#53 Iran
- Jen
- Oct 2, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 8, 2022
This post is dedicated to the women of Iran
Iran was known as Persia until 1935 when it was renamed to be more inclusive towards the country’s non-Persian minorities. Due to this historic term, food from Iran is often still referred to as Persian in much of the western world. Many of the dishes I talk about below are of Persian origin, but I am going to use the term Iranian.
When you think of Iran, your mind (well, my ignorant mind anyway), thinks Middle East and links that region to featureless desert. However, it turns out that this country, with the 17th largest footprint in the world, is wonderfully diverse. There are arid areas, yes, but Iran can also boast cold mountains where you can even ski(!), and a Mediterranean climate in the north near the Caspian Sea.
The varied climate provides opportunity for producing nuts and rice, fruits such as pomegranates, apricots and plums, vegetables and fresh herbs, and for rearing animals for meat and dairy.
Iran’s location at the centre of the Silk Road means ingredients and culinary techniques from Greece, the Levant, Russia, and much more of Europe and Asia have been integrated into its cuisine over time, resulting in multitude of flavours.
Bread
Urban areas in Iran have a bakery on every corner and people buy their bread fresh every morning. The most famous bread in Iran is nan barbari, a yeast leavened flatbread with poppy and sesame seeds. It has a crispy crust and soft interior and is perfect for breakfast with feta, honey, butter, nuts or jam. Jam in Iran, like in Kyrgyzstan, is a big deal. Families make their own jam and there are many different flavours, including carrot jam, barberry jam, strawberry jam and rose petal jam.
Rice
Rice, or polo, is an important staple and is rarely not included at dinnertime. Rice is fluffy rather than sticky and can be served plain or infused with saffron, spices or rose water, depending on what it will be served with.
Polo ba tahdig seems to be an almost mandatory requirement of a mealtime and is a pot of fluffy, fragrant rice with a crispy golden crust formed from a layer of flatbread at the bottom of the pot. Tahdig, literally means ‘bottom of the pot’, and this crunchy caramelised layer, just like the socarrat in a Spanish paella is an absolute treat.
Sometimes rice is formed into a cake with layers of meat and vegetables inside, when it is known as tahchin, or prepared pilau-style.
Herbs
We typically use fresh herbs sparingly, if at all in meal preparation, but in Iran, fresh herbs are more than a garnish; they’re treated like vegetables and are a significant ingredient in most dishes, or even the star of a dish in their own right in kuku sabzi, a frittata laced with loads of finely chopped fresh herbs.
It’s common to serve a starter of flatbread with a plate of herbs like mint, tarragon, basil or coriander, and feta-like cheese drenched in spiced oil, spring onions, radishes and walnuts. This is often left on the table throughout the whole meal.
Khoresh-e-fesenjoon
Stew, or khoresh, is a typical sort of dish in Iran. Mutton or lamb is the most common meat, but vegetable stews like aubergine and tomato are also popular.
Evidence of khoresh-e-fesenjoon has been found inscribed in tablets dating back over two thousand years. This ancient chicken stew from the northern part of the country comprises a beautifully sweet, sour and silky sauce of walnuts and pomegranate is often served at special occasions.
Well, having the girls over for dinner is a special enough occasion for khoresh-e-fesenjoon!
This was so easy to make. After a few steps of simple prep of preparing a sauce of blended toasted walnuts, pomegranate juice and molasses, you just leave it on a low heat for a couple of hours while you crack on with side dishes or entertaining your guests. 45 minutes before serving, add already browned chicken thighs and sugar if required. Job done.
This was one of those wonderful Cook The World moments where you taste something completely brand new to you. The chicken fell right off the bone and the sauce was delightfully thick, perfectly balanced between sweet and sour with both a delicate fragrance and umami. I can now see why this dish has stood the test of 2,000 years of time.
The only downside to khoresh-e-fesenjoon is that it’s not particularly photogenic, especially next to the bowl of colourful jewelled rice I made to go with it. This was also really yummy. To prepare:
- Soak saffron threads in water
- Saute onions in butter infused with cumin seeds, cinnamon and allspice
- Add basmati rice, saffron water, slivers of lemon peel and enough water to cook
- Mix in fruit and nuts – dried apricots, orange peel, slivered almonds, pistachios
- When it’s cooked, fluff up and scatter with pomegranate kernels.
I served the stew and rice with salad-e shirazi and mast-o khiar.
Salad-e shirazi is a simple, yet bursting with flavour, chopped salad of cucumber, red onion, fresh herbs, dried mint, tomatoes and lime juice. This, and mast-o khiar are sides that accompany most mains in Iran. Mast-o khiar is Iran’s answer to tzatziki, but better; way better. Take a creamy, tangy Greek yoghurt base and stir in garlic, sweet, plump raisins, crunchy chopped walnuts, and fresh herbs which make their presence known from the moment you put it in your mouth (I used coriander, parsley and dill but you could use any leafy herbs). I could happily take a spoon and eat this on its own.
We dined al fresco during the August heatwave and it was dreamy.
There isn’t far to travel to get to our next culinary destination: KUWAIT.
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