Persia brings to mind images of beauty and luxury, and Iran brings to mind images of an oppressed people - two distinct images that are hard to reconcile. The beauty of Persia remains, but it is obscured by the current government regime. But enough political commentary, that is so far away from what this blog is all about!
I'll stick with the beauty of the country, and the interesting options for its cuisine. Like the entire European and Middle Eastern areas, all of these countries have a lot of influence on each other's cuisine. It was hard to find a national dish, other than rice! So, of course, I made rice - Kateh, to be specific. There are more than a few ways of making rice in Iran, which I found surprising! Kateh is pretty much the most basic method of making basmati rice, but that being said, it turned out perfectly - not too wet & clumpy and not burnt & dry, so it made the perfect bed for the Khoresht Ghaarch - a simple chicken dish with mushroom sauce, made deliciously tasty by the addition of lime juice and saffron. On the side I had Salad-e Shirazi, a simple salad of diced cucumber, tomato & onion. flavoured with lime juice & mint.
As for my choice of beverage, I had water with my meal. There were no alcoholic beverages available, which is not surprising since the use of alcohol is forbidden by sharia law, so water seemed like a reasonable choice! I must say, the meal was so flavourful that water was the perfect choice!
be salâmati!
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