I have been anxiously waiting for the opening of Maison BO-M coffee shop not just because Maison BO-M is one of Riyadh’s most original boutique but also because it was launched with the help of Arwa Almohammed who happens to be the only Saudi female executive chef in the capital.

When I first spoke to Arwa on the phone, I thought she was a native American. I quickly learned that she had spent many years in the United States while her father was studying. When she returned to the Kingdom, she reluctantly studied translation but as soon as she graduated from university she flew to Dubai to live her passion for food. She enrolled in a cooking school and was taught by a French cook. Arwa is dedicated to cooking and she is planning eventually to open her own culinary academy in Riyadh.

Arwa has set up the menu of this exclusive coffee shop; it includes soups, salads, pasta, sandwiches and desserts.

The ravioli are homemade and delicious! Ravioli is an Italian dish consisting of small square envelopes of pasta dough enclosing a meat or vegetable stuffing, cooked in boiling water, and usually served with tomato sauce and grated cheese.

It is said that ravioli originally came from Liguria and were invented as a means of using up leftover food, hence their original name rabiole (bits and pieces in Genoese dialect) which later became ravioli.

Ravioli is one of the best stuffed pasta dishes famous well beyond the shores of Italy and one of the best pasta dishes to order on Maison Bo-M’s menu. You can choose between “Ravioli with a spinach and Ricotta cheese filling” served with a Roasted Tomato Sauce, a “Mushroom Ravioli” and a scrumptious “Seafood Ravioli” stuffed with Lobster, Crab, and Shrimp in a Red Pepper Cream Sauce. If you are not a ravioli aficionado, you can settle for a “Fettuccine with Chicken in a creamy Mushroom Sauce”, “Fusilli with a Pesto Sauce” or a “Beef Lasagna”.

There is a delightful selection of sandwiches including “Chicken Avocado Sandwich”, “Chicken Alfredo Sandwich”, “Chicken Parmesan Sandwich”, “Vegetarian Club”, and a “Tuna Wrap”.

Incidentally, sandwiches are named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an inveterate gambler, who acquired the habit of sending for cold meat between two slices of bread so that he would not have to leave the gambling tables to eat. Although the name is recent, dating from the 19th century, the concept is ancient. It was customary in rural France to give farm laborers working in the fields meat for their meal enclosed in two slices of brown bread.

And what a good idea to serve sweet potato fries! I tasted them for the first time several years ago in Florida at Burger 21 which has some of the tastiest and most creative burgers I have ever eaten. Incidentally yams and sweet potatoes are often confused. Sweet potatoes come in many varieties but are of two basic types: the dry fleshed, which is rather mealy and pale-yellow and the moist fleshed whose color ranges from deep-yellow to orange-red. The latter is often incorrectly called a yam. Yams probably originated in West Africa, whereas sweet potatoes, like squash, are native New World vegetables.

All of Arwa’s desserts are so appealing that I ended by ordering a mini selection which included the raspberry flavored chocolate tart, the Oreo Mousse, the chocolate fudge brownie and the Cheesecake. I loved her light-style cheesecake. It was sensuous, seductive, and yes, sublime. I am simply addicted to this ethereal dessert and its mouth filling morsel of creamy richness that explodes with flavor. Today cheesecakes can be made in countless styles and flavors and the great variety of cheeses prompts flavors sweet and savory, both light and classic, with nuts, chocolate, and fruits to please all. I am sure Arwa is already working on potential cheesecake creations with irresistible tastes to enchant every devotee at Maison BO-M Coffee Shop.

The dessert menu also includes “Crepes”. A crepe is a pancake made with a batter that is poured into a frying pan and fried on both sides. Pancakes are popular not only in France but also in other countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, the United States and Austria. In France, where I come from, particularly in Brittany, crepes are prepared throughout the year. In fact, the one culinary specialty for which Brittany is really noted is “crepes” or pancakes.

In traditional French cookery, crepes are served as a hors d’oeuvre, filled with a thick mixture based on a béchamel sauce with mushrooms, cheese or seafood. Most often, however, crepes are prepared as a dessert. In Brittany we change the batter according to the fillings: buckwheat flour is used for the savory pancakes and wheat flour is used for the dessert crepes. A sweet crepe can be served plain sprinkled with sugar or filled with chocolate, chestnut cream, fruit or honey.

Arwa’s crepes are either served with a banana and nutella filling or with a peanut butter and dark chocolate filling.

The Maison BO-M is a cool place to go in Riyadh and in more senses than one. The décor is zippy and all you see is for sale even the chair you are sitting on! Incidentally, no two chairs are alike. It is situated in Nojoud Mall. It is open every day from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

—

Email: [email protected]