A snack called “esnak” in Tehran, Iran
Hello hello hello! I am tempted to say: “Here’s your faithful blogger” but I have been terribly horribly shamefully remiss re both the “faithful” and the “blogger” part of that declaration and it’d be more correct to say “here’s your missing-in-action, flighty, hanging-her-head-in-shame blogger”. In my defense, gentle and oh so patient (& hopefully forgiving?) reader: I have been micro-blogging my heart out on a consistent basis. Might I suggest that if you’re inclined to get a daily fix of Fig & Quince goodness to follow along on my Instagram account? It is easy, it is quick, it is often delicious, and it has zero calories! What are you waiting for?
But yes, it has been a good few months since I’ve written here. A long enough absence where the WordPress dashboard is totally unfamiliar. Why oh why do the capricious WordPressing gods keep changing things around here? Ok, going off topic. So back on topic, here are some facts in no particular order as it pertains to yours truly:
- I am still in Iran and in fact I now live and work in Iran (full story on that later, but in a nutshell: I’m happy and it’s been a great decision, but I’m also homesick for New York and family and friends);
- I miss talking to you guys (a lot!);
- I have a trillion stories and recipes to share; and
- I feel super rusty and even nervous about getting back to blogging.
To break the ice and the dry spell and get warmed up and started, I’ll crack the old blogging knuckles (crunch crunch) and share a quick, random story about having a fast food snack called “esnak” (ha ha) in Tehran one day.
One day back in the summer, just a few weeks into coming to Iran, I decided to hop on a random bus and leave it to faith to take me where it might. And faith, or rather the creaky “Falakeh Dovom Sadeghieyeh” bus took me to its final destination, namely: the “Haft Teer Square.”
Before disembarking, I spied with my little eyes a graffiti writing on the wall that read: “Esnak Pat va Mat” with an arrow pointing downwards. I was both hungry and nosy, so I immediately followed the arrow upon disembarking from the bus.
Ascending a few steps and then following my nose down a very narrow passage I came to halt in front of a red and yellow metal kiosk, with a small window, inside a guy taking food orders. Think of it as a stationery food truck. Something like that. After perusing the offerings, all of them were called “esnak”, I found myself ordering a single serving of “esnak” and then tried to find a corner to sit and eat.
Do you see this red metal graffiti’d wall? Do you see the yellow wall just behind it? The kiosk vendor’s window was just between these two. There were also a few chairs in the impossibly narrow space. Most of which were occupied but I did find one to sit and gaze at my lovely hot and strange “esnak” and photograph it before digging in.
It doesn’t look that great in the photo, does it? But for 2000 Toman (less than a dollar) and handed to you piping hot and filled with gooey cheesy carb-ladden stuff, I wasn’t complaining and in fact, I have to say it hit the spot. I would not have turned down another serving if someone had offered, let’s say.
I was sitting just behind this wall (where apparently Ali Elnaz also occupied on 93/9/18) and it was totally a tight and narrow spot, but, it did offer an excellent unobtrusive opportunity for both graffiti watching and people watching.
This was months ago, but I still remember feeling rather cozy and happy as I sat there, eating my “esnak” snack, enjoying the rush of that awesome carb-loading satiated contentedness, and feeling by degrees less and less a stranger in my city of birth and original homeland.
So! Gentle Reader! Here it is, my first post after months of absence. It is somewhat lame – OK, let’s not ta’rof with each other and admit that it’s decidedly lame. But think of it as a junk food post! And I hope to hop back on the blogging wagon and deliver more quality and nutritious content soon, and on a regular basis. Somehow or other I’ve got to make the time. Because I miss blogging. I miss you. And like I said: I have a trillion and one stories to tell and it’d be a shame to keep it all inside. (Don’t forget to follow along on Instagram though, for daily peek into my second epic trip to Iran, OK?)
Boos boos and till soon!
