In the summer of 1976, I visited Iran. After a few days in Tehran, I traveled to a resort on the Caspian Sea, stopping by a riverside restaurant for grilled freshly-caught fish. Later I found myself in Isfahan, with its exquisite palaces and mosques, its silk looms and silversmiths. The soft colors—peaches, blues, greens—and sinuous lines of the frescoes and brilliant blues of the exterior tile work were breathtakingly beautiful.
The food was also refined and exotic. There were herbed stews, delicious condiments (garlic cloves pickled for years, I was told, in red wine), a brilliant red cherry jam, and buttered flatbread fresh from the brick oven for breakfast; there were lamb kebabs marinated in lemon and herbs for dinner. With almost every meal there was chello, long grain white rice, with a crispy, golden crust. If you got a large piece of tahdig with your serving, you knew you were an honored guest. A perfectly-made tahdig, crunchy yet delicate, was the mark of a fine cook.
A simple, refreshing yogurt soup is frequently served during the hot, humid summers. Here, the pistachios, raisins, and pomegranate arils add bursts of color, crunch, and flavor, tempering the tartness of the yogurt. —creamtea
If you’re into raita (an Indian cucumber/mint/yogurt sauce that goes with everything), you’ll like this soup. It’s creamy from the yogurt, sweet/tart from the pomegranate and raisins, and the cucumber and pistachio add different kinds of crunch. My mode of destruction was pita chips, though creamtea’s suggestion of (hot!) pita and/or naan sound amazing, too. I forgot to salt the cucumber and shallot, and it didn’t make the soup watery, so you might be able to get away with not doing it. —Heather | Delicious Not Gorgeous
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