A question for those who are familiar with Iranian/Persian cuisine?

Question

My son's school has an annual world-cultures festival, and I'm in charge of organizing the food for his classroom, which is representing Iran this year. Since I don't know all that much about Iranian/Persian food, I've been doing a lot of research in a short amount of time.

I found a delicious-sounding recipe for a pilaf made with bulgur wheat, toasted broken pasta, and dried fruit, but the recipe is from a book on "Eastern Mediterranean" food, and is somewhat vague about the origin of the recipe. The ingredients seem kind of Ottoman/Turkish to me. But then again, Iran is a big place with regional variations in food, and it does share a little slice of border with Turkey.

Will this do as an authentic Iranian/Persian recipe? Or should I just forget it and try something else? Thanks!

Answer 1

No, that sounds more Arab.  I would try something else like these:

Salade Shirazi is a very simple, healthy recipe that literally means Salad from Shiraz which is a city in Iran.  It's cucumbers, onions and tomatoes chopped up into fairly small pieces and seasoned with a dressing made of lemon juice, dried mint leaves, salt and olive oil to taste.  This is one of my favorite Persian recipes.

My favorite Persian dessert is Zoolbia.  I don't know how to make it off the top of my head but here is a recipe:

Ingredients

# 500 g starch

# 150 g yogurt(non-skim)

# 200 g sugar

# cooking oil

# 2-3 tablespoons rose water

Directions



      Mix starch, 1-2 spoons of sugar, and water, then add yogurt and mix well until the mixture is even and smooth.



      Heat oil in a pan until hot.

  

      Pour the mix through a funnel into the pan creating round lattice shapes about 5-6 cm in diameter.

  

      Turn heat down and fry fully on one side, then on the other.

  

      Mix well sugar, rose-water, and a glass of water.

  

      Heat until water comes to a boil, and the syrup thickens. Remove from heat.

  

      Soak zoolbia in the syrup for about 5 minutes, then serve.

Zoolbia is definitely something that the kids will like.  I hope this helps you!

Answer 2

The Middle East is one big country in many ways.  Things like  like falafel or hummous or tabbouli are found everywhere from Greece to Turkey to Israel to Iraq.  Often there are variations from country to country, but the foods would be recognized anywhere in the region.

The pilaf sounds delicious!  And relatively simple and easy to make.  And also not too 'strange' that it might scare people off.  When I think of Persian cuisine I think of kabobs, but they are a little more complicated.

Answer 3

Try Polow (steamed rice), Adas Polow, or Sabzi Polow different types of Kebabs (Sheesh Kebab), Khoresht (stews), and Halva for desert.