Iran
Rice as a discipline, herbs by the armful, and the sweet-sour edge that makes Persian food unmistakable.
Persian cooking is built on the balance between sweet and sour - pomegranate molasses, dried limes, barberries, unripe grape juice - and on rice treated as a craft rather than a side dish. Chelow is parboiled, drained and steamed until each grain stands separate, and the prize is tahdig, the golden crust from the bottom of the pot, lifted out in shards and fought over at the table.
The great slow dishes are herb-heavy to a degree that surprises people: ghormeh sabzi uses so much parsley, coriander, fenugreek and chive that the stew turns almost black, soured with dried lime. Fesenjan is stranger and older still - duck or chicken cooked down in ground walnuts and pomegranate until the sauce is thick and dark. Alongside them sit fresh herbs by the handful, flatbread baked to order, and yoghurt with cucumber and mint.
Sweets carry rosewater, saffron and cardamom rather than heavy sugar: gaz nougat from Isfahan, saffron ice cream shot through with frozen cream, and tea taken through a sugar cube held in the teeth.
- chelow kabab
- ghormeh sabzi
- fesenjan
- tahdig
- ash reshteh
- gaz
