Category: Foods & Drinks

As a vast country with diverse local traditions, one of the highlights in traveling to Iran can be the pleasures of the table. In every city and geographical region, there are many foods to try and there are certain dishes that you can find almost everywhere. But all these diversity can be but in certain categories so when reading a strange name like “khoresht Gheimeh” you would be able to know some basic things about the food. The generic names: “Kabab” is a generic name that basically means grilled meat. So anytime you see this name you know basically what it is. That being said, there are many different types of Kabab from fillet (Barg) to grind lamb or beef (Koubideh) to chicken (Jujeh). In many cities and regions different seasonings are added to meat so remember this is only a generic name. Kabab is usually served in two ways, one is with vegetable sidings including grilled tomato and fresh mint and basil leaves, and also with cooked rice: “Polo” or “Chelo”. These are two different ways of cooking rice but almost similar. “Khoresht” is another generic name that covers a big category of different dishes. Khoresh or Khoresht is a kind of stew, usually rich and thick, which is served with Polo. you will put some of the Khoresh on the Polo and eat them together. There are many types of Khoresht including “Ghormeh Sabzi” which has a combination of many vegetables in it, to “Gheymeh” which has split pea and fried potato, and many many more. “Ash” make another big category. It is basically a soup but usually richer. It can have vegetables, or meat or pasta-noodle shaped dough in it. These dishes are served for lunch and dinner. For breakfast, in addition to the usual stuff like

Part Three Drinks Tea and mostly black tea is the main drink, in fact, it is not consumed only during breakfast, but also throughout the day. It is also possible to prepare a particular drink at home, which can also be bought packaged, based on carbonated water, yogurt and added natural flavors (dùgh). In addition to the aforementioned beverages, the Iranians usually drink coffee, carbonated soft drinks, and non-alcoholic beer, as the Muslims’ religion forbids them to drink any alcoholic beverages. Spices A large variety of spices (Adviègiàt in Persian) are used: especially onion, garlic, coriander, parsley, saffron, chili, cinnamon, dried rose petals, and turmeric, also known as saffron of the poor. These are added especially during the cooking of meat and pasta dishes, even if the typical Iranian cuisine is not too spicy. vegetable Vegetables are widely used in cooking and in great variety, such as leek, parsley, and dill in the most popular Koresh such as Ghormehsabzi and Celery Khoresht (Karafs). Most of the vegetables are eaten raw, except for the spinach that is cooked instead.Condiments Among the main condiments, corn and sunflower oil (sometimes very dense) is widespread, while olive oil is rarely used because it is very expensive. Butter is mainly used for the preparation of desserts. As mentioned previously, yogurt is also used as a condiment. The yogurt sauce is served more or less thickened, with the addition of garlic or celery. **The Pictures are taken from websites of The Iranian Project, Friendly Iran and I live in Frying Pan

Part Two The Main Meals The main meals are lunch, dinner, and breakfast. Sometimes the Iranians make snacks based on tea or fruit. Especially with regard to fruit, they do not have the habit of eating it in basic meals, but they are used to nibbling dried fruit and nuts, especially during the evening snack: nuts, almonds, raisins, pistachios, dates, and figs. Fruit is also a food that plays an important role in this country, and beyond the normal use is sometimes used to season meat and rice. Breakfast During breakfast, it is possible to taste yogurt which, as mentioned previously, is the main food of this culture or Iranians usually take tea. Various types of this drink are widespread, among which some are with the addition of dried fruit. They replace the tea with milk (mostly cow milk but in some villages, it’s also goat's and donkey's, although they are less used.) Sometimes everything is accompanied by bread, butter, jam, broad beans, cheese and eggs that can be boiled or fried. In recent years, even biscuits and rusks, which are the result of the fast life and colonizing markets, have become part of the Iranian eating habits. In poorer families sometimes a cereal soup is prepared: this custom is typical of less well-off families as it represents a very nutritious dish, but at the same time very economical. Lunch or Dinner As main meals, rice (Berènj), especially the type of "dom'siàh" (black tail) is mostly served. This type of rice, growing in the Caspian Sea region, has a long, thin grain and is mainly steamed. In many typical dishes, rice is paired with meat, fish or vegetables.  Also, legumes play a fundamental role; in fact, after rice, they are the most used ingredient either alone or in single vegetarian

Part One Mythology and Ancient Documents You can trace typical Iranian cuisine back to the earliest documents, such as the “myths of Zahak” and before that. In the legends, the art of cooking was related to the demons. But the oldest manuscripts about Iranian culinary history dates back to the Sasanian empire (224 to 651 AD). In the Pahlavi language, "Khaligari" means culinary, which is the most prominent trace of Iranian cooking. In the treatise of “khosrow and Ridag” which is related to the debate between Khosrow Parviz (the Sasanian emperor) and one of the courtiers (591 to 628 BC), there is a discussion between the two of them about the best foods, beverages, games, perfumes, horses etc. It discusses several categories of foods and types of cookies, such as warm meat dishes, cold meat meals, beverages, sweets, and jam. An interesting point about Iran's culinary history is that many Arabic methods, recipes, and reforms in food have been borrowed from Persian cooking traditions. There are some poets like Ferdowsi and Sa'albi which talked a lot about food but there is so much difference between what there was on the ancient kings' table and the cuisine we are familiar with today. Naturally, hunted meat, scarce and expensive materials should be expected. But, of course, people of this land have eaten their simpler and cheaper food and the main source of Iranian culinary should be searched there. The Today Cuisine The origin of today's dishes of this kitchen is based on products that derive from breeding, an always dominant activity, then with a lot of meat, cut into small pieces (often minced), a lot of yogurt, dried vegetables, and fresh or preserved fruit. Among the most typical dishes, we find “khoresh” (Iranian meat cooked with fried or baked vegetables and beans,

The people of Shiraz care a lot about good food. That’s why there are lots of restaurants with a high variety of food in this city. Haft-khan restaurant is one of the best places. Before this and while talking about the old region of Shiraz, we recommend that you have your meals in Haft Khan restaurant. Here we can talk a bit more about this amazing restaurant. We think that all visitors of Shiraz should at least try this restaurant once and that is because it has good service, high quality of food, and interesting architecture; moreover, it offers a combination of a high variety of food. The name of this restaurant was derived from a book of poetry named Shahnameh, by the great Persian poet Ferdowsi, in which he talks about Haft Khan. Haft Khan means seven stages or seven stories that Rostam, one of the main heroes of this book, had to pass through to free his king from the prison. At each stage which was called a Khan, he had to fight the difficulties that he faced. In Persian, the word Khan also means table linen, on which food is served. Thus, there is a delicate play of words between Khan (table linen) and Khan (stage). This complex is made of seven restaurants on different floors:                              The First Khan (Forood) Basement, Iranian Traditional Food This section has used a mixture of Islamic muqarnas and modern architecture in its interior design and traditional food is served with good music.   The Second Khan (Sindokht) ground floor, Iranian Traditional food in an all-you-can-eat buffet  The very same foods of the first khan are served in an all-you-can-eat buffet. There’s a Sangak (A famous Iranian bread) bakery on this floor and we suggest that you stop and take a