![]() I adapted the recipe from one on My Persian Kitchen that used fresh sour cherries and not canned because I had frozen cherries and love them madly. I had eaten it many times but have never tried to make it on my own so I looked for expert help. It is great as a side dish or the main, meatless event. It is spectacular –– cherries and rice baked to form a crispy crust on the bottom and perfumed with saffron. ![]() One of my favorites is called Albaloo Polow, a direct descendent of ancient pilafs and biryani. ![]() Today, modern Persia/Iran enjoys rice dishes that often combine meat vegetables or fruits. The word biryani comes from the Persian word, birian.īarbad Plays for Khusraw by Mirza Ali, 1539-43 – maybe a rice plate in front of the man in red in the backround? Thanks to the give and take that occurred with the Persian Mughal Empire in India –– Persian rice dishes came to India through that doorway (the Mogul emperor Baber conquered India in 1526 bringing with him Persian cuisine that took root and flourished) –– they cross-pollinated. In the Baghdad cookbook, it was often made into a spiced porridge “ in the Persian style” with meat or vegetables or a dessert with fruit. Rice came to the Middle East as early as 1000 BC –– judging from archaeological finds and reflected in the rice section of neighboring Bahgdad's 10th c cookbook of ibn Sayy ar al-Warraq, rice was being enjoyed in a variety of ways. More familiar cultivated rice goes back as much as 9000 years in China and India. The ancient wild ancestor of our rice was growing wild in Africa, Asia and even Australia. Rice is thought to be as old as time, originating in Pangaea in the early Cretaceous period (130, 000,000 years ago – before the continents separated). Recently, I spent a lot of time reflecting on the effects of arrival of New World chilies on the Old World –– rice has certainly affected the cuisines of many nations but started the migration much, much, much earlier. You can see their influence in world design just looking at their metalwork and pottery.ġ9th century painting of 1646 Persian reception at Chehel Sotoun, Esfahanīut for all that Persia did to influence other cultures, there was a quid pro quo going on as well. Persia influenced the art and cuisines of countries all over the Middle East into Russia, China, India and even Europe as they traded, invaded and visited other countries and were themselves invaded or visited during their long long history. They are the most wheedling people in the world, with the most engaging manners, the most supple spirits and a language that is gentle and flattering, and devoid of unpleasant terms but rather full of circumlocutions.” They never fail to perform at once the appropriate gestures of politeness when meeting each other. Their bearing and countenance is the best-composed, mild, serious, impressive, genial and welcoming as far as possible. “The Persians are the most civilized of the peoples of the East, and what the French are to Europe, they are to the Orient. Tales of the Savafid Dynasty (1501-1722) spread to the West in great part through the writings of French Jeweler, Jean Chardin whose Voyage du Chevalier Chardin en Perse et autres lieux de l'Orient recorded his 1673-77 travels in Persia. Tragically, when I hear the word Iran I think of a broken country.įrontispiece of Voyage du Chevalier Chardin en Perse et autres lieux de l'Orient, 1739 ed. When I hear the word Persia, I think of great art and culture. It is no wonder that the phrase "Persian" and "carpet" are linked in a bond of art, quality and tradition, but Persia was so much more. There are actually 2 Ardabil Carpets –– the largest sits at the Victoria &Albert Museum in London, acquired for them by famous artist and designer William Morris –– so precious that a special enclosure was constructed to protect it from the light (the slightly smaller version of the carpet is in California –– its border was cannibalized to repair the V&A carpet). The Ardabil Carpet comes from the city of Ardabil in the north of Iran (formerly the seat of the Safafid empire in Persia) close to the coast of the Caspian Sea and not far from the great carpet center of Tabriz. ![]() It is considered to be the best of the best –– a masterpiece of design and execution. Created in 1539, the Ardabil Carpet is one of my favorite archetypal objects like the Knole sofa and the Klismos chair.
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