Iranian Cuisine

[alitezar]

Iranian cuisine is one of the most diverse in the world and one of the most well liked cuisines by people of different cultures around the world.

The yummiest kabobs that you can ever have in the whole Middle East are in Iran. Food portions are very reasonable, taste is great plus Iranians love rice as you can see in the pix but are also in shape still,which is good

Persians eat their food with Spoon & Fork as chinese eat with chapsticks or in the west they use fork & knife. Plus it will take forever to finish a Persian meal by fork & knife because of the rice

Pics are from Picasa, courtsey of Mohammad & Arashz and some from Google too

I'm too lazy to name all these great yummy foods First the most popular Persian dish: Koobideh Kabob with Rice



Barg Kabob



Chicken Kabob





Shami- Beef

[alitezar]

Alborz- A famous restaurant inTehran that makes huge kabobs as long as 70 CM or more







Dolmeh (Stuffed Green Pepper)

[alitezar]

KooKoo Sabzi- vegetable



Mixture of Kabobs



Zereshk Polo, polo means Rice in Persian



Shekar Polo = Sweet Rice



Sabzi Polo= Vegetable Rice



Albaloo Polo= Cherry Rice- My love

[alitezar]

Kabobs



Kookoo what a funny name



Aash





Tahchin







Gheymeh Stew



Shole Zard - Sweet for dessert



Koofteh= Meatballs



Beef Esteroganov

[alitezar]

Salad Olivieh- I think this originated in Russia



Shirazi Salad- Mixture of chopped, tomato, onion & cucamber





Fesenjan Stew- Pomegranate Sauce, walnuts and chicken

[alitezar]

Famous Iranian Caviar







Persian Style Pizza- Simply the best with so much ingredients



Zereshk Polo & Chicken





Crunchy Rice, the rice at the end of the pot & so tasty

[alitezar]

Now some real party foods

[alitezar]

Potato as the crunchy part of rice

[alitezar]

For breakfast, mostly chese, jam, Walnut, Dates, cucamber, tea & Bread are served

[alitezar]

Now Persian Sweets

Shirini= Sweet

Khoshk= Dry







Theer are awesome bakeries around Tehran

[sinasina]

wow ali, eyval baba

u r making me crazyyyyyyyy

mer30

[Halawala]

I am officially HUNGRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The food looook ssooo tastey!

[BaRrZaKh]

this thread making me so hungry!!


eyvall!!

[babalulu123]

daastet daard nakone, Ghaaza faghaat ghaazaye iran!!

[shugs]

Lovin this thread... although some of the dishes don't look very very appetising, that's a sorry lookin sabzi polo and the mounds of kebab koobideh... The rest look delicious

[alitezar]

Glad you all liked them

[Persan]

Originally Posted by shugs

Lovin this thread... although some of the dishes don't look very very appetising, that's a sorry lookin sabzi polo and the mounds of kebab koobideh... The rest look delicious

Iranian food is generally healthy and delicious. However, it's rarely presented in an appetizing manner. Taste is only part of the experience and a lot of the food above (with a few exceptions of pictures from food served in Western-style homes) doesn't look appetizing to those not accustomed to the taste of Persian food.

There is a movement to change this lack of aesthetic beauty by foreign based Iranian chefs such as Najmieh Batmanglij. You can buy Ms. Batmanglij's book New Food of Life for more recipes and ideas.

I think Iranian restaurants (outside and especially in Iran) need to learn how to present their food in a attractive manner as well. I've gone to Iranian restaurants in the UK, the USA and Canada with my non-Iranian friends and coworkers and their presentations were average at best. There was one exception, the Shiraz Restaurant in Singapore which had some of the most beautifully served dishes I've ever seen:


Shiraz-style Salad (saladeh-Shirazi) | Yoghurt and spinach salad (borani-e esfenaj)


Pomegranate and pistaschio meatball (kofteye-anaro-pesteh) | Herb Stew (Khoresh-e qormeh-sabzi)


Okura and Tomato stew (Khoresh-e bamiye) | Dill and fava bean rice with lamb shank (baqala-polo)


Shrimp Kebab (kababe-meigu)


Mixed Kebab platter


Persian Sweet Delights


Saffron rice pudding (sholeh-zard)

If in Singapore, be sure to visit the Shiraz Restaurant. They even have a really good wine selection (Syrah) for different meals.

[avicenna]

my heart sank when I saw the albaloo polo. Khielly vakhteh havasesh kardam!

[shugs]

Originally Posted by Persan

Iranian food is generally healthy and delicious. However, it's rarely presented in an appetizing manner. Taste is only part of the experience and a lot of the food above (with a few exceptions of pictures from food served in Western-style homes) doesn't look appetizing to those not accustomed to the taste of Persian food.

As you said It's down to where you are eating, the standard, price and quality of service, Persian restaurants in general are lazy with presentation because as you said, their main customer base are accustomed with the food, but it's no excuse when one is serving paying customers... When I was managing my parents' Persian restaurant last year I prized myself on a high standard of presentation and had a very large local customer base of English people (as not very many Iranians live in my home town)... Iranian food is very easy to present well, it's all down to the standard of the restaurant...

[Jonesy55]

It looks good to me, who cares if the presentation isn't perfect, it all goes down the same way!

This might be a good thread to ask a question.

I recently bought a packet of ground Sumac, a sort of purple, slightly sour berry which I believe is commonly used in Iranian cuisine. I was wondering if anybody had some suggestions of recipes using it. I've tried it as a rub on some sea bass which I grilled and it tasted good but if anybody has some authentic Iranian recipes that would be great.

Thanks