I thought you may enjoy a delicious gallery of images of some traditional Persian New Year sweets (shirini) that my friend Afrooz had on hand at her home for Norooz- plated in various wares – and ready to sweeten the palate of visitors and guests.

This first sweet — a pop in your mouth treat with an excellent crumbly and melty texture — are called noon’eh nokhoodchi (chickpea cookies.) This batch were handmade by my friend’s friend. Quite impressive.

These are apple baghlavas. Bite sized, not too sweet, great texture, and simply delicious. These were handmade as well – by my friend’s colleague.

These are the marzipan mulberry sweets known as tut – purchased from an old and charming confectionery.

I’m not sure what these cookies are called but they were also handmade by my friend’s friend (what a good friend!)

These are called noon ‘eh gerdoyee (walnut cookies.) They are crispy and crunchy. Really nice with tea.

These are called noon’eh berenji (rice cookies.) They have a dry crumbly texture with a rather bland taste and I admit they are my least favorite cookies.

These sweets, topped with pistachio powder, are called Bereshtook. They are mildly sweet with a soft, melt in your mouth texture reminiscent of halva.

And let’s end with these delicious candied orange peels. I’ve heard of a confectionery that makes a very good chocolate-dipped versions of these. I now consider it a mission to cross the threshold of that shop and either verity or denounce this rumor!

So! That’s it for now but I plan to follow up with a very special Persian shirini part II by the next post. Until then, have a sweet day!

For part II of the traditional Persian Norooz sweets, I present you with a select but delightful array of goodies that were on display and offered to guests at the home of my friend Sara. All of these sweets were handmade by Sara’s talented sisters in law.

These first batch of cookies may be my most poetic gastronomic discovery yet as I valiantly eat my way through Iran. They are called mojde ‘ye bahar – or literally: "spring’s good news." And they really are good news. Crunchy, fragrant, with just the perfect hint of sweetness. Sara tells me that to make these, her sisters in law store blanched almonds and hyacinth flowers together — all the way from June and until just weeks before Norooz — so that the almonds absorb the fragrance of the hyacinths. They then use these almonds to make these pretty little crispy and sweet smelling puffs that are meant to resemble little blossoms. A truly wonderful treat.

These are called sohan – a type of sweet that is crispy, crunchy and toothsome.

These are bereshtook - a type of sweet that is soft and mildly sweet, with a melt in your mouth texture that is reminiscent of halva. (The beautiful needlepoint in the background is made by and courtesy of Sara.)

And let’s conclude with these beautiful noon ‘eh berenji cookies that are embellished with flower patterns and "mobarak b’ad" inscriptions.

And with that, I bid you a truly fond farewell and a happy weekend all the way from Tehran.

This is a guest post scheduled to publish while I travel in Iran. Courtesy of the lovely Maria Dernikos! You do remember Maria’s gorgeous koloocheh recipe, right? (If not, you’ve got to check it out.) Kefteds, the featured food, is similar to the Persian version which we call koofteh. A delicious, comforting, and universally beloved type of food. In addition to the recipe, there’s a harrowing tale of a trip, one that I remember reading while on the figurative edge of my seat. Read on and you’ll see for yourself! 

♥

Kefteds  - Guest post by Maria Dernikos  (Post originally published here.)

Keftedes (pronounced keftethes) are Greek meatballs eaten hot or cold.  There is something special about them, they are incredibly moreish and I think every Greek household must have their own version of the recipe.  I use lamb mince but there is nothing to say you cannot use pork, beef, veal or a combination.   In summer I eat them cold with tzatziki and a salad and in winter I eat them warm with fava.  The recipe is versatile in that you add more bread to increase volume, or add different herbs.

The summer I learnt to make Keftethes was the summer I travelled to Athens by  Magic Bus.  My friend Karen and I had talked for weeks about going to Greece overland and spending the summer lying in the sun. We scoured the back of Time-Out for cheap tickets.  One advert caught our attention ‘The Magic Bus’ – return ticket London/Athens/London £55. Tickets were only issued on a cash basis and in person, the offices of The Magic Bus were above a shop in Shaftesbury Ave and pretty shabby.  We were both nervous in handing over our hard earned cash for a non-refundable coach ticket but the thought of a summer of love was greater.  Our fate was sealed.  Hello summer of expectation.

My parents drove us up to Victoria bus station where we boarded the packed coach.  My protective father interviewed the two Greek drivers who had little to no English, the cross examination went well until they asked him if he knew the way out of London.  I could feel the chill of an ill wind whistle pass my seat.

The promised three and a half day trip turned into ten days of hell.  The coach was old, and tatty.  It was packed to the brim with people and luggage. There was very little legroom and had we known that we would have to sleep sitting up in our seats for the next ten days we would have got off at Victoria. We were lucky in that the nasty infection which spread through the coach was limited to the foot, which was so nasty the chap sitting behind us ended up in a Greek hospital.

Our drivers were hell bent on driving at break neck speed with as few stops as possible, they had a mission and the rest of us were not in on it.   As we approached Mont Blanc the driver’s behaviour became very excited and as we weaved up the mountain we could see what was an earlier Magic Bus.  To celebrate their reunion, they took it in turns to over take each other, whilst opening and closing the door shouting and waving.  As the coach climbed higher the stunts became more dangerous with the other coach’s spare driver managing to hang out of the door whilst trying to drink a glass of white wine. I think if I hadn’t been so tired, hungry and bashed about I would have been frighten senseless.  I sat there rooted to my seat glancing out of the window at the massive drop and wishing I was somewhere else.  I had gone off the idea of love.

Shortly after this we had several long delays, which pushed our drivers to the brink of meltdown.  One of their ideas was to cut the length of time for our food and toilet stops to a minimum.  We as a group tried to revolt and refused to be rushed in returning to the coach.  Two of us passengers learnt a hard lesson that we were not in that strong a position, because the coach left without them.  No amount of shouting and abuse at the drivers by us stopped the coach.  We never saw them again.

From then on in the journey was just pure hell.  Two days stuck at the Yugoslavian borders and a lot of backtracking due to the drivers being completely lost.  When we did finally arrive in Athens all I can remember is that I was tired and filthy and longed for home.

It took about 24 hours before we bounced back.  I spent the rest of the  summer staying with Patroklos in Athens.  Kyria Cisci, Patroklos’ mother lived in the flat below and was keen to take me under her wing.   During the day when Patroklos was at work Kyria Cisci would  show me how to iron a man’s shirt and how to cook.

One of the recipes she showed me and has stayed with me is keftedes.  I think it was because she told me her secret ingredient, which was a little bit of Ouzo added to the mince mixture.  I felt very honored to have been let into her secret.   I would sit in her kitchen early in the morning (to avoid the mid day heat) and take notes as she went about creating her recipes.  I might not have found love that summer but I certainly was prepared if I did!

500g lamb mince

1 egg

1 onion chopped very finely and cooked to transparent stage in a pan with a little butter.

2 slices day old white bread with the crusts cut off.  You can use more if you want the meatballs to go further

A little milk for the bread.

Mint – fresh or dried

Oregano – fresh or dried

Salt and pepper

A little Ouzo (optional)

Oil for frying – I use olive but use the oil you like the taste of.

Flour for dusting the meatballs.

1. Chop the onion finely and put into a pan with a little butter and leave on a low heat until they are transparent and soft.
2. Take the crusts off the bread and submerge the crustless bread in milk and then gently squeeze, you don’t want to make the bread into a pulpy ball but something that will break up easily – if you prefer you can use water instead of the milk.
3. Put the bread, egg, meat, herbs, softened onion, salt and pepper into a food processor and give it a good whizz.  Lift the lid and make sure it is all well mixed.  You can also do this process by hand – the difference is the mince is not as fine.  For the best results I put the mixture in the fridge for half an hour for it to rest and for the ingredients to cool down and firm up which will make rolling them into balls much easier.
4. Remove from fridge. Take about a tablespoon and a bit of the meat mixture and roll between your hands to create a ball the size of a walnut, drop this ball into the flour and coat.  Set aside.  Carry on until all the meat has been turned into floured balls.  Heat your oil until its hot enough, if you drop a small crumb of bread in and it starts to sizzle its ready.  Start placing the balls into the oil, flattening them a little with the back of a spoon.  Cook on both sides.  The aim is that the meat is cooked throughout not pink.

The size of the keftedes is up to you.  They can be made the size of walnuts, or smaller if you want to use them as an appetiser or much larger if you are in a hurry but you need to watch that they are cooked through.

Eat it. Enjoy it. And as they say in Greece:  καλή όρεξη – Kali orexi!

Thank you dearest Maria jan for your wonderful support and another lovely guest post!

And you guys, don’t forget to keep in touch with me while I’m away via Facebook and Twitter. or Instagram. Miss you and I’m waiving hello – while I eat my fill of fresh mulberries and sour cherries – all the way from Iran!

Hi all!

I’ve now been traipsing in and around Tehran for precisely a month. During this sojourn in the city of my birth and childhood, I have taken a ridiculous number of photos and videos. Click, click, click. Mostly of sights and of others, but this post is devoted to "me, myself and I" in Tehran – a gallery of selfies and snapshots of yours truly. Thus, I present to you a very selfish tour of Tehran.

This is me minutes after leaving the customs at the airport in Tehran. I’d often imagined I’d weep uncontrollably once I set foot on the soil of Iran but in reality I was too excited and exhausted to be verklempt.

This is a reflected selfie from one of the MANY snaps I took of the various Haft Seen spreads in the storefront windows during Norooz.

This was taken at a really nice exhibit of abstract paintings by contemporary Iranian artists. Minutes later after this picture was taken I accidentally broke a huge vase which mercifully turned out not to be an ancient priceless artifact! The exhibit attendant paused before finally declaring: "fadayeh saretoon." Which essentially translated to me getting a free pass. How nice of them and what a relief!

This is moi posing in front of the statue of Arash ‘eh Kamangir (Arash the Archer) in the Sa’ad Abad Palace in Niavaran, Tehran.

This is me wearing my Nike cap and headscarf get-up and snapping away in the small local supermarket.

The is me the first time I went underground in Tehran in the Amirabad subway station. The subway stations in Tehran are very modern and somewhat spectacularly ornate.

This is me and my cousin flanked by Qajar guards in the courtyard of Golestan Palace. A magnificent place.

This is a blurry shot of me and a good friend in a super cute cafe where we enjoyed some amazing beverages. I shall tell you later MUCH about these beverages.

Here’s my reflection and the logo of a long-established and beloved bookstore and publishing house.

And finally, this is moi sporting a sheepish grin in an upscale pastry shop in the Ellahieh neighborhood of Tehran where we bought some decadent cream puffs.

Till soon! And sorry for not keeping in better touch but the Internet and social media access is … a can of worms better left unopened.

A Dreamy Apple Crumble with pistachio and rosewater by Margot (Gather & Graze)

Hi everyone! When planning for my excellent adventures in Iran, I reached out to Margot to reprint some of her recipes. She generously insisted however on writing a Persian inspired recipe specifically for Fig & Quince. I feel lucky and privileged to have made such a caring and wonderful friend. Margot’s shiny personality gleams and glints and sparkles in all of her posts on her beautiful blog. Gather and Graze may be less than a year old, but it is already a treasure trove of reliably good recipes that are carefully and beautifully presented. Margot prepares food with love and it shows. Take this recipe for example, a dreamy concoction made with Australian apples, pistachios, rosewater and cardamom. Sigh! Go and visit Gather and Graze. It’ll make you hungry but it will also feed your eyes and soul. Then come back and read about this beautiful recipe.

♥

Persianized Apple Crumble with a Rosewater Cream | Original Guest post by Margot

My friend Azita is traveling overseas over the next couple of months… to her beloved homeland of Iran that she hasn’t seen in 35 years. Her excitement and anticipation for this journey is well and truly infectious! Not long ago, she approached a number of her blogging friends to help out with providing a ‘guest post’, so that Fig and Quince may continue to run smoothly during her time away. I was completely humbled (and surprised… and excited…) to be invited me to do this… Gather and Graze is still less than a year old and most of the time I still feel like the new kid on the block… winging it as best I can. (Editor’s note: doing a wonderful job! Wishing you huge success!) The one request she had, was that my dish, if at all possible, should have a Persian-slant to it.

pistachios, barberries & ground cardamom | sigh!

So, this is for you dear Azita…

Beautiful (new season) Australian apples have been infused and enhanced with the exotic delights of cardamom, pistachio, barberries and rosewater to create a Persianised Crumble that (may not rival the foodie delights of Tehran and surrounds, but…) will at least touch upon some of the flavours that make Persian cuisine so delicious and unique.

(Persianised) Apple Crumble with a Rosewater Cream

•    50g Roasted Unsalted Pistachios (chopped fairly finely)
•    150g/1 Cup Plain Flour
•    75g/ 1/3 Cup Raw (or Brown) Sugar
•    Pinch of Sea Salt
•    90g Chilled Unsalted Butter (separated into 75g and 15g)
•    4-5 Apples (peeled, cored and chopped into chunks)
•    10g/3 Tablespoons Dried Barberries
•    2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
•    1 Teaspoon Ground Cardamom
•    250ml/1 Cup Heavy Cream
•    1½ Teaspoons Rosewater Essence
•    1 Tablespoon Icing (Powdered) Sugar (sifted)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
   Start by making the crumble topping… Place the pistachios, flour, raw sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the 75g portion of butter (that has been diced into small cubes) and rub into the flour mixture using fingertips.
2. For the apples… place a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the 15g portion of butter. Once it has melted, add the apples, barberries, brown sugar and cardamom and allow to cook for 4 to 5 minutes (just enough time for the apples to soften slightly and for the barberries to rehydrate a little).
   Divide the apple mixture evenly into either individual baking dishes/ramekins or one larger-sized baking dish).
3. Spread the crumble mixture evenly over the top of the apple. Place the dish(es) into the oven and bake for approximately 25 to 30 minutes until golden on top.Allow to cool a little, before serving warm with rosewater cream (simply whip together the cream, rosewater essence and icing sugar until you have medium/stiff peaks) and/or ice-cream.
4. A Little Tip…
   Another delicious alternative is to mix together some vanilla ice cream with rosewater essence (about 1 teaspoon rosewater to 200g of ice cream). If the ice cream softens too much during the mixing, place it back into the freezer for half an hour or so, to harden a little. This was absolutely perfect with the apple crumble – I can well and truly recommend it!

♥

Thank you Margot joon for graciously allowing me to post one of your beautiful recipes!

And you guys, don’t forget to keep in touch with me while I’m away via Facebook and Twitter. or Instagram. Miss you and I’m waiving hello – as I picnic near a stream under a weeping willow tree – all the way from Iran!     

​
Hi everyone! I just returned from visiting the fabled and beautiful city of Isfahan and in a day or so I’m off traveling to a few other cities in Iran. Blogging time is scarce so I hope you’ll let me get away with sharing these random pix selected for your viewing pleasure.

To begin with, this is a tabletop shot of one delicious cream puff and one delectable cream roll that my cousin and I were patiently nursing at a pastry slash coffee shop while waiting for our beverages (hot pot of tea with milk for me, a cappucino for her.) The were copies of the poetry of Hafiz on every table in the cafe which I found to be a charming touch. Iranians are fond of consulting the poetry of Hafiz as a divination fortune-telling method of sorts (not exactly like the iChing but very remotely kind of sort of like that and more precise details on the exact method later) to make decisions. Our copy of Hafiz is open at the page that revealed the poetic and rather obtuse answer to my query. Thank you Hafiz. Rohet shad!

This is a shot of a street signage I liked that reads "Iran" and it was only later that I was informed it is one of the offices of "Iran" — a daily newspaper published in Tehran.

Color me surprised by this music CD cover. The artist is Benyamin and that is his daughter. I haven’t listened to the actual music yet.

This is another CD Cover. The text reads: Neither an angle, nor a devil. (By Homayoun Shajarian and Tahmours PorNazeri.)

This is the exterior of a restaurant called "darchin" which means cinnamon. I didn’t eat here but (needless to say) I could not possibly ignore the colorful opportunity of snapping a shot when passing by it (on Nahid Street just off of Vali Asr Avenue in Tehran.)

This is a stash of amazing picture stories – written and illustrated by Iranian writers, poets, and artists – that I found in a delightful bookstore. The bookstore itself tucked in a corner of the picturesque and entirely pleasant public garden.

This is a closeup shot of the hands of a cousin of mine on one of our jaunts as she expertly drove me around the crazy traffic of Tehran. How these drivers do it I know not. Let’s put it this way: even the most daredevil NY cab driver will have to do a few hail Mary’s and take a very deep breath before entering the fray.

Skewered meet waiting to be Kabab’d. (Qom, Iran.)

Is it possible to have dogs in Iran? The answer, like many other things here, is a resounding and contradictory: yes and no! More on that later! And on this LOL note, I’ll bid you a fond farewell as I hurry to make it to a festive lunch and then a couple of gallery openings. What a tough life!

Apologies for not keeping in better touch but I have mentioned the Internet thing and as Confucius said: It is what it is.

I hope to do another food centric "Iran Greetings" post next and meanwhile: miss you all and have a lovely weekend!!

Tofu Domino Effect!

Tofu – Persian Style! with pistachios and raisins

This fun guest post is a Persianized version of a Mark Bittman tofu dish recipe. Persianized by Dan Silverstein, that is, an artist friend of mine who is gregarious, quirky, a man of action, and a landscape designer and gardener par excellence. Dan studied landscape design at The New York Botanical Garden and completed the horticulture program at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. If you’re in Brooklyn or Manhattan and need a landscape artist, Dan is your man. See, it even rhymes. And If you would like a Persianized tofu dish, well, Dan is, once again, your man. Without further ado, let’s read the recipe in Dan’s own words.

Persian Style Tofu Dish by Dan

Hi everyone! This is my favorite quick tofu dish. It’s a Mark Bittman recipe that I’ve “Persianized” by adding raisins and pistachios.

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce or soy sauce
2 large onions thinly sliced
1 lb firm tofu
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 cup raisins
2/3 cup pistachios
Ground pepper to taste

Dan wears goggles when chopping onions! :)

1. Slice up one container of firm tofu into cubes and set aside
2. Slice up two onions and set aside. Swim goggles are a great way to keep the tears away. It also gets a few laughs when you have guests over.
3.  Add 2 tablespoons of water and 1/3 cup sugar to a non-stick pan. Heat up (medium heat) for a minute or two, mix around and allow to bubble. If you’re lucky the mixture will turn a light golden brown as per Bittman’s recipe.
4.  Add the fish or soy sauce (I have always made this dish with fish sauce but with raisins and pistachios it will taste better if made with soy sauce) to the mixture and stir it around for about ten seconds. Turn heat low and add the onions and pepper.
5.  Sautee the onions for about ten minutes until nice and soft. Then add the tofu and simmer for about ten minutes, turning tofu a few times so that it becomes glazed and heated through.
6.  Stir in butter and lime juice. Add raisins and pistachios.
7.  At this point there should be some juices left in the pan. If not, add 1/4 cup and mix well.
8. Taste. Add more pepper or lime juice if you like.

Dan’s Notes:

The important thing is to make sure that when all is cooked and the liquid bits have cooked down there needs to be some saucy liquid left so that the rice can become infused with the flavors. Adding the raisins and pistachios increased the need for a bit more liquid than originally called for. Tasting during the process is important so that the dish isn’t too salty.

Persian style tofu is served! Eat immediately!

Serve over rice and eat immediately!

Thank you Dan for a quick, healthy and fun recipe! May you continue to beautify New York City one garden at a time.

.

.

.And you guys, don’t forget to keep in touch with me while I’m away via Facebook and Twitter. or Instagram. Miss you and I’m waiving hello as I drink a delicious sharbat ‘e albaloo all the way from Iran!

One night, a few weeks ago, my friends and I ended up eating dinner at a hopping (not fancy but well-known and well-loved) self-service restaurant. Picture a huge salon with a seemingly endless aromatic array of all types of Persian food (you name it) which could be had simply by pointing – a dazzling and dizzying and enticing spectacle for sure but I nevertheless managed to keep my wits about me and remained mindful of taking a few pix for posterity.

This particular gentleman, the head chef, was (as you can see) quite agreeable regarding having his picture taken.

But this other assistant chef/server is giving me a scorching look like nobody’s business. Although, if I squint, I find his expression oddly enigmatic. A Persian Mona Lisa!

Now a note of warning: if you ever make it to Tehran, do not go to this restaurant when you are very hungry. Because you will inevitably pile your tray with a tremendous amount of food.

But they all look so delicious! Must. Eat. Everything!

And pile up the food we did! There were only 3 of us for dinner but we got enough food to feed a good number more.

And because I know you want to know, I am duty bound to tell you what’s what in each tray.

Top left tray contained the following goodies: mixed veggies; torshi (Persian pickles); fava bean rice (baghali polo) with lamb shank (mahicheh); and a can of an obscure beverage called Coca Cola.

Top right tray contained: ash reshteh, a big salad; yogurt with raisins, cucumber and walnuts; and an entree made with tongue (khorakeh zaban.)

​As for this bottom tray, it belonged to a greedy but very happy person, and I will let you guess who that person may have been.

Let’s identify the delicious edibles clockwise from the top: a bowl of spinach and yogurt; a beautiful cherry rice with the thickest most wonderful tadig you could possibly want; a tray with a combo of jojeh kabab (grilled chickent) and kabab ‘e barg (lamb kabab); and for good measure — lest this greedy person might not be entirely sated afterall — also a bowl of delicious kashk bademjoon (eggplant and whey dish) topped with fried, dried mint.

It all looked good and all of it tasted from delicious to very delicious, save for the jojeh and lamb kabab, which were lackluster, alas, and ended up as fare for the cute and coddled family pet.

And that, my friends, was just one night and one meal.

I have not even begun to tell you about the marvels of the various types of Iranian bread. Like this "barbarri" bread.

But that is a topic worthy of its own post, so on that mouth-watering note, I take my leave. And because someone (hi Tina!) asked in the comments of an earlier post (which I’m sorry but I really can’t respond to the comments for various reasons): I DO still fit in my clothes. It is a true Persian miracle!

Till soon!

xoxo

​

A beautiful freekeh, celery, pomegranate & walnut salad by Tortore

 Hi everyone! As part of the continuing series of guest posts scheduled while I’m off on my excellent adventures in Iran, this post is by the lovely Tortore, aka Darya, is a most fascinating and versatile blogger. As if food blogging is not hard enough (hello, writing recipes, quelle paine) she writes her posts in both French and English. Darya’s studies have taken her on travels to Syria and Iraq and she often shares very interesting recipes either hailing from or inspired by the cuisine of these regions but she also shares Russian, Italian, American, French and Asian cuisine as well. Darya’s blog is beautiful and clearly a labor of love of passion and one that you will make a habit of frequenting once you visit. Now let’s go devour this refreshing and pretty salad recipe!

♥

Freekah, celery, and pomegranate salade | By Tortore (originally published here)

http://tortore.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/trop-de-celeri-que-faire-1-salade-de-frikkeh-celeri-et-grenade

The first weekend of September, I helped my friends out in their kitchen, peeling onions, chopping celery, frying fries, and cooking mussels for the Lille Braderie (the biggest “garage-sale-street-fair-mussel-eating-and-beer-drinking-event” in Europe). In the midst of a celery-chopping session, two of my friends asked me what one could use celery for… apart from Moules Marinières. At that moment, the only thing I could think of was Waldorf Salad (yum), but I thought it would be nice to come up with some other ideas as well.

When I went to fetch my local vegetables yesterday evening, I discovered that the “bunch of celery” which I had ordered was so huge that it was almost scary. I don’t usually use more than a stick or two of celery for my recipes, and I was a bit lost at the idea of having to use up that entire bunch. It didn’t even fit in the refrigerator. I had to stick the root into a huge pot of water, and hope the celery would still be fresh and crunchy the next day. And it was! Now that I have used some of it, I could do what I usually do when getting celery: I removed the leaves, washed, dried, and froze them for soups; and I wrapped the stems in foil, and placed them in the refrigerator. Celery doesn’t keep for very long before going limp, but I hope I can share some other recipes with you in a near future. I decided it was high time to give another thought to that question my friends had asked me back in September, and I hope they (and you) will enjoy what I have come up with.

After going through some cookbooks and websites, I decided I would begin with a salad. Not the usual tuna salad or egg salad (though I think I will make an egg salad at some point soon), but a light and fresh salad. I have already mentioned that I enjoy making one-course meals using a whole-grain, as they are quick, tasty, healthful, are usually not very time consuming, and can be made ahead of time.  This salad is one of those. Today, I chose to use freekeh, which is wheat, harvested when still green, and roasted; I love it’s slightly smoky taste, firm texture, and the fact that it reminds me of Syria (where we used to eat it plain, drizzled with some clarified butter, or mixed with small pieces of leftover mutton). You could use farro, spelt, wheatberries, oat groats, rye, or any other firm grain you like. I should perhaps advise you against using barley, rice, and buckwheat here (trust me: barley will yield a mushy mess, rice will taste a bit bland here, and the taste of buckwheat is just too strong for this salad). While the grain is cooking, I washed, chopped, minced, and whisked. The cooked grain is then mixed with the seasoning, and allowed to cool. And that’s it! This salad is both fresh and crunchy, slightly tangy, and filling; it was unanimously appreciated in my home, so I hope you will want to try it in yours some day!

(serves 2 as a main dish, or 4 if you serve it as part of a mezze-dinner). This recipe was inspired by Y. Ottolenghi’s Barley and celery salad (from Plenty), his Roasted cauliflower salad recipe (in Jerusalem), and a recipe from 101 Cookbooks.

- 125 gr (4.4 oz) freekeh
- 250 gr. (1/2 lb) fresh celery, with leaves
- A large handful of flatleaf parsley, washed, dried, and finely minced
- 5-6 bushy sprigs of dill (or more), washed, dried, and finely minced
- About 50 gr. (1.7 oz) walnuts, roughly chopped
- Arils of about 1/2-3/4 of a pomegranate

Dressing
- 1 very small garlic clove, peeled, germ removed, and finely minced
- A pinch of ground allspice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 2 to 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes (or Espelette), optional
- A drizzle of lemon juice (optional: for lovers of all things tangy)

- Place the freekeh in a medium pot, and cover with cold water by at least 5 cm (about 2 inches). Bring the water to a boil, add salt, then lower the heat to a simmer, and cook the freekeh until done, but still slightly chewy. [I would advise you to follow the instructions on the packet, but mine claimed the freekeh would be done after 15 minutes, when it really took a good 30 minutes before it was anywhere near being done; you had better taste as it cooks].

- Prepare the dressing: in the bowl you are planning to serve the salad in, place the minced garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper, as well as a pinch of allspice. Add the pomegranate molasses, olive oil, and lemon juice (if using). Whisk together, and set aside.

- While the freekeh is cooking, wash and dry the celery, and herbs. Seed the pomegranate. Coarsely chop the walnuts. Remove the leaves from the celery, reserving a small handful leaves (chop them finely). Chop the parsley and dill finely as well. Slice the celery into 3 mm (1/8 inch) pieces. [You could do all the chopping later, while the freekeh is cooling].

- As soon as the freekeh is one, drain, and immediately add to the salad bowl (it should still be hot, so as to absorb all the flavors or the dressing). Add the celery. Mix, and taste for seasoing. Then let the salad cool to room temperature. When ready to serve, add the chopped herbs and celery leaves, pomegranate, and last of all, walnuts*. Sprinkle with a little red pepper flakes if you wish.

- Serve at room temperature, or cold.

* Note: the walnuts are only added at the last moment, so if you are making this salad ahead of time, or have made enough for several meals, only add the walnuts to each serving. That way they won’t soften or become bitter.

Bon appétit!

♥

Thank you Darya joon for graciously allowing me to post one of your beautiful recipes!

And you guys, don’t forget to keep in touch with me while I’m away via Facebook and Twitter. or Instagram. Miss you and I’m waiving hello all the way from Iran!

This is a post written while I travel in Iran.

The other day, Rana, a lovely friend (who is also family) took me out for a day of sightseeing and a casual yet truly sublime lunch in a cafe in one of the northern neighborhoods of Tehran.

​Here is Rana conferring with our nice waiter.

Days earlier while I was traveling in Yazd there had been an epic hailstorm in Tehran — a storm front that huffed and puffed and hours later made its potent presence felt in Yazd as well, ferociously shaking the lion and sun fabric of the tent ceiling of the coffee shop at the beautiful traditional hotel we were staying at, and delaying our flight from Yazd to Tehran — but on this particular spring day, the weather was just so and just as one dreams of it being: breezy, clear, cheerfully sunny and perfectly mild.

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So we chose an outdoor seat, in a clearing lined by cypress tress on one side and surrounded by other tables occupied by what seemed to be a bunch of uniformly very pretty and very trendy Tehranis. Several arrivals were such spectacles that everyone stopped whatever they were doing and stared at the display of fashion and bravado … (if you know what I mean by bravado, ahem.) There was also a very beautiful and somewhat unabashedly communicative cat (such pretty eyes and such a fluffy coat of fur) who was not at all shy about demanding his fair share of food from the gathering at large.

​The pretty menu

Everything — the location, the menu, the architecture, the landscaping and the food (and beverage and dessert) — was delightful in a low key and gracious manner. Our interlude was leisurely but I was loathe to leave and felt like I could hang out there and nibble, imbibe, people-watch, sky-gaze and admire my beloved cypress trees for days and days!

What follows are some pix from our little marvelous lunch and the good things we had to enjoy.

Rana had the chicken tandoori wrapped in lavash bread and I had a kabab wrap. We also shared a terrific salad: crunchy lettuce, olives, feta cheese and crispy pita bread chips served with the most amazingly tart & sweet pomegranate dressing. I loved this salad.

For our drink, I picked …

A lemon, mint and sekanjabin (a mixture of vinegar and honey) drink with crushed ice that was the ultimate in cool fragrant refreshment and with just the perfect hint of sweetness. A winning choice.

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And rana picked a pot of the soothing gol gav zaban (borage) brewed tea. It was served in the prettiest way on a little tray with saffron rock candy (nabat) on a stick and two pieces of a Yazdi sweet called Haji Badoom. I wish you could have seen the color of this tea — a very pale purple and rose color although in the photo it just looks like ordinary tea color.

For dessert we shared a wonderful traditional Persian ice cream …

that was sprinkled with solid chips of cream (khameh) …

Need I even mention that it tasted heavenly?

So now you see why I could really have happily spent hours there and would love to go back at least one more time before I return to New York. Meanwhile, I’m off to Shiraz and Kermanshah and I can’t wait to sample the culinary marvels of these cities and share it with you.

Have a delicious weekend and until soon!

A bowl of khoresh aloo esfenaj (Persian spinach & prune stew)

Hi everyone! As we speak, I’m off on my excellent adventures in Iran, but my mom and I made this khoresh earlier and I scheduled it to post now. Hope you’ll like it! 

You may recall that Khoresh is the quintessential pillar of Persian cooking – a genre of food that encompasses an eclectic variety of tastes and flavors. More elaborate and sophisticated than a typical stew, khoresh is a slow-fusion combination of meat (or poultry or fish) cooked with fresh or dried fragrant herbs and vegetables, or fresh or dried fruits, grains, or legumes.

This recipe is for a type of khoresh known as aloo esfenaj – although some call it the other way around: esfenaj ‘o aloo. It is made with lots of esfenaj (spinach) and also plenty of aloo (plums.) Typically, the type of plums used for the khoresh aloo esefenaj are dried yellow ones known as aloo bokhara , but prunes (dried black plums) are a common substitution, specially outside of Iran where aloo bokhara are not easily found.

Khoresh aloo esfenaj and Persian steamed rice

My mother reports that my grandmother used to often make khoresh aloo esfenaj — and it is one of my mom’s favorites. It is one of my favorites types of khoresh as well. There’s something undeniably luscious about the combination of cooked prunes, spinach and meat — with that signature flavor profile of Iranian food of being harmoniously savoury, tart and sweet all at once.

As notoriously complicated as Persian rice is to make, Persian stews make up for it by being quite forgiving and easy going, and this delicious khoresh is no exception. In the spirit of keeping things short and sweet, let’s click our heels and head straight over to the recipe.

• 1 pound stewing meat, cut into 1″-1 1/2″ cubes( preferably lamb or veal, beef may also be used but Iranians in general do not cook with beef)
• 2 pounds (washed, stemmed, coarsely chopped) fresh spinach
• 8 ounces pitted prunes (rule of thumb: allow 4-5 prunes per person served)
• 1 large onion (finely sliced)
• a few pinches of turmeric
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice ( more or less according to tartness preference/taste)
• a tiny pinch of saffron
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 6-8 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat 3-4 tablespoons of oil in a roomy nonstick pot over medium high heat till sizzling hot. Add chopped onions. Saute till golden (approximately 10 minutes) while stirring occasionally. Add meat. Add turmeric, salt and pepper. Sautee for 5-6 minutes till the meat is no longer pink/red. Add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover pot with lid, reduce heat to medium low and simmer cook till meat is cooked. (Approximately 45 minutes for veal or lamb, up to an hour for beef.)
2. While meat is cooking, saute chopped spinach in 3-4 tablespoons of sizzling hot oil in a nonstick skillet, stirring frequently, until the spinach’s liquid is expelled and it reduces in bulk (approximately 5-6 minutes.) Season with salt and a pinch of turmeric. Set aside. Rinse and dry prunes. Saute prunes in a tablespoon of sizzling hot olive oil for no longer than a minute in a nonstick skillet. Set aside.
3. Once meat is almost done, remove lid, turn up the heat till the stew is boiling. Add spinach, prunes and fresh lemon juice. Sprinkle with saffron and cinnamon. Stir once with a wooden spoon to mix. Reduce heat to medium low. Cover lid and simmer for an additional 15-20 minutes.
4. Once done, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and lemon juice to taste. Transfer stew to a deep serving bowl. Serve hot.

Khoresht ‘eh aloo esefenaj is (like all the other types of Persian stew) is traditionally meant to be served with a bed of fluffy Persian rice. Alternatively, however; you may enjoy this Persian stew over a bed of quinoa, or, with flat bread.

Khoresh & rice (polo khoresh) – a delightful combo!

Hope you liked the recipe! And you guys, don’t forget to keep in touch with me while I’m away via Facebook and Twitter. or Instagram. Miss you and I’m waiving hello – as I tuck into a delicious cholo kabak – all the way from Iran!

​

This post was written while nursing a coffee in the Mehrabad airport, Tehran, Iran.

I’m nearing the end of my epic trip to Iran but there’s still a couple of good weeks left. I am simultaneously positively pining (pining!) to be back in New York yet absolutely saddened & heartsick by the thought of leaving Iran. The plight of the hyphenated people!

Much like my iPhoto folder, my head and heart are exceeding capacity and busting at the seams — with the abundance of experiences and feelings and thoughts and tastes and sights of this adventure. I need a good bit of alone-time after leaving Iran to fully process this journey. In some ways, the present feels like a dream.

A nice dream though … with things like this:

​

Can’t complain!

So far, I’ve gotten to travel to the cities I long dreamt of visiting: Shiraz, Isfahan and Yazd. By the time this post is posted, I’ll be off on a sentimental trip to Kermanshah, the lovely region where my father’s family hails from. I’ve heard flowers are in abundance in the region now and I’m so looking forward to seeing my long-time-no-see relatives and tasting their sure-to-be delicious cooking.

​Can’t wait either to sit down sometime in the future and share it all with you in a substantial heart-to-heart.

For now, till soon & have a happy weekend!

Vanilla Bean white chocolate pot de creme with rosewater

Hi everyone! As part of the continuing series of guest posts scheduled while I’m off on my excellent adventures in Iran, this post is by the lovely Suzanne, aka APugInTheKitchen.  Suzanne is a fabulous cook (I can vouch for it firsthand) and she is also a wonderful friend. We met via blogging and in fact Suzanne is the first blogging friend I met in real life and wouldn’t you know it, we then became neighbors and live within “spitting distance” of each other. Which prompts me to ask: who ever came up with that horrid phrase? Who wants to spit and measure the trajectory’s distance? Moving back to a delightful topic: Suzanne’s a warm, caring and generous person and it reflects in her cooking as her food is absolutely delicious. I love both her savory and sweet dishes and covet most of the recipes she posts on her wonderful blog. Anyhow, please welcome Suzanne and let’s go and find out about this awesome looking and sounding sweet dessert – originally published here. And grab a spoon!

♥

Vanilla Bean White Chocolate Pot de Creme with Rosewater | by A Pug in the Kitchen

I have to say that I was so excited about this months Bake Together with Abby Dodge, she challenged us to put our own twist on one of my favorite desserts, Pot de Creme. I have to confess, up until now I only had chocolate never vanilla so this was a bit of a departure for me but I am up for a challenge. This recipe was inspired by a dear friend of mine, a chef in Montana, Cynthia who has a lovely blog “The Solitary Cook”. she created this recipe for a contest on Food52 and I loved the flavors so much I thought it would make a wonderful pot de creme. Her creation was rose petal ice cream scooped into balls and covered in white chocolate. Delicious right? (Editor’s note: oh my goodness,that sounds sublime!)I took Abby’s brilliant recipe for Vanilla Bean Pot de Creme and tweaked it a bit, adding white chocolate and a hint of rosewater. It is delicious, you can’t really go wrong when your base recipe is genius and I am thankful for that. The rosewater is barely there, just a hint and paired with the white chocolate in a creamy dessert its heavenly. I topped with raspberry whipped cream.

Grab a spoon and dig into this luscious pot de creme!

To make the pots:

1.Measure the half and half in a 2-cup glass measure.

2. Position the vanilla bean on a cutting board and, using the tip of a sharp knife, split the bean lengthwise down the middle. Slide the edge of the knife down the cut side of each piece of the bean to release the seeds. Add the seeds and vanilla bean pieces to the half & half. Heat the mixture in the microwave until very hot, 2 to 3 minutes. Let steep for up to 2 hours to intensify the vanilla flavor.

3. Position the oven rack on the middle rung. Heat the oven to 325°F. Arrange four 6-ounce ramekins in a baking pan with 2-inch high sides. I use my 8-inch square baking pan.

4. In a small saucepan, whisk the yolks, sugar and salt until well blended.(Don’t let them sit or the eggs will begin to break down.)  Uncover the half & half and, whisking, slowly pour the half and half (with the vanilla bean pieces) into the yolk mixture. Whisk until well blended. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a spoon or heat-proof spatula, until thickened and coats the back of a spoon or spatula (170-172°F on an instant read or candy thermometer), about 4 to 5 minutes. Place white chocolate in the 2 cup measuring cup, pour hot custard over white chocolate, let sit for approximately 2 minutes or until chocolate is melted and very smooth.

5. Fish out the vanilla bean and scrape any custard from the pod back into the custard. Stir in vanilla paste and rosewater stir to combine. You can pour into a sieve if you like to remove any errant pieces and  ensure that it’s totally smooth (I recommend you do). Pour the custard into the ramekins  Carefully fill the baking pan with hot tap water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins and cover the pan loosely with foil.

6. Bake until the pot de crèmes wiggle like jello when nudged, 35 to 45 minutes depending on thickness of the ramekin walls. Transfer the baking pan to a rack let cool completely. Remove ramekins from baking pan and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 2 days before serving.

…

Thank you Suzanne joon for allowing me to reprint this yummy recipe!

And you guys, don’t forget to keep in touch with me while I’m away via Facebook and Twitter. or Instagram.

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Sweet Quince – Dulce de Membrillo |photo by Maria Dernikos

This is a guest post scheduled to publish while I’m off on my excellent adventure of traveling in Iran. By Maria Dernikos, one of my favorite bloggers. If you missed Maria’s glorious kooloocheh recipe post, you should totally check it out and if you are not already reading Maria’s blog, you really must remedy the situation post haste. Maria displays refined tastes, understated penache, and a gentile and utterly sweet charm in every post. Her recipes are great and her stories “sit in the heart” which is a literal translation of “del neshin” a word we use in Persian, which is most apt. The guest recipe is for dulce de membrillo, a delectable sweet made with quince. Fond as I am of quinces and partial as I am to sweets, this is a recipe that I personally found alluring and am confident that you will find the same. Enjoy!

♥

Dulce De Mebrillo | Guest post by Maria Dernikos

Quinces are hard to miss; they resemble giant yellow pears and have the most wonderful delicate scent. Inside their flesh is crisp almost hard which when cut discolours very quickly. This and their tart taste can be forgiven as that same tricky flesh turns into the most beautiful pinky red colour when cooked. This is a fruit so rarely seen in supermarkets and shops yet it has so much going for it. Full of pectin, these fruits are fabulous in jellies and jams. On top of which they are very versatile and can be used in sweet and savoury dishes. Quince is often used with meat dishes. Unlike other fruit it only takes three quinces to produce something truly delicious.

Quinces and quince trees seem to be hard to find and A Taste of Wintergreen posted a link which sums up the problem in a really interesting article found here.

Another Quince fact is that they don’t stop at being a wonderful source of food they were also considered to be an aphrodisiac – probably the reason why seventeenth century London prostitutes were known as marmalade madams. Ivan Day has written about the history of the quince in England with some wonderful pictures and recipes of quince – here

I was beginning to think that I would not see any qunices this year – if it weren’t for a tip off that some had been seen in the greengrocers in the next village. Twenty minutes later I was on my way home with a large bag sitting on the passenger seat filled with quinces. Oh how I long to have a friend who has a large quince tree in their garden with no use for the fruit.

I have a weakness for cheese and love the combination of a slice of cheese with something sweet such as a spoon of chilli crabapple jelly or a slice of the wonderful Dulce de Membrillo. Anything that adds a sweet kick to the cheese is heaven for me.

Dulce de Membrillo comes from the Spanish for ‘sweet quince’. The recipe has few ingredients; quinces, sugar and water. Patience is needed for this simple recipe but it is well worth the effort. The Membrillo will keep in the fridge for months.

3 pretty quinces- Dulce de Membrillo |photo by Maria Dernikos

All you need are: quinces, sugar, and water.

1. Wash the quinces well and place In a large pan (complete with skin) and fill with water to cover them. Place a lid on the pan and gently bring up to the boil. Then simmer for 40-45 minutes. They are cooked when a knife is easily inserted into the centre.
2. Drain, discarding the water, and set aside to cool. Once cool, peel the quinces and core them. Liquidise the flesh until smooth. (Instead of putting the quinces in a pan of water they can also be baked in the oven.)
3. Weigh the quince pulp and whatever the weight add an equal amount of sugar. Place in a clean pan and return to a gentle heat. Now the patience starts as the the sugar and pulp need to be stirred otherwise they will catch on the bottom of the pan and burn. Keep doing this until the mixture becomes thick and you can see the bottom of the pan when you drag the spoon through it. Beware of spitting because the mixture can become too hot and will spit. Using a long handled wooden spoon helps to avoid this.
4. Transfer to a dish lined with greaseproof paper and allow to cool. When cool remove from dish, wrap with fresh greaseproof paper and store in the fridge.

Note: I made my Dulce de Membrillo with 3 quinces but I could have added less or more it doesn’t matter. 3 quinces produced for me two slabs measuring 12cm x 16cm.

Spread on bread or crackers. For heightened, exquisite pleasure, serve with cheese.

Eat it. Enjoy it. And as they say in Greece:  καλή όρεξη – Kali orexi!

♥

Thank you for a lovely guest post, dear Maria!

And you guys, don’t forget to keep in touch with me while I’m away via Facebook and Twitter. or Instagram. Miss you and I’m waiving hello as I munch on a koloocheh all the way from Iran!

Tea, dates & sweets – A fitting end to a fine Persian meal | Shiraz, Iran

Hi y’all! I’m finally back from my epic (I kid you not) trip to Iran!

Well, actually, I’ve been back for a good few weeks by now but (thanks to a sluggish combination of jetlag, a bout of being blue about leaving Iran, and writer’s block) it has taken me awhile to slide into the old blogging groove.

The writer’s block is certainly not due to a dearth of interesting things to report and share with you – the reverse in fact – I have so many stories, pix and videos to share. Instead, this has been more of a challenge of mustering motivation and focus. Kind of like standing in front of a fully stocked fridge and pantry — bursting with all sorts of delicious and exotic ingredients — and wondering: “But what should I make? What shall I make?” And in the frustrating process of indecisive, perfectionist (and I admit, lethargic) hand-wringing, ending up going hungry and involuntarily fasting!

But I do intend to snap out of this and tell you all about my glorious and controversial homeland of Iran – a most paradoxical country – and share tales of what was an intense and significant personal milestone of a trip. I experienced deep highs and crushing lows; climbed many hills and mountains (literally!); traveled to a number of cities; reconnected with friends and family and foe; enjoyed generous Persian hospitality, renewed relationships, fostered friendships, forged bonds, severed ties; basked in the innate poetic beauty of Iran and its culture, and cringed at the things that one must bear; saw and experienced things that made me glad, wistful, ecstatic, dreamy, nervous, enthralled, angry, happy, ashamed, proud, mad, deeply nostalgic, oft enchanted and sometimes profoundly sad; and of course enjoyed enviably good and yummy food that had me drooling and smacking my lips! Oh, the delicious things I ate and drank!

Various Scrumptious Kermanshahi cookies and pastries | (shirini & koloocheh) Iran

I do hope to do this trip justice and recount and share it all with you in a meaningful and hopefully thoughtful way – including a few choice recipes – via a series of posts in the coming weeks and months, but I admit that I’m not yet entirely in the groove of being up to that task just yet.

So, to gently break the blogging fast, I thought it’d be both naughty (because it may torture you!) and nice to indulge in yet another lusty tour of the very many good things I had to eat and taste and savor when I was traveling in Iran. (In case you missed the earlier ones, here’s the first Lusty Food Tour of Iran and here’s another one.)

And here it goes, part 3 of “Eating my Way  in Iran” for your torturous pleasure:

Sholeh Zard – A persian dessert made with rice, saffron & rosewater | Made by Afooli!

These two yummy batches of Sholeh Zard (a traditional Iranian dessert made with rice, saffron and rosewater) were made by my friend Afooli for her Norooz party. Another time, my friend Haleh also specifically made it for me as well, so that I could photograph and document the recipe. I will post the recipe very soon. Promise!

Tangerine Jello with Fruit

Pomegranate jello (jeleh ye anar)

Jello desserts were quite popular in my childhood and I was surprised to see that they are still going strong in Iran. Usually served along with either ice cream or fruit.

Koloocheh fresh off the oven! YUM!

Ah, my sweet Koloocheh! Let me count the ways I love thee!

To avoid the too common travail of jumping up a few sizes after a trip to Iran, I tried to cautiously indulge and mostly succeeded in this endeavor, but tried as I might, I could NOT resist inhaling stacks of freshly made hot-out-of-the-oven koloocheh (a most wonderful and soft Persian pastry that is pillowy soft with a sweet center) whenever I got my greedy paws on some. And: je ne regrette rien! In fact, I only regret that I did not eat more of them! Mental note: Make some using Maria’s awesome kooloocheh recipe ASAP.

Assorted Persian Puff and Cream Pastries (Shirini ye tar)

Assorted “Dry” and cream Persian Pastries (shirini khoshk)

Oh sweet merciful cream and puff pastries! Needless to say: I miss these guys too! A lot!

♥

And I still get goosebumps at the memory of my first taste of faloodeh va bastani - a dessert composed of starchy noodle threads combined with traditional Persian (usually called Akbar Mashdi) ice cream (that has chunks of solid crunchy cream! say what!) and served with a topping of freshly squeezed lemon juice – that my friends Afooli joon and Hossein served at their Norooz party.

The combo of textures (soft, mildly chewy and starchy, crunchy) and flavors (sweet, pleasently bland, tangy) was an intoxicating close-your-eyes and savor your life pleasure! Perfection!

Traditional Persian ice cream and starchy noodles (faloodeh ye bastani)

Faloodeh Bastani (ice cream & starchy noodles) & Norooz Colored Eggs

In conclusion: boy, did I miss y’all and I’m happy to be back, and please bear with me while I catch up and get back into the groove. Before signing off, I have to give a huge howdy and thank you to all of you who kept in touch and kept reading and commenting and to all of you wonderful friends who wrote the guest posts that helped me keep this blog humming along even while I was frolicking and traipsing around in my homeland.  Thank you!

Till soon & Happy Weekend

I’ve twice already posted the recipe for Kuku ‘ye Sabzi (a type of fresh herb Persian frittata) and here I go posting it thrice! Overkill perhaps? I hope not, as I thought it’d be worthwhile revisiting this nutritious and classic Iranian dish to showcase a slight but pivotal modification of the traditional recipe (using spring onions or chives in lieu of the parsley and cilantro) which ends up giving the fresh herb kookoo a lighthearted vibe in both color and flavor.

Kookoo Sabzi with torshi (Persian pickles)

I love the pale green color one gets with this modified batter!

Still as delicious as the traditional fresh herb kookoo – and as always and as is true with many other types of Iranian food, it pairs wonderfully with bread and yogurt and torshi (Persian pickles.)

Persian textile with paisley and “saghee” mofit. Do you dig it?

That’s all folks — a quickie post! And the recipe follows. Enjoy!

• 2 cups (washed, trimmed, dried, chopped) chives or spring onions
• 1 teaspoon dried mint + 1 teaspoon dried tarragon (can substitute 1 teaspoon of dried fenugreek for mint/tarragon)
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1 teaspoon baking powder – allow it to soak in a bit of water so that it bubbles
• 4 eggs – left to reach room temperature
• 1 tablespoon (soaked for 5 minutes, rinsed, and dried) barberries plus extra for optional garnish
• 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

1. In a skillet, sautee chopped herbs in 2 tablespoons of sizzling cooking oil of your choice for a few minutes (approximately 5 minutes) until the herb mixture reduces in bulk and takes on a soft and pliant texture. Let cool completely. (This step is called “taft dadan eh sabzi” in Farsi and the goal is to rid the herbs of any excess moisture to prevent a soggy kookoo and get a fluffy and thick one instead.)
2. Crack eggs in a big bowl; add flour, salt and pepper; and beat lightly with a fork. Add chopped sauteed fresh herbs, dried mint & dried tarragon (or dried fenugreek), dried dill, chopped walnuts, barberries, baking powder, turmeric, and the sauteed herbs. Mix well.
3. Heat at least 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a big skillet. Once the oil is sufficiently hot (i.e, a dollop of the mixture puffs up when dropped into the pot) pour the into skillet and lightly press the top with a spatula or spoon to evenly spread out the mixture. Cook covered (ideally with a glass lid so you can see the batter) for 10-12 minutes on medium low heat until the batter is cooked on its bottom side. Cut kookoo into 4 wedges (with the edge of a spatula) and flip each wedge over to cook the other side. (Add more oil at this point if necessary.) Continue to cook – uncovered this time – on medium heat for approximately 5-7 more minutes until the batter is evenly cooked throughout. [ Alternative method: Instead of frying the batter on the stove top, you can bake it in the oven. To do so: preheat the oven to 350 °F, pour the kookoo batter into an oiled heatproof dish, and bake uncovered for 20- 25 minutes.
4. Place kuky wedges on a serving platter, garnish with sauteed barberries and walnuts, and serve.Run a knife around the edges of the kookoo to loosen and invert onto a serving dish. Cut into wedges or squares, garnish, and serve.]
5. For the garnish: heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small skillet over a medium flame, add sugar (optional, skip it if you like tangy flavor like we do) and 1 tablespoon of barberries, and stir well for just under and no longer than a minute. Sprinkle barberries over the kookoo when it’s ready to serve.

Eat it. Enjoy it. And as they say in

♥

There was a bear who hibernated in a cold dark cave all through winter, sleeping soundly and soundlessly, all the while dreaming of sunshine and delicious things. Deep in her slumber in the belly of the cave, she once dreamed of basking in the golden rays of summer light with wildflowers in her hair sipping delicious crimson-colored sour cherry sharbat. The dream felt so real and so deep was the desire that the bear woke with a start only to find her contemplation of the bold bright red color of sour cherries was merely a haunting chimera in the empty pitch black darkness of the cave that was her crib nestled in the stark white and gray palette of the winter howling outside. With a sigh she fell back to sleep — waiting and wishing for summer and spring.

It was spring when she stirred awake again. The bear stretched her limbs, left the cave, and twirled in the daylight — dazzled with life and light. The very hungry bear craved many things and so the bear ate and ate and ate. Oh, this bear meant to make up for the winter-past and the winter that was to come — not losing sight of the deprived pang of her frosty midnight yearning for the luscious tart redness of sour cherries and the sweet elixir of sour cherry sharbat.

Come early summer time, sour cherry trees in the orchards proudly bore their pretty fruit. The bear ate her fill! Munching fistfuls and spitting the stony pits with glee. And she made sour cherry syrup (as was her wont and custom as a Persian bear) so that all summer long, she could make ruby-hued sharbet ‘eh albaloo sour cherry drinks and spritzers to sip and sip. For herself. For her friends. To murmur with pleasure. To keep all thoughts of winter at bay.

To bottle your own Persian sour cherry syrup and make pretty and delicious sharbat ‘e albaloo drinks to nurse and sip all summer long,

Here’s how to make sour cherry sharbat:

• 2 cups fresh or frozen sour cherries
• 4 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• A bottle of sparkling water (optional)

1. Wash the cherries and remove the stems.
2. Mix sugar and water in a big pot and boil for 5 minutes.
3. Add the sour cherries.
4. Bring to a gentle boil (small bubbles), lower heat, and simmer the mixture for up to 20 minutes until the syrup thickens. (During this step, I like to press the sour cherries with a wooden spoon to release as much of their juice as possible.)
5. Remove pot from heat and allow to cool.
6. Using a meshed colander, strain syrup into a big bowl. (You can use the left over cherries – after removing the pits -  as toppings on ice cream or yogurt or a parfait.)
7. Pour syrup into a sterilized, dry, airtight bottle.

In a glass (for individual serving) or in a pitcher (for a group) mix syrup, water (flat or sparkling) and ice cubes. Stir and serve well chilled.

How much syrup and how much water? The general consensus is 1 part syrup for 3 parts water, but in my opinion, play with the proportions to find what flavor and color suits your tastes the best. Personally, I like my sharbat on the more diluted side with just a hint of color.

The bear likes hers with a deep robust color and on the sweet side.

Eat it. Enjoy it. And as they say in Farsi: Noosheh Jaan!

♥

Balang, the eccentric Citrus | As Photographed by The Unmanly Chef

What in the word is this odd looking creature? Well, in Farsi we know this eccentric species of citrus fruit by the name of bālang and in Iran, chiefly in the northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran, a delicious jam called morabbā-ye bālang is made from the ripe fruit. People also preserve and pickle this quirky citrus. (Edited to add: Or, as Andrea calls them: the ugly ducklings of the citrus world!)

When I was traveling in Iran, I did have encounters of a tasty kind with the balang jam at the home of a friend, and it was also widely available in the markets — particularly in shomal (the Caspian sea northern provinces of Iran.)

Friendly dudes in a shomali store. Pix snapped by moi during awesome road trip w/friends.

I wanted to share the balang jam recipe, but alas, I’ve never made it myself and my own maman joon has never done so either. But as good luck would have it I recently made the delightful acquaintance of a fellow Iranian-American who has a wonderful food blog (you should totally check it out!) who offered to share his step-by-step recipe for making balang jam (plus a bonus recipe for making an easy and delicious balang citronade) by way of a guest post. What a gift! And with that, I will present to you:

The Unmanly Chef!

Hi everyone. The Fig & Quince team have been kind enough to allow me to write a guest post. I am the Unmanly Chef and I have my own food blog that I’ve started. Follow me on Twitter @theunmanlychef and “Like” me on Facebook.

I am an Iranian-American from the East coast who loves to cook. I’m a male, and while I was growing up I was often teased by my family members. They would razz me by saying my wife and kids would be so lucky because I was already such a good homemaker. But I took that all in stride and did not let that prevent me from doing what I love, which is cooking!

I have been cooking for as long as I can remember. My earliest experiences cooking were sitting on the counter with my mom watching her cook. I would spend countless summer days sitting in my Grandmother’s kitchen (my Maman Joon) peeling garlic or cutting green beans for “Loobia Polow.”

As I’ve grown up, I have seen the power food can have in bringing people together. In the Iranian-American culture, food is a key catalyst for almost every family event. It brings everyone together to laugh, eat, and more importantly, have a good a time.
(Side note, it is unwise to host Iranians and not have a good meal planned, we like to eat, I’m just saying.)

What I have for you today, is a traditional Iranian preserve or “Moraba” that not many people get to experience. It’s a Citron preserve or “Moraba Balang”.  So a quick backstory on the Citron is that it looks like a humongous lemon. It sort of tastes like one too, it’s extremely sour/slightly bitter. Which I’m sure has you saying, “GEE CAN’T WAIT TO EAT THIS!” But hear me out, if done properly this is one of the best preserves you can have with some bread and butter.

Moraba in Iranian cuisine is a staple for Iranian breakfasts. It’s always served with some bread and butter. I can always remember it being on our breakfast table. You can rest assured that in my Maman Joon’s fridge at any point in time we’re a zillion glass jars holding some sort of “Moraba.” I first experienced Citron preserve through my Grandfather who would make this for us and bring it with him when he would visit from Iran or California. They don’t traditionally have them on the east coast, so whenever he would bring some, it would be a huge treat. When done right, it should have a sweet and mild lemon flavor to it.

Now this recipe takes a couple days to fully come into fruition. So it requires some patience.

1 Citron
6 Cups of Sugar

First, peel the Citron. I would recommend by peeling it longitudinally so you have several large pieces. Cut these pieces into chunks.

Now boil them in a pot of water. Once the white part of the peels begins to turn translucent, pour out the water and pull the pieces out and put them in a bowl. Soak these pieces in warm water for few hours. Pour this water out and press again on the peels to press the juice/water out.

This is all done to reduce the bitterness in the Citron. The more you are willing to endure the less bitter it will be.

I would say do this process 2-3 times.
Once the Citron pieces are ready, place them in a pot of water, pour 6 cups of sugar into the pot of water. Stir so the sugar dissolves into the water, bring it to a boil and allow it to cook for 2-3 hours. Once the water/sugar mixture becomes thick and syrupy you can take it off the burner. Allow your preserve to cool and store it some glass jars.
* By the way, you could also use the citron (cut into chunks) to make a citronade. I just squeezed all the juice out of them, strained the seeds/pulp and made quasi-lemonade with them. It’s bitter so you need to add more sugar. I also threw in some strawberries to bring out some more flavors. *

Editor’s note: I’m mighty curious to know what The Unmanly Chef’s storing in that jar in the background!

Whoa, look at this pitcher of balang citronade. It looks great and sure to hit the spot on a hot summer day. Also, might I add: nice leafy backyard you’ve got there Unmanly Chef. ;)

Eat it. Enjoy it. And noosheh joon!

♥

Here’s an adorable little Persian girl who lives in Tehran, Iran.

I have a treasure trove of pictures and stories to share from my recent epic trip to Iran and while I’ve been remiss in diligently posting those, I’m getting the wheels spinning by starting this series of “Iranian People” — where I’ll share pictures of the everyday average ordinary Iranians that I hung out with, met, befriended, or otherwise engaged with during my trip. Just ordinary Iranians, doing ordinary things. Such as, for example: laughing, smiling, or otherwise displaying a glimmer of a sense of humor! Ah: those tricky tricky Persians! I tell ya!

I can’t help but smile every time I look at this cover photograph. I love this little girl so much! Her name is Arezoo and she is smart, funny, cute, brainy, girly-girly to the max, opinionated, charming, fierce and sweet; and she’s part of a family that’s dear and close to mine and I got to finally meet her when I was in Tehran during my Iranian Odyssey.

One time, my friends Haleh and Laila (Arezoo’s auntie and mommy, respectively) picked me up, took me to their home (after we’d first gone for an early morning hike and breakfast up in the mountains with their entire family, but that’s another story altogether) and they cooked up a storm — making some of their specialties, so that I could photograph it and share the recipes with you. A few times, yours truly got up on a chair to take overhead shots of the food (which as many of you know, is par for course in food blogging territory.) Mimicking my actions, Arezoo also got up on a chair and started taking photos – proving that sometimes, imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery. I was charmed!

And I’ve heard – to my delighted amusement – that these days she still does this when mommy or auntie or grandma cook. Ha ha, a food blogger in the making! (Note to Arezoo joon: email me the pictures! I’ll post them! ps: You are the cutest! Love you!)

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My friend haleh. Checking out Reza Afssari’s paintings. | Seyhoun ArtGallery, Tehran, Iran

Haleh managed to make hijab look effortlessly chic. Exhibit A!

This is my friend Haleh, and here are two pix I snapped of her when we met up one sunny spring day at the Seyhoun Art Gallery in Tehran — where I was interviewing the owner of the gallery. (At the time, Seyhoun gallery had Reza Afasari‘s solo “Sealed Letters to Myself” painting exhibition.) Afterwards, Haleh took me to the House of the Artists (an art hub in the middle of a beautiful Persian garden) where we checked out lots of artwork; had a very nice lunch where I tried a tamarind drink for the first and probably last time in my life, and we almost went to see a rooftop staging of a play as well but left that for another day. Later on, Haleh and I also ended up taking a short memorable trip to Yazd together that was a blast. Getting a chance to finally see and hang out with this lovely childhood friend was one of the immense pleasures and rewards of this trip.

Mind you, I’m touching lightly on all these various topics (Iranian artists, the interview, art galleries in Tehran, trip to Yazd, rekindled friendships, etc.) but definitely hope to write at length about each.

Before moving on to the next photo, please do observe how my friend’s scarf is perfectly kept in place. Seemingly held by invisible fairies? The women in Iran had techniques — defying the laws of physics and gravity and slipperiness — which enabled them to wear their headscarf just so and have it remain in place. Meanwhile, yours truly had to fuss and muss and ineptly do and re-do my scarf’s knot or else pull it forward as it slipped at every opportune and inopportune moment.

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Now I have a few more stories and pix from my Iranian odyssey coming up in just a bit and right below, but first, I’m going to go on a tangent and get on a soap box.  TLDR? (No, no, please stay and do read!) Here, have some yummy Persian food served by this poised and friendly Iranian chef at a popular self-service restaurant in Tehran to fortify you while I take a teeny tiny detour and rant a bit.

“Hello! Remember me? We already met at the Lusty Tour of Food of Iran post! “

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The Tangent and the Soapbox

Even though I go on and on around here chirping about the beauty and glory of the Persian food and culture and people like a naively oblivious Disney cartoon character, I’m keenly aware that for an awful lot of folks their mental image of Iran and Iranians comes from the mass media and if so, they probably harbor extremely negative ideas about the country and its people. Aside from a desire to preserve my lovely mom’s recipes, the main reason I started this blog and have had the motivation to merrily chug along is an attempt to do my bit in helping balance a frustratingly tilted perception that at best is myopic, and at worst, is dangerously unfair to a culture that is ancient and remains a rich and beautiful one and to a people that are friendly, hospitable, and nice (just ask Anthony Bourdain!) thus leading to (excuse my language) ignorant yet sadly prevalent prejudice. Ignorance such as some people even actually wondering: Do Iranians have a sense of humor? Do Iranians laugh?

If you think those are absurd questions I can only say that I wish it were so. A year or so ago, I was listening to a podcast Dinner Party Download (one of my very favorite radio programs – you should totally check out their episodes) interview with Marjan Satrapi — the artist and filmmaker behind Persepolis — the groundbreaking autobiograhical graphic novel series  and the Oscar-nominated animated film – where she mentioned how someone once came up to her and said that before reading her books she didn’t think that Iranians had a sense of humor or laughed. Here’s a transcript of that part of the segment:

Artist & filmmaker Marjan Satrapi | Photo Source

Dinner Party Download: Turning to Iran and the way it’s perceived by people, Westerners, me included, we typically hear very little about Iran. What do you find about Iran that people are surprised by?

Marjan Satrapi: In a book tour an old lady who read one of my books came up to me and said: ‘oh, you know, I’m no longer scared of the Iranian people,’ and I said “how come?” and she said: “because I didn’t know that you could laugh that you had any sense of humor.” … You know, they’ve made it that we are these people that … when we’re talking about Iran it’s either beard, veil, or it’s nuclear weapon. And that reduces us to abstract notions and we stop being human being and if you’re not a human being then of course you don’t laugh and of course you don’t fall in love and of course you don’t like to eat ice cream and … which is dangerous because from the second that people become abstract notions then they are not human beings anymore and we can go and bomb them so I don’t try to change the world with my film but if they can say this country that you are so scared of is the same country a man died because of the love of a woman I think that I’ve done what I had to do …. I don’t want more than that.

I love how she answered this question with emotion, intelligence, and understated passion. It honestly gives me goosebumps! I am of the same school who believes change and progress comes with art and artists and the banding together and communication between us civilian normal people. Do go and give Episode #164 of The Dinner Party a listen. It’s quite fun and funny actually and totally worth it. (The Satrapi interview segment starts at the 13:25 mark. There’s also a priceless interview with the delightfully grumpy Fran Lebowitz in this same podcast which you truly do not want to miss.)

And with that, end of tangent. Stepping down the soap box. Back to our regular programming! With pretty pictures and me chirping per usual! :)

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Rasoul Akbarlou in front of his artwork. Mah Gallery, Tehran, Iran (April 2014)

So, this is a photo of the artist Rasoul Akbarlou posing in front on one of his beautiful calligraphy artworks - at the opening reception of his exhibit at Mah Art Gallery where he graciously allowed me to take his picture. This photo does not do justice to his artwork, which I was not alone in my group in finding stunningly beautiful.

There are lots of art galleries in Tehran and every other Friday, many have their “eftetahi” – that is art opening receptions. Some Tehroonies have a fun ritual of making the rounds of these art opening shindigs: for the art, for the social factor, and for the free yummies served. Oooh, the pix and tales I have and plan to share with you – including the interesting story of how and in whose company I ended up in this gallery! Meanwhile, borrow two legs (remember that Persian proverb) and run and go read this wonderful article about the art scene in Tehran, by the editor of Reorient Online Magazine.

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And let’s finally conclude this LONG post with these two awesome and wonderful smiley Persian dudes:

Smiley Persian kaleh pacheh store owner & his lurking yet friendly cook | Tehran, iran

The lurking cook may appear grumpy but he was almost giggling! Trust me! Tehran, Iran

The lurking cook approaches the camera with bashful interest | Tehran, Iran, 2014

Check out the red prayer beads! Cool! | Tehran, Iran 2014

The smiley Persian poses w/ bike. He sure looks like he is enjoying himself! | Tehran, Iran 2014

So one day a friend and I headed all the way to a far-flung neighborhood on a rather intriguing fact-finding mission that ultimately led to a heartbreaking discovery. In contrast to the rather depressing conclusion, the neighborhood itself was quite lively and interesting and I was loathe to leave and would have loved to explore its nooks and crannies but my friend and I had to go to another far-flung corner of Tehran.

Just before we were to get into a cab, I noticed this kaleh pacheh food establishment and the very friendly owner and his assistant and asked if I could their picture. They readily and gamely agreed with enthusiasm. Let’s face it: they were hams! I believe we may have all indulged in a fit of giggles as well, as though we were experiencing something hilarious! It was a fun moment in time.

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And with that, doostaneh khob, lovely people, thus concludes the first part of this series – my travel pictorial of “Iranian People” — which I hope helps answer questions such as: who the heck are these Eyeraynians and do they even know how to crack a smile?  Answer: Some do!

Boos Boos & Have a lovely weekend!

Note: Excerpts and a few photographs (plus some outtakes) from an article that (as mentioned here) I originally wrote and photographed for publication on Brownbook’s Tehrangeles issue (online article is here) are reprinted here with their permission.♣

Give me a sun, I care not how hot, and sherbet, I care not how cool, and my Heaven is as easily made as your Persian’s. — Lord Byron ,1813

That Lord Byron! What a Romantic! And he sure seems to have liked sipping sharbat. And who can blame him? But for the uninitiated, let’s first review what sharbat means.

Persians make and bottle various types of sweet, fragrant, colorful syrups by cooking fruits or flowers or herbs in dissolved-sugar water. When ready to serve, a bit of the syrup is diluted and stirred with ice cold water and one ends up with a pretty and refreshing drink that is a popular Persian beverage generically known as sharbat. In Iran, offering guests a tall glass of some type of sharbat (with ice cubes) to ward off the heat of the summer is a standard of good housekeeping and an expected trademark of up-to-par hospitality. At least amongst the old-school Iranians.

A couple of sharbat recipes have already been posted here: the Cornelian cherry (sharbat ‘e zoghal akhteh) and the more recent sour cherry sharbat (sharbat ‘e albaloo.)

But sharbat comes in many more wonderful flavors: quince, pomegranate, lemon, rhubarb, strawberry, mulberry, blackberry, raspberry or even key lime are each enchanting in their own particular way. One can also savour sharbats made with mint, rosewater, saffron, chicory, musk willow, sweet briars, palm pods, citron and orange blossom – ingredients that reflect the poetic nature of Persian cuisine. Whatever the flavor, sharbat hits the spot during the dog days of summer, reviving the body and soul, and in some instances even offering some type of medicinal benefit.

 What is the work of the thirsty one?
To circle forever ’round the well,
‘Round the stream and the Water and the sound of the Water,
Like a pilgrim circling the Kaa’ba of Truth
God’s wrath is His vinegar, mercy His honey.
These two are the basis of every oxymel.
If vinegar overpowers honey, a remedy is spoiled.
The people of the earth poured vinegar on Noah;
the Ocean of Divine Bounty poured sugar.
The Ocean replenished his sugar,
and overpowered the vinegar of the whole world.

The Mathnawi of Jalalu’ddin Rumi

♣

Our featured Persian beverage, Sharbat ‘e sekanjabin, is perhaps the oldest type of Persian sharbat, tracing its roots at least as far back as the 10th century, as noted and praised in the canons of medicine written by Ibn Sina (Avicenna) the Persian polymath.

The name ‘sekanjabin’ is an Arabized version of the original Persian term, ‘serkangabin’, a combination of the Persian words ‘serkeh’ (vinegar) and ‘angebin’ (syrup, sweetness), literally meaning ‘honeyed vinegar’. True to its name, sekanjabin is made with vinegar and honey.

Sweet and sour and infused with the heady scent and flavor of fresh mint, this sharbat was not only popular with the Persians, but also copied and favored by the ancient Greeks and Romans who knew it as oxymel.

The recipe is satisfyingly simple: after boiling honey and water, vinegar is added and the mixture is left to simmer. Fresh mint leaves are then added and the syrup is left to cool for at least an hour, or up to 24 hours for a stronger minty flavor. Sekanjabin, like all types of sharbat, is shelf-stable for a good year if stored in a cool, dark place.

Like all types of sharbats, sekanjabin is served diluted with ice water in a glass or pitcher — as a perfect sweet and sour palette tickling summer cooler cordial. (For a modern twist, sparkling water can substitute flat water.)

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‘Kahoo ‘va Sekanjabin’ | Crispy Lettuce with a Sekanjabin Dip

A distinct  feature of sharbat ‘e sekanjabin — rendering it unique amongst all the other types of sharbat — is that it can also be served undiluted as a dip and eaten with crisp fresh romaine lettuce leaves. This combo of crunchy lettuce and minty sweet and sour sekanjabin — known as “kahoo va sekanjabin” — is a delicious and healthy snack perfectly suited for hot weather. The very embodiment of summer for most Persians.

Kahoo sekanjabin is also among the traditional foods of sizdah bedar, the outdoor picnic that takes place on the last day of the Norooz (Persian New Year) celebration.

To make this, undiluted sekanjabin syrup is poured into a dipping bowl and lettuce leaves are arranged, petal by petal, around it. To eat, dip the lettuce into the sharbat – just as you would dunk a cookie in coffee.

Try it! But beware:  Heads of lettuce will vanish fast!

 “The one who tastes, knows. The one who tastes not, knows not. Don’t speak of a heavenly beverage; offer it at your banquets and say nothing. Those who like it will ask for more; those who don’t aren’t fit to drink it. Close the shop of debate and mystery. Open the teahouse of experience.”

Mawlana Yusuf Hamadani

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Thankfully, the tradition of making sharbat (while perhaps somewhat old-fashioned) survives and even thrives in Iran, at homes and in cafes. And many families continue to gather and enjoy the summertime pleasure of munching and crunching on Kahoo ‘va sekanjabin.

For the Iranians in diaspora, making and enjoying sekanjabin, the most ancient of Persian sharbats, to sip as or with lettuce as a dip, could be a delicious way to pay homage to and assuage their nostalgia for their ancient heritage. For everyone else, it’s just a sensible thing to experience as one of the fun pleasures of summer.

Go ahead! Sip some sharbat ‘e sekanjabin! Try it with lettuce too!

Sharbat ‘e Sekanjabin – Persian honey vinegar & mint cooler

Yields enough syrup to serve 4-6.

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup honey (or use sugar instead, but that’s not the Avicenna way, and it’ll be far less healthy for you)
• 1 cup filtered water
• 2/3 cup white wine or apple cider vinegar (I used and prefer apple cider vinegar)
• fresh mint sprigs (1-2 cups or a bunch)

And also:

• 1-2 heads of crisp Romaine lettuce (if making the lettuce-sekanjabin-dip snack)

1. Combine water and honey. With a wooden spoon stir and dissolve honey. Bring liquid to a boil and gently boil for 10-15 minutes. Skim foam as it appears.
2. Add vinegar, bring back to boil, and simmer for 30 minutes or longer until the syrup somewhat thickens.  Note: honey-based sekanjebin does not get quite as thick as sugar-based sekanjebin.
3. In the last 5 minutes, add the fresh mint.
4. Allow syrup to cool for at least an hour. If you prefer a stronger mint infusion, allow mint and syrup to diffuse longer, up to 24 hours.  Remove mint leaves and discard.
5. Pour syrup into a sterilized, airtight, dry bottle. Store syrup in a cool dark place (it will be shelf-stable for a good year) until ready to serve.

To drink:

Pour 3-4 tablespoons of sharbat syrup in a drinking glass (ideally a tall, frosted one)  Add a few ice cubes, dilute  with 1 cup (or more, to taste) of cold water. You can substitute flat water with sparkling water for a modern twist.

You can adjust the amount of sweetness, adding more or less water as desired. You can experiment with adding a bit more vinegar or lemon juice if you prefer a more tangy taste.

Stir till syrup has entirely dissolved. Garnish with a lemon slice, or a mint leaf and serve!

To enjoy as a dip with lettuce – the classic “kahoo Sekanjebin”:

Pour sekanjebin into a dipping bowl placed in the center of a big serving tray.  Arrange clean and dry lettuce leaves, petal by petal, around the dipping bowl. To eat, dip the lettuce into the bowl of sharbat – just as you would dunk a cookie in coffee. Crunch and munch!

Noosheh Jaan!