The Dried Lemon is a passionate culinary creation of a mother and daughter duo: Habiba Noor Mohammed and Amal Al Khaburi. Established in 2012, the Dried Lemon has stood the test of time with innovative designs and a wide range of styles. Created in luscious and appetising looks, their wide repertoire of baked goods offers an endless memorable experience for your palates.
The Dried Lemon is not just another baking venture but a delicious conglomeration that awakens all senses at once. It all began six decades ago with Habiba Noor Mohammed’s love for baking, which she passed on to her daughter.
“I used to take requests from friends who would ask me to make my dishes for their dinners and then I opened up my baby venture which was called Cinderella Sweets. This was back in the 80s. As for the Dried Lemon, this was my daughter’s baby and I helped her. Later due to her own reasons, she decided to hand it over to me,” says Habiba.
Habiba is constantly inspired by the infinite creativity available in edible art. Her sugar-crafted flowers speak for themselves with their deep beauty and craft involved. Over the decades, her soufflés, mousses, cheesecakes and entremets have endeared themselves to the hearts and taste buds of the Omani population.
“I would attribute passion, patience, commitment and dedication to my work. Amal always says I am a perfectionist,” says Habiba.
The Dried Lemon was born out of Amal’s love for Oman and its traditional cuisine.
“I inherited my creativity and passion for food from my Mom and founded @thedriedlemon in May 2012. In 2016 decided to let my mom handle it, and she has, but I guess she missed me and convinced me that I needed to come to The Dried Lemon.”
Dried Lemon began as a high-end catering service, where canapés, wedding cakes, and more became popular among Omani homes.
“As Amal’s speciality is to innovate and create new fusions of some of my recipes and her own, especially by taking in the local flavours, she started the fusion of Omani Cuisine in Oman,” says Habiba.
Amal loves experimenting with Omani fusion cooking and this interest gave her dishes a global touch.
The Omani cuisine has already been influenced by the ancient cuisines of Persia, North Africa, and India after the influx in the spice trade. The dried lemon or the Omani loomie is a major ingredient in Omani kitchens, and this lends its name to Amal’s baking wonders.
Amal’s signature dish is the Loomie Cookie made using the Omani dried lemon.
“After drying the lemons for 45 days in the hot sun, we boiled them to get the perfect flavour. It took 850 experiments to reach that perfect taste with the black lemon and our journey began!”, says Amal.
The Dried Lemon specialises in creating exclusive wedding cakes handcrafted from sugar.
Amal says, “One of our wedding cakes was 75 inches tall decorated with 39,550 sugar flowers that were laboriously handmade over six months. We have done a Chandelier cake from the ceiling, and many more. Our tallest wedding cake, which was 4 inches short of touching the ballroom ceiling, was done in the Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz Carlton Hotel.”
The exquisite cakes bear testimony to the intense artwork executed in intrinsic details.
Amal is all praise for her mom, who has been always her biggest inspiration.
“My Ma is the best in the whole universe. You see God could not be everywhere so he created Her for me. This connection between us is unlike any other. Even when we’re not exactly getting along, hey, it’s complicated, she’s my biggest fan and will and always has been there for me in a heartbeat. I love her.”
Habiba hopes to be recognised internationally as a sugar crafter and to enter international competitions, which unfortunately came to a standstill since the spread of Covid.
For Amal, her son and mom are her whole inspiration besides Oman. She pays tribute to her parent’s unending love for her that spurred her on until now.
“My parents are easily the two best people I know. I’ve been fortunate enough to grow up with a father and mother who support me in everything I do. They taught me how to love, how to fight and how to believe in myself. Had I been given another set of parents, I would not be who I am today,” she says.
