- Iranian foods:
Maybe the flavor of Iranian cuisine is the best memory of most tourists, during visiting Iran. This statement is not an exaggeration, because there are many delicious foods for any taste in Iranian cuisine. Most of Iranian dishes consist mainly of rice, bread and meat.
Iranian people use mainly turmeric powder, salt, pepper, shallot powder, garlic powder, and curry powder as spice.
More than three hundred unique dishes are cooked only in Iran, and most of them are cooked only in their place of origin, like ‘Sholeh’ which is cooked only in Khorasan province for just thirty days each year.
Some notes:
- Be aware that some of them are cooked only in a short period of time like ‘Sholeh’.
- Some of them are cooked generally in all of Iran, like ‘Dizi’, ‘Ghormeh-Sabzi’, ‘Halim-Bademjan’, ‘Tah-Chin’, ‘Zereshk-Polo’, ‘Kashk-o-Bademjan’, ’Ash-e-Reshteh’, ‘Joje-Kebab’, ‘Baghali-Polo’, etc. There might be, however, a little difference in their taste or recipe from place to place.
- Don’t be confused if you hear several names for the same kind of food. Some foods are divided into several sub-branches, like ‘Kebab’. There are more than twenty different kinds of Kebabs cooked in Iran, e.g. ‘Kebab-Brag’, ‘Kebab-Bakhtiyari’, ‘Dandeh-Kebab’, ‘Kebab-Soltani’, ‘Kabab-Kobideh’, etc., each of which is worth a try.
*All different kinds of Kebab (except ‘Joje-Kebab’) are made from red meat*
- As mentioned before, some foods are cooked only in one province or city (or even village), so if you look for a specific food, make sure you are in the right place and right time.
- You are not likely to find some Iranian foods in restaurants; they are homemade, like ‘Talkhineh’ or ‘Eshkeneh’. If you want to try them, you had better find an Iranian friend.
- Some foods are cooked only in a specific time of the day, like ‘Ash-e-Shirazi’ (only cooked at dawn).
Some of the most popular foods in Iran:
- different kinds of Kebab
- ‘Dizi’
- ‘Kashk-o-Bademjan’
- ‘Gormeh-Sabzi’
- ‘Ash-e-Reshteh’
Iranian Drinks:
There are various delicious drinks made in Iran Like foods, some of them are general over Iran and some others are specific to one region.
Crucial note: all alcoholic drinks are forbidden in Iran (buying, selling, drinking), and you are not allowed to bring them to Iran.
Some Iranian drinks:
- There is a good alternative for those who are looking for bear (beer drinkers) in Iran called ‘Ma-o-Shair’. It tastes like beer without alcohol. It is also available in different tastes (flavored).
- ‘Doqh’ is, without doubt, the most popular drink among tourists. Technically it is made from milk, but you cannot even imagine its taste.
There are some types of ‘Dam-Nush’, literary meaning hot drinks, made in Iran, like red tea, ‘Bahar-e-Naranj’, sour cherry, ‘Ostokhodos’, comomile, ‘Gol-Gav-Zaban’ echium amoenum, etc. It is highly recommended to taste some of them. They are mainly served in traditional coffés.
Persian Sweets:
Mostly, Each city or village has its own sweets; there are so many of them. They mostly are affordable and found in abundance.
Some popular sweets in Iran are:
‘Masghati’ in Fars province, ‘Nan-Berenji’ in Kermanshah province, ‘Koloche-Foman’ in Gilan province, ‘Angosht-Pichak’ in Hamedan province, ‘Polaki’ and ‘Gaz’ in Isfahan province, and ‘Palude’ in Fars province.
