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SHILASHIL

THE BAKERY THAT BECAME A CAFÉ

featuring the work of HANS UWE MUELLERS

“Hans and his wife Rahma have lots of stories
to tell, ranging from the ostrich farm
they set up in France to the Omani stones
they dipped in perfume�/span>

SAY CHEESE

The rise and fall of the cheesecake “The thing about cheesecakes,�says Hans, sticking a very thick finger at a perfect, unblemished crust, “is that they rise and fall. The whipped-up egg white gives off gas in the oven, and the cake expands at first, only to settle down in the end to its original height. “If I don’t make a fine cut along the edge at the top it will burst its seam.�

Such detail and experience come complimentary at Shilashil Café, the most recent chapter in a story that reaches back to the first large-scale bakeries set up in Oman in the Seventies. And the man who set them up �the al Bustan bakery, Modern Oman Bakery, Muscat Bakery �is Hans Uwe Muellers. Now, more than three decades later, you can taste his excellent cheesecakes at Shilashil.

And so, while a thin, 45-degree wind was whipping around the parking lot outside behind the façade of glass that Shilashil sports, we dug a fork through the cheesecake: through the browned millimetres of crust, down the thick, forgiving mass of cheese and whipped egg, and down to the base of baked sweet paste.

The hero, of course, is the main body, softest at the corner that was once part of the centre of an uncut cake. The cheese and egg mixture is slightly textured, soft yet somehow assertive. Over this comes splashed the crowd-pullers: apricot if you want, apples perhaps. But you always will return to the cheesecake itself, with its delicate taste held in place between baked exteriors.

Hans insists on making everything himself, starting with the cheese, which takes a couple of days to prepare. Egg white is whipped up into a frenzy and then slowly stirred into the cheese, slowly because you would lose all the air bubbles trapped when it was whipped initially if you do it too fast.

A blast of 200 degrees over the first 50 minutes bakes the outside into a crust, sealing the insides, and, mission partly accomplished, the temperature is dialled down to 150 degrees. This is also when Hans will move in, slicing the top edge to keep the cake from bursting. Higher temperatures mean thicker crusts and more colour, and one can control both in the oven.

But cheesecakes aren’t the only reasons to come here. Don’t miss the cherry cake, devastatingly rich in comparison to the austerity of the classic cheesecake. With gooey insides of custard and cherries, its walls have more spices than Hans can count, and tastes a bit like gingerbread.

The mousse is to die for, with Swiss chocolate and whipped cream melting in the mouth, and other attractions include the bread that Hans has been perfecting over a lifetime.

TIME

Twists in the tale

Hans arrived in Oman in 1976 to set up the bakery at the InterContinental. One project led to the other, and he was on a roll, setting up bakeries left, right and centre: the Modern Oman Bakery in 1978, Al Bustan Bakery in 1981 and the Al Mina Bakery in 1994.

By the mid-Nineties he was also experimenting with flour mixed with date fibre, and had, by then, perfected his rye bread, with up to 90 per cent of rye flour. Other offshoots included dark bread made with malt, and seeds of pumpkins, melons and sunflowers sprinkled over. Each process involved another, even the melon seeds. They were sourced from India but sent to Germany to be treated against micro-bacteria, and then imported into Oman. Making bread isn’t as simple as it sounds, and starts off with three years of education in Germany, followed by two for a master’s degree. And, as Hans says, “A pastry chef doesn’t know how to bake bread, but bakers know pastry.�

Out of this flurry of flour has emerged other twists. Hans and his wife Rahma have lots of stories to tell, ranging from the ostrich farm they set up in France (the laws were more conducive there than in Germany) to the turkey farm in Oman in 1995. Ostriches, they say, are great, because their meat has no cholesterol, the skin over the claw makes great attaché cases and the feathers �well, they can be used for dusting. Other ventures have included digging up stones in Oman and fashioning them into beads, and stringing them into necklaces. Not to mention dipping the stones into perfume, a formula that keeps the rocks smelling good for up to decades. From such exotic projects came the term ‘shilashil,�which in Arabic describes something small and hanging.

DIRECTIONS

To the bakery and the café

You will hear all these stories, and more, at the Shilashil Café in Ghubrah, and the Shilashil Bakery at Bausher.

The café is open 7am�0pm, starts with breakfast and offers light meals revolving around salads, sandwiches, cakes, bread and coffee through the day. Meals are expected to cost around a couple of rials, and you can also look forward to waffles, pancakes, eggs and fresh juices, in addition to everything you might expect from a bakery: baguettes, rolls, rye and brown bread, croissants, Danish pastries and, of course, cheesecakes.

You will find the café nestling on the ground floor of the Star Hotel Apartments building, located behind the Midan Hotel Suites in Ghubrah near The Chedi Muscat. If coming down 18th November Street from al Khuwayr and heading towards The Chedi, turn left at the little roundabout just before the hotel and then take the first proper road to the right, at the offices of City Taxi. The building just after is Midan, with its Casa de Café looking out onto the road. Go straight past it and turn left just after. On your right is Star Hotel Apartments, with Shilashil on its left-hand corner. The café can be accessed through the hotel lobby, and shares the same phone number: 24 498008.

Shilashil can also be accessed from the highway, of course: turn off towards The Chedi at the Ghubrah/Lulu roundabout, and take the last left before the roundabout signal, then the first right. Shilashil will be on your left just before the road turns.
Shilashil Bakery is in the Muscat Oasis complex at Bausher. Call Hans at 96330770 for more information.