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Food and traditional dishes

 

In Iran there is a wide variety of dishes, a tangible testimony of the diverse cultures of this country.

 

Iranian cuisine is simply delicious. We mustn’t forget that Persians introduced many dishes to world cuisine. Whether in the big cities or in small villages one can eat in typical restaurants and we recommend you visit Iran’s tea houses. There are also traditional restaurants where one can taste excellent dishes and listen to live music or folk performances. In the larger cities one can also find restaurants that offer Western food.

 

Breakfast in Iran breakfast is between 7.00 and 9.30 in the morning. Lunch is normally served at midday but one can have lunch until 2 p.m. Dinner is normally served from 7.30 to 11 p.m.

Often banquets start very early and finish very late. Breakfast is an English-style breakfast and dishes are very tasty without being too rich. On a ten-day tour one has the opportunity to taste different specialities both at lunch and at dinner.

 

Starters
Yoghurt is one of Iran’s typical dishes and can be tasted in its different versions, natural or as a soup with walnuts and dried fruit together with spinach and musir. There are numerous, rich and tasty soups to try. Dolme and other starters are made with aubergines etc.

 

First courses
Persian dishes consist mainly of vegetables, pulses, meat and rice and offer a wide variety of flavours for all tastes. The “national” dish is “Chelow Kabab” consisting of long fine rice served with high quality lean meat. The rice is steamed and then served on a platter preferably in porcelain decorated with saffron whilst the meat is cut into long pieces and grilled.
This dish is accompanied by butter, egg yolk and sumac (wild berries). Sometimes the rice is also accompanied by chicken, vegetables, dried fruit and endless sauces (Khoresht). Juje Kabab consists of pieces of grilled chicken. Ghorme Sabzi stands out among the various sauces. It consists of meat, vegetables, black-eye beans and spices. Gheime is prepared with lamb meat, a lentil puree, potatoes, tomatoes and spices. Khoresht Fesenjun is made from veal, lamb or chicken, crushed walnuts, pomegranate juice and spices.

 

Pastry and bakery

As well as the Iran’s main dishes there are a wide variety of cakes and sweet and sour specialities and plenty of typical oriental pastry products.
We especially recommend Falude and the natural fruit juices like melon, water-melon, pomegranate, blackberry etc…

 

Fruit

At lunch melons, apricots and apples are always eaten. There are also more than sixty types of grapes.

 

Drinks

Among the traditional Iranian drinks there is Chay, a kind of tea served with great hospitality by Iranians (one can add a little sugar if one wants). The best way to accompany lunch is with fruit juices, bottled soft drinks, Iranian beer (maoshair), dugh (a yoghurt drink) or mineral water.

 

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