Diversity of Iranian cuisine
Iranian food is initial part of Iranian heritage .The ingredients shows vast geography of Iran, whereas many dishes are common to all parts of country and served in similar ways ,with minor regional and individual variations .Major determinant of Persian cuisine is related to its agricultural products which is précised to different types of grain and Halal meats
Rice and wheat are the ingredients which play important role in Persian culinary which many stews & dishes are prepared by this two component. over long period of time rice became a staple diet in realm of Iran, it served with every conceivable combination of Halal meats ,vegetables and fruits mixed in to it ,or accompanied as side dishes .
Rice is the main ingredient in several categories of dishes like (fesenjonفسنجون)(plum stew خورشت الو)(باقالی پلو broad bean stew with lamb) and so on, which are really mouth-watering .
Iranian bread
Iran like any other realm has its own types of bread that are mentioned as below :
- Nan_e barbari(نان بربری ) :thick and usually oval-shaped
Its worth mentioning that all kinds of Iranian breads are prepared by wheat flour but a different curing process & different percentage of bran .
2. Nan_e Lavash(نان لواش ) :thin ,crispy and mostly round or oval shaped ,also least nutritious among the Iran’s breads
3.Nan_e sangak(نان سنگک): triangle-shaped bread that is mostly stone- baked its also the most nutritious one .
4.Nan_e tafton (نان تافتون ):Thin ,but thicker than Lavash ,soft &round
For more information about diffrence of breads in detail please check this link
A distinguishing feature of Persian cuisine is the use of fruits in cooking ,aside from jams & preserves. quinces, apples ,sour grapes ,cherries or fresh and dried lime are used in stews & soups that is called Ash in Farsi. The traditional drink accompanying Iranian dishes is called « Doogh»,which is combination of yogurt , water (or soda)& dried mint .
National dishes (Iranian cuisine)
Abgoosht is another favorite dishes among Iranian, its Persian & Mesopotamian soup that is called Dizi in Iran. Abgoosht is usually made of lamb ,chickpea ,white bean, onion, potato & sometimes tomato ,turmeric and black lime .The ingredients are combined together and cooked until well done ,at this point the dish is strained then the solids are mashed &served with the broth, but in separate dishes along with sangak bread or Lavash .
Kebab is other famous dish in Iran .it may consist of different kinds of Halal meat & saffroned Persian rice. Kebab is served throughout Iran today with grilled tomato & sumac. Two skewers are usually served in restaurants out of three most common kebab (ground beef meat skewerکوبیده )or (shish kebabشیشلیک) and Last one on below picture is called barg kebab(کباب برگ ) which is made of steak lamb on skewer and also is the most expensive one.
Not only there are few restaurants in Alamut valley which served Kebab & Abgoosht (dizi) for tourists .but also there are some eco lounges that served both traditional and common national dishes like Alamut hustel along with accommodation.
Vegetarian &Vegan in Iran
Along with non vegetarian food which were mentioned before Iran has many vegetarians food like koko sabzi/kuːkuː – sæbziː /(کوکو سبزی )or mirza ghasemi/miːrzɑː – gɑːsemiː /(میرزا قاسمی )or kashke bademjan/kæʃk -e- bɒdemdʒɑːn/(کشک بادمجان )and the easiest one that you could find in almost any street is falafel /fælɑːfel/(فلافل) which is prepared only by lentils, you can serve it as sandwich .
I grew up in Persian background & somehow be vegetarian was undefined in our culture but its getting acceptable nowadays , I m trying hard and do my best to be first semi vegetarian then completely vegetarian … be cause immediately changing a diet is not wise step to improve lifestyle .