Eastern Arab cuisine is narrowly associated with the  cuisines of the Levant or the Eastern Mediterranean area.  It's been said that there are more Lebanese people outside of Lebanon than within the country itself.  Through the Lebanese diaspora, the perception of Middle Eastern Arab cuisine has been erroneously tied almost exclusively to Lebanon's cuisine. 

Middle Eastern Arab cuisine is not Lebanese cuisine.  It is much broader than that.  There is another interesting but obscure Middle Eastern cuisine known as khaleeji cuisine.  The Persian Gulf was instrumental to the spice trade with India; which allowed the Arab traders to monopolize it from the outset.  In addition, its history as an occupied territory under the Persian Empire, followed by the Ottoman Empire that lasted until the First World War have made khaleeji cuisine an interesting confluence of Indian, Persian and Turkish cuisines.

It has been said that these dried limes originated from Oman, hence the Persians calling it "limu omani" ("Oman lime" or "lime from Oman").  In Iraq, this is known as "noomi basra" and in the rest of the Gulf States, if I remember correctly, it is known as "lumi."  Sometimes, you will see it spelled as "loomi."

Lumis are  aromatic, a bit musky, and have a slightly bitter, earthy and tangy  flavor reminiscent of Sweet Tart candy tablets.  They are pierced, crushed or pulverized to add to Persian and khaleeji stews and rice dishes.  The entire lime, except for the seeds, is edible once it has been softened in stews.  They are also used for tea, which makes an exotic alternative to iced tea. 

Admittedly, lumis  are an acquired taste for the uninitiated.  They are one of those ingredients that fall into the category of  "love-at-first-taste" or "hate-at-first-taste." 

      This is what they look like when cracked open. 

My parents call  these dried limes by their Persian name "limu omani."   When I fell ill back in May, even though I was writhing in pain, I somehow managed to remember to tell my parents to bring me a bag of lumis when they came to Manila in June to be with me for my surgeries.  My Arabic lumi and my mother's  Persian limu omani caused quite a bit of misunderstanding over the phone.  Our phone bills, on both ends, reflected that pricey misunderstanding.

Now that I have limus at my disposal and know where to find cheaper spices in Little India in Manila,  I am now at liberty to prepare and blog about (in the future)  the khaleeji dishes I have come to know and love during my childhood in Kuwait. 

If you live in the Los Angeles area, or in any place with a decent-sized Persian community, you should not have any problems obtaining  limu omani at your Persian grocer.