Iranian Cuisine - Iran - page 585

But it doesn't end there. Certain (usually downmarket) eateries and many chaykhanehs
(teahouses) specialise in underrated dizi (see the boxed text, below). Most restaurants will
also serve one or another variety of khoresht (thick, usually meaty stew made with veget-
ables and chopped nuts, then served with rice and/or French fries). However, in some less
popular restaurants khoresht can live in big pots for days before reaching the plate, so if
you have a suspect stomach think twice.
Dolme (vegetables, fruit or vine leaves stuffed with a meat-and-rice mixture) makes a
tasty change. Dolme bademjan (stuffed eggplant) is especially delectable. The Persian
classic fesenjun (sauce of pomegranate juice, walnuts, eggplant and cardamom served
over roast chicken and rice) is rarely found in restaurants, but you might get lucky and be
served fesenjun in an Iranian home, which is quite an honour.
In western Iran and on the Persian Gulf coast chelo mahi (fried fish on rice) is quite
common in season, while on the Caspian coast it's relatively easy to find mirza ghasemi
(mashed eggplant, squash, garlic, tomato and egg, served with bread or rice).
GETTING DIZI
Known alternatively as abgusht (or as piti in Azerbayjan), dizi is a cheap soup-stew meal named for the earthenware
pot in which it is served. It's considered by many Iranians as the food of the poor, but assuming you're neither a ve-
getarian nor obsessive about cholesterol, it's actually a delicious and filling dish. There is, however, an art to eating
it.
First, tear some bread into bite-sized morsels, put it into your bowl and drain the soupy broth from the dizi over
the top of the bread. Eat this then turn to the main ingredients left in the dizi : chickpeas, potatoes, tomatoes and
soft-boiled mutton. Grind these together using the provided metal pestle; do include the inevitable chunk of fat
which while looking unappetising does add taste and texture. Eat the resulting mush with a spoon or bread.
If it gets too hard fear not, the waiter will show the way.
Dessert & Sweets
While after-meal dessert is often a bowl of fruit, Iran produces such a head-spinning array
of freshly made shirini (sweets) that sweet-toothed travellers might remember the country
by its regional specialities.
Esfahan Gaz, rosewater-flavoured nougat, often with pistachio.
Kerman Colompe, a soft, date-filled biscuit.