FOODIE FUN in IRAN: CAMEL CURRY STEW

Yazd:  Foodie Adventure in Iran.  Yazd is a big town in the desert. I suppose one might imagine finding camels in the desert, and according to different traditions, camels are part of the local diet. Luckily for me, I had the opportunity to try a very good local specialty. I had been invited by my friend in Yazd to have dinner and he suggested that I try the camel curry. I agreed and enjoyed it very much. Camel meat when cooked in a stew with potatoes looks and resembles beef from a cow, but the taste and texture is a bit different. I think I like camel meat better! I know it is much healthier than beef, as it is leaner and it has a good source of protein. The curry spices were expertly prepared and didn't overpower the taste of camel.

A natural yoghurt drink with some herb which tasted very similar to the Indian beverage "lassie". The yoghurt was made from cow's milk.

When I was living in the Gulf countries, I tried camel's milk. It was fresh and still warm. I found it tasted gamy but delicious. Camel's milk has much more vitamin C and also iron. I wish we could find camel milk and camel meat available outside of the Middle East.

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Abyaneh: A visit to a living museum town in the mountains

Abyaneh is a living museum town near Natanz, is one of the oldest towns in Iran. Most of the remaining inhabitants of this town are mainly elderly people, who speak in a dialect (Parthanian) special to this region. Many of the buildings here are made from red clay, and the roofs made from straw and clay.

This village is supposedly on the tourist path but luckily we were there at a time when we were the only tourists in the village, making it like a private place for us to explore.

We had to pass through the sensitive region near Natanz where the controversial nuclear power production was located. This area was sensitive due to the sanctions and political friction and we were told not to take any photos along the way as we were being monitored. Anti missile machinery as well as military camps were along the long road. We had to pass through this sensitive region twice and I was certainly glad when we had left it.

Since there are many photos of this town on the internet which are of better calibre than mine, I will select only a few of mine which I had a personal touch with.

Exploring this town makes one feel as if they had stepped back in time to the "days gone by"

 I took this man's photo not only because he was one of the younger people I have encountered in this town but also quite hunky and the "construction worker" type! I wonder what he uses the blade on his necklace for?

The women in this village have a special clothing which they are famous for which is only in this particular area.

This is a section where a memorial is made for all the "shahidi" those who were martyred in the Iran-Iraq war. The scars are still very evident and the heavy cost of that war is still felt around the country today.

A market selling locally produced goodies- Sampling the natural honey was wonderful but I couldn't bring it with me on the airplane so everything sampled from here remains a memory.

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Yazd: Desert area and Chak Chak Zoroastrian water temple

I love the desert. When I was living in the Gulf states I would go to the desert with friends to feel the power and experience the silence as well as camping and other kinds of fun. Riding through the desert of central Iran gave a feeling similar to the desert in America's West.

We went to visit Chak Chak Temple near a place called Ardakan. This temple is one of the most sacred of shrines in Zoroastrian beliefs.

 After a sunny climb up the mountain by steps, and reaching the temple,  we saw pilgrims camping out and bringing with them food. Other areas had groups of playful young lads in their twenties enjoying together the hookah pipe. I greeted them and two of them after greeting me told me that they were from Afghanistan.
When climbing up to the temple, we witnessed a dark cave like entrance ( which would be a perfect place for making wine) and a constant "drip drip" of water coming from a holy spring. 

We had to wear a head covering before entering the temple.

The wet floor was soothing for my feet as I walked barefoot in the temple!

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Yazd: Dakhmeh-ye-Zartushtioon or Towers of Silence. Zoroastrian burial grounds

 Yazd: Dakhmeh-ye-Zartushtioon or Towers of Silence. Zoroastrian Burial Grounds

This place has spooky vibes and this feeling became intensified as we arrived at dusk. A mountain towered over us and blended in among the mist which made the feeling even more exotic.

As I understand the story, Zoroastrian believers would carry their deceased up the mountain, ( it took me about 15 or 20 minutes to climb the mountain carrying nothing) where there is a huge pit in the centre. The corpse would be left there for vultures to chew and consume the corpse's flesh. Later, some acid would be poured over the remains to fully assist in the disintegration process. There were small buildings near by the mountain where each village would have their own gathering place before the procession up the mountain. 

When we reached the top of the mountain, it was completely dark and I was feeling especially spooked and really had a sense that I felt "something" up there. I was relieved and felt better when we were back on the ground and away from that mountain.

Lights from the distant city of Yazd.

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FOODIE FUN in IRAN: Aubergine soup

FOODIE FUN in IRAN

It is wonderful to experience local food! Iran is a large country and each region has a certain specialty. We wandered along the street and came across a small shop which made a soup which was made of aubergines. It was thick, smokey, and had a nice taste, a bit like a warm "baba ghanouj"( the Lebanese specialty) but soup and not a dip. some  nice dark, friend onions were on top! My favourite! It was real comfort food!

( photo of our group with our wonderful guide Mehdi )

I absolutely love the informal feel to small places to eat like this one. It reminds me of when I was living  in Doha, Qatar. Where there is a small hangout called Beirut restaurant and it is on Electronic street. It has a male atmosphere and simple food like this place, especially wonderful is the hummus and "khoobs"- later at night with friends!

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IRAN: An Iranian breakfast adventure

Breakfast was always a fun time and somewhat an adventure. Each region of Iran has a different kind of bread نان (non). There is a standard mass produced looking like of نان which looks like it was made in a conveyor belt and reminded me of those plastic bubble wrap. Once leaving Tehran and heading to different places like Shiraz or Yazd, the نان becomes more fascinating and made breakfast even more of an adventure.

We marvelled about the great tasting vegetables here in Iran. The tomatoes were especially marvellous and very tasty! 

Inside this heated container was some kind of chopped hot dogs with red sauce, probably made of chicken. I passed it up.

I especially liked trying these different jams on the exotic bread. I also brought some favourite tasting ones back home to my kitchen, even the Iranian feta cheese.

This bread was made over pebbles. I had to pick out some pebbles from the bread before they broke my teeth.

This is a good tasting jam. It needs a bit of cardamon!

My friend called this breakfast "dog biscuit" and a dollop of  the Iranian version of Nutella.

Dates were a wonderful staple to breakfast! In some places there was a sesame paste ( tahini) with sesame seeds over the dates and it was gorgeous to eat with نان !

There were various varieties of Iranian cheeses according to the region travelled to. I really enjoyed sampling them throughout the country.

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Iran: Tasting the local brew!

BEER! One of my favourite beverages! I really make it a point in what ever country I travel to that I taste the local brew of that country. Of course I have some favourite choices from around the world, but this time I travelled to Iran. The traditional beer which has alcohol is not legally available and since I don't know the proper contacts, this kind of beer could not be easily found in Iran, and there were no pubs to do any pub crawling anywhere, so I opted out and tasted the non alcoholic version which I found satisfying and, surprising that Iran produces so many with unique flavours! When I was living in the Persian/Arab "Khaleej" countries, I would drink the non alcoholic variety so I was already acquainted with it's palate.

Pomegranate flavoured beer- it was quite good really!

This reminded me of a shandy which would even be permissible for children but was good with the ubiquitous kabob.

 This same brand somehow tasted much better drinking from a glass bottle.

 Coffee flavoured beer (!!) A definitely acquired taste. Never again

 This was really one of the best beers (Delster) which I have come across in Iran and was especially good with an oily and fried dish. I've never seen it sold elsewhere in the country except in this one Tehran restaurant.

This is a famous German beer "Holstein" with lemon. It had a more "German flavour" to it as it had hops .   ( next to it is Zam Zam, I didn't taste that)

This was a nice beer too, and was similar to the "lemon" beers we had above, without the lemon of course!

When I was in Tehran, there is a small provisional shop which was near the Russian Embassy. There I managed to acquire a cold "BALTYKA" in an aluminium can. - non alcoholic of course :(
The can was written in Russian and also Farsi, but also read "Brewed in Russia".  Young guys, when looking at my clear plastic bag, had big eyes and pointed at it when they spied it out among the other tantalizing items I bought! Maybe they had the right idea about good tasting beer like I have and were also searching for the "right connection" as I was??

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Persepolis: Spending a day at one of the World's Greatest Historical Treasures

Persepolis:  Experiencing a day at one of the world's greatest historical treasures

There are remains of many sites of a  grandeur past in places around the world, and many which I have seen. I will admit that Persepolis was one which has impressed me the most. With a little imagination used, I was able to sense a brief window on how life was of days gone by. I didn't make too many photos of Persepolis as one could easily find expert quality photographs on the internet, far better than what I was able to make, but I am offering here some which were memorable to my experience there.

Persepolis was the ancient capital of the Archaemenid empire and was founded by Darius the Great over 500 BC. This place was the seat of government and the centre for ceremonies and receptions. It was the wealthiest city on the planet at that time with every kind of riches available in the different rooms in the palace. Unfortunately, party poopers like Alexander the Great along with the likes of others looted and destroyed their fabulous palaces due to jealousy, revenge ( for past invasions and destruction of Greek sanctuaries), and greed. Doesn't that sound  all too familiar today?

Whilst walking through I could imagine all the festivals, all the pomp and circumstance, the amazing costumes, imagining the palace hunky guys with their exotic attire posing and parading around, all the luxuriously decorated rooms, and the equally mystifying harem. I wondered what kind of secret activities happened in those places?

The photo below is one which portrays a story of delegates in their native clothing bringing gifts of gold, silver, food, animals cloth, etc. When I see this wall and I imagine the opening procession ceremony in the current Olympics games with all the people from each country arriving in their costume parading past, I imagine it is how it was in those golden years.

In this photo there are portrayals of different royal visitors, and I jokingly pose among the royalty as if I were also an invited important guest.

With the weather being hot and the strong sun relentlessly shining rays upon us wherever we went, we got a suntan as a souvenir from Persepolis. 
There were several handsome Persian guys walking around in their small groups which added to the fun as quick flirtatious smiles from fleeting guy groups happened as I pass them by with the group of guys I came with. That made my Persepolis experience even more memorable!

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