IRAN--Food

Many people have asked us about the food in Iran. It was great, healthy and plentiful. Our guide told us that Iran grows enough food to supply the needs of the Iranian people. All this in spite of not having an obvious supply of water. They have few rivers for a country of their size and must depend on other sources.

On our first day of touring we were visiting several smaller museums in a complex that used to be palaces. At lunch time we ate at an outdoor restaurant at the site where the lunch was served family style. I think our guide ordered food to help us make a transition from American cuisine as we had fried trout and French fries, yogurt sauce, fresh veggies and a large platter of rice trimmed with saffron rice and barberries.

At a later meal, we had a more traditional offering of kabobs, both fish and lamb, which had been cooked over charcoal, numerous fresh veggies including vine ripened tomatoes, and more rice. Dessert was often melon or ice cream. The lamb or beef was often minced (ground), flavored with herbs, and molded around a flat kabob skewer….very tasty.


When we were traveling from site to site (or city to city) we often stopped at a small roadside café for the locals. Our group included 18, counting the bus driver and guides, so the local owner often was scurrying around to get food ready for us. He was called a bit ahead to prepare, so when we arrived the meat was on the charcoal cooker and the rice was boiling. The food was tasty, and we never went hungry, even though I must admit some of the stops were interesting!!!




Often in the gathering spaces…parks, etc. there were snacks available . The roasting corn always looked and smelled good. We tried it once and it was good. The cooked fava beans were sold by the cupful and were enjoyed by young and old alike.

Iranians love their ice cream and we enjoyed it too!! They have the usual flavors: chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and also rosewater and saffron. Since Iran produces a lot of saffron they use it freely to flavor rice, chicken, cookies and even ice cream. It has a light yellow color and very nice mellow taste, not like anything I’ve ever tasted.

However, the most different ice cream is what we called spaghetti ice cream. I think that the spaghetti was made from a cornstarch/sugar mixture that needed to be chewed but dissolved rather quickly. A portion of it was mixed into the white ice cream and you squeezed fresh lemon or lime juice over the whole thing. Excellent and addicting...



Bread is a staple for all three meals. We watched them bake a type of daily bread that was almost like a tortilla. From the dough, they stretched it out, threw it into a large tub like oven..where it stuck to the walls, let it cook about 30 seconds and then removed it. It is great especially right out of the oven.

They also had delicious specialty breads and cookies….especially filled ones. Our guide made sure we had a sampling of these as well.

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