It helps when the language borrowed the same word from English. "Fast food" restaurants are very popular throughout Iran, although the standard and options are quite different. In this entry we share some delicious snacks we've tried in Iran.
Crunchy Potatoes
Similar to South East Asia, the crispy rice at the bottom of the bowl are beloved here. In addition to this, they may use potato slices instead and this gets cooked at the bottom of the pot. We watched our host made this and it's quite a bit of work: the rice is first cooked before being transferred into a bowl, then the potato slices are placed at the bottom of the pot with some oil, and the rice is transferred back.
Popcorn Mushroom
Commonly found in cafes and fast food restaurants. These delicious fried nibbles are served with a few dried thyme sachets. Mushroom is surprisingly cheap here, costing about the same as vegetables, unlike in New Zealand where they can cost as much as meat.
Broad Beans
Street food are very popular here, especially at night when people are more active. These boiled (then simmered) brown broad beans are a favourite snack, served with various spices and herbs. Usually the seller will have two big pans of broad beans and beetroot simmering away all night.
Sheep Kebab
Our host really wanted us to try this local delicacy: sheep testicles kebab. It mustn't have been too bad since we couldn't remember how it tasted. If you like to try it was in the Mazandaran province.
Date Biscuit
Found in the date capital of Iran, these date biscuits are a popular gift from Kerman city. They are like shortbreads with date fillings. They're best eaten with tea as they stick to your teeth.
Ice Cream
Given a choice between soft serve and ice block, which would you think costs more? As it turned out, the ice blocks were very cheap and we had one everyday it got hot. The soft serves were good too and being so cheap we had them all the time without thinking about the price.
Pizza
The Hawaiian pizzas really shouldn't exist according to the Italian, well wait till they find what's here! It looks delicious and smells great, but surprise - there's potato chips under the toppings. The chips become soggy but that might be how Iranians like their pizza.
Sweet Squiggly Whitebait
This deep friend sweet isn't actually whitebaits. The eyes are from black sesame and the sugar coating makes it shiny. "Zulubiya" is made of flour and can be found in Shiraz.
Spring Onions Bread
"Kalaneh" is made with chopped spring onions and cooked on a convex shaped pan. It is served with oil and we had it for lunch with doogh. It is commonly found in the bazaar at Marivan.
This post was taken from our personal blog PedallingContinents on WordPress: https://pedallingcontinents.wordpress.com/2019/02/27/dear-food-diary-7-iran/
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