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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A stroll through Kashan

Kashan is an interesting city. There are historic houses  which are decorated like palaces from the personal wealth made from selling Persian carpets throughout the years. 

There also is a famous garden called "Fin garden". The arrangement of plants and the reflecting pool were very beautiful. The hamam in the garden, where the famous politician Amir Kabir was executed, was beautiful and, sad in a way, was a beautiful hamam.

quiet honestly, if Kashan were one of the first places on our journey around Iran I probably would have appreciated them better. There were many very beautiful gardens and fascinating historical palaces and buildings throughout Iran.
The ancient burial grounds of the first prehistoric inhabitant in the Kashan area was of great interest, but we unfortunately arrived at closing time and we passed through the gates and quickly had a sneak preview.

                        Siyalk Hillocks

I suppose what impressed me most about my visit to Kashan was in the evening after everyone was comfortably settled in the hotel. We wandered off for something other than hotel food, and strolled down the street near our hotel. The hotel we stayed at was a four star and had a sterile feeling to it compared to the lovely traditional Persian places we stayed throughout our Iranian journey, so we wandered off together for some evening local flavour.

 It was the holiday of EID and the Sacrifice ( Qorban  قربان) beginning that evening. One could see young lads, and sometimes older lads having what looked like a tug or war, or tug of life with a camel. Pulling the camel down the road and leading it to be slaughtered for the festival.
Alongside the street were food stalls where people cooked and were selling local food for the festival. We approached an attractive man selling what appeared to be large boiled beet roots, 

 also large kettles of home made soup, stews, beans as well as some other unidentified but probably delicious substance.
After some gesturing and, later with the help of some kind females who met us along the way, translated for us the price we should pay. We enjoyed a tasty stew of vegetables and perhaps meat, as well as a bowl of beans and some soup. It was great fun!

Wandering some ways closer to our hotel, we found a gelatto shop, Iranian style! I could read Farsi, and some of the names are shared with Arabic so I was able to translate the menu of gelatto flavours for my two friends. Our choices were very delicious, perhaps home made with local ingredients and, most of all, very cheap!

I hope to return and experience more of local Kashan in the future and get to know its character better.

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Abyaneh: Where to Eat

Abyaneh: Where to Eat

Wandering around the living museum town of historic Abyaneh was fun because during the time we were there no other tourists were around. In that town there were no visible places to eat, except when upon leaving the town we came across this restaurant. It seemed to be the only place to eat. 

Inside the restaurant there was a definite feel that it catered to tourists as the servers seemed to have an attitude like those in restaurants which cater to big tourist trap locations. Having said that, there still was a "country feel" to the food, the way it was presented and the taste. I appreciated that aspect of it.

The ubiquitous kabob with saffron rice, but the grilled tomatoes were lovely!

Yoghurt with shallots.

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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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Esfahan: Happy exploring around Esfahan

Esfahan: Some fun and interesting things I encountered whilst happy exploring around Esfahan.

This is a shop which makes and sells pomegranate ice cream. It was novel, refreshing and probably healthy!

An Iranian version of the Colonel. Since there are no relations between the USA and Iran, many kinds of trademarks are not followed here. Very refreshing and at times humourous!

Well, At least they are being truthful!

Trying to capture the colour

A visit to a man who lives and makes cloth by hand in a cave!

Ancient Mosque in Esfahan

Armenian Church in Esfahan. Esfahan was the cross roads and Christian churches were throughout. 

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Near Persepolis: An outdoor restaurant after a visit to Persepolis

We arrived at a restaurant named Laneh Tavous, which was an outside restaurant in a shaded area. This was a nice change of environment after visiting Persepolis which was very sunny.
This restaurant had a feeling of being invited to lunch at a back garden party of someone's long time Italian auntie. The trees provided the perfect shade, and a fountain sent off a steady mist which cooled the air where we were sitting. We had various Persian foods to sample. I felt that the serving staff were rushed and were feeling tired, so I chose to stay away from any encounters with them which would possibly taint the mood of the playfulness and the feeling we were enjoying during that day. Anyway, we had a pleasant lunch and were satisfied for the drive back to Shiraz.

A yummy kabob with vegetables

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Tehran: Dining at famous Pardis ( Pardiso) Restaurant in Fashionable North Tehran

While visiting around the more upscale North Tehran, we went for a nice lunch in the famous "Pardis" (Pardiso) Restaurant on Vali Asr Street. This busy restaurant at first looks like a fast food place as the photos showing the different food choices reminded me of a Taco Bell shop, but when looking at the more well heeled "aunties and uncles" patrons as well as a local celebrity, whose appearance was brought to everyone's attention, we came to learn that this was not an ordinary place to go. 

photo: website

I enjoyed a local favourite which was made with fried aubergine and rice and topped with a nice crusty and crispy rice layer on top. It was very filling, and the local non alcoholic beer really hit the spot. A perfect lunch!

After lunch we drove further around North Tehran and visited the White Palace, a former palace of the Shah and Queen which was away from the busy city. The air was clean, and the temperatures were somewhat cooler.  We also went to a favourite haunt where modern young Tehranis would go to hang out, smoke hooka pipe and take a lift to the top of a mountain where one could see a bird's eye view of Tehran. It was windy and dusty, but a great view of Tehran! ( and all it's smog!)

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