The atlas · A cuisine · Iran — the high plateau between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf

Persian

Also Iranian

Saffron rice with a golden crust, slow stews made sour with dried lime and pomegranate, and a heap of fresh herbs on every table — sweet, sharp and fragrant at once.

Where it comes from

Persian cooking is one of the oldest continuous cuisines in the world, and it travelled far. Through the Persian empires and then the wider Islamic world, its rice dishes, stews of meat with fruit and nuts, and sweets scented with rose water shaped kitchens from Istanbul to the Mughal court in India.

At its centre is rice, cooked with great care, and the khoresh — a stew — spooned over it. Cooks think in terms of balance: foods are called 'hot' or 'cold' by an old system of temperaments, and a meal is planned so that they even each other out.

Nowruz, the new year at the spring equinox, has its own dishes — herbed rice with fish, a green herb kuku, noodle soup — and is kept by Iranians wherever they live.

Where in it

  1. TehranThe capital, and its bazaar's great lunch: chelow kabab — kebab on buttered saffron rice with sumac and grilled tomato, sometimes a raw yolk stirred in.Kabab koobidehJoojeh kabab
  2. GilanThe green, rainy Caspian coast around Rasht: rice paddies, fish, garlic and sour flavours. Mirza ghasemi comes from here, and fesenjan is often traced to it.Mirza ghasemiFesenjan
  3. TabrizThe largest city of Iranian Azerbaijan, known for kufteh tabrizi — huge meatballs stuffed with egg, walnuts and dried fruit — and for its sweets.
  4. IsfahanThe old Safavid capital, known for gaz — nougat with pistachios — and beryani, spiced minced lamb cooked on a small flat pan and eaten on bread.
  5. ShirazCity of poets and gardens, known for Shirazi salad — cucumber, tomato and onion with unripe-grape juice or lime — and faloodeh, its frozen rose-water noodles.Faloodeh
  6. Mashhad and KhorasanThe north-east, where most of Iran's saffron is grown, and — further south, around Birjand — its barberries.Zereshk polo

How it cooks

Chelow
Rice parboiled, drained and steamed slowly under a cloth-wrapped lid, so every long grain stays separate.
Tahdig
The crust at the bottom of the pot — rice, bread or potato — fried golden in oil and butter and turned out whole.
Blooming saffron
Saffron ground with a pinch of sugar and steeped in hot water, then drizzled over rice and into stews.
Khoresh
Slow stews of meat with herbs, fruit or nuts, made sour with dried lime, pomegranate or unripe grapes.
Sabzi khordan
A plate of raw herbs, radishes, white cheese and flatbread on the table at every meal.

Always in the kitchen

saffronbasmati ricedried limesbarberriespomegranate molasseswalnutsrose waterturmericdried fenugreek leavesfresh herbs by the bunchyoghurtkashksumacadviehpistachiossour grapes

Cook from it

Tonight, with what's good in October

Its classics

PersianGhormeh sabziA deep green stew of herbs fried slowly in oil, with lamb, kidney beans and whole dried limes.No one here has made it yetPersianFesenjanChicken or duck stewed slowly in ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses until dark, thick and glossy — sweet and sour at once.No one here has made it yetPersianTahdigThe golden crust of rice fried at the bottom of the pot and turned out whole — the part everyone reaches for first.No one here has made it yetPersianKuku sabziA thick, deep-green frittata that's mostly herbs, bound with just enough egg, often with barberries and walnuts.No one here has made it yetPersianAsh reshtehA thick soup of beans, chickpeas, lentils, herbs and flat noodles, topped with kashk, fried onions and dried mint.No one here has made it yetPersianJoojeh kababPieces of chicken marinated in saffron, lemon and onion, grilled over charcoal and eaten with rice and a charred tomato.No one here has made it yetPersianKabab koobidehMinced lamb and grated onion pressed by hand onto wide, flat skewers and grilled over coals — served on saffron rice with butter and sumac.No one here has made it yetPersianMirza ghasemiAubergines charred whole over a flame, mashed with garlic, tomato and egg — smoky, rich and eaten with bread.No one here has made it yetPersianZereshk poloSaffron rice scattered with barberries fried in butter and a little sugar — jewel-red and sharp — usually served with chicken.No one here has made it yetPersianFaloodehFine starch noodles frozen in rose-water syrup to a crunchy, icy sorbet, sharpened with lime juice or sour cherry syrup.No one here has made it yet

Cooked here

No one here has cooked Persian yet.