General Overview and History of Iranian Cuisine

Like in any society, food is an integral part of its culture. In Iran, this is no different. To Iranians, “the dishes are like a painting--like art” (Leslie). Iranian cuisine is rich with the history and culture of both modern Iran and Ancient Persia.“The cuisine has undergone thousands of years of refinement, but has never lost touch with its roots.” When most Westerners think of Persian food they think of Kebabs. However, this fails to recognize the significant effect the Persian cuisine has affected the world and “rich and varied” the cuisine actually is (Batmanglij). 

The Persian cuisine is a “lush garden in a desert...perfumed with the floral scents of citrus, rose water, and quince” (Louisa). Iranian food is mostly centered around wheat, lamb, poultry, and yogurt. Common ingredients in Iranian dishes include fresh and dried fruits, walnuts, pomegranates, saffron, eggplant, pistachios, mint, and citrus. The citrus from a pomegranate or lemons and oranges adds a sour flavor that is often found alongside wheat, lamb, poultry, and yogurt (SBS and Louisa). Due to economic hardships and early religion, many Persians ate meat “sparingly.” Thus, Persian cuisine also has a "wide variety of grains, vegetables and fruit dishes” that are “ little known outside their own country”(Batmanglij). Most Iranian dishes are cooked over a long period of time, especially rice dishes. Rice dishes are extremely popular in Iranian cooking. The rice is typically soaked, boiled, and steamed, and then prepared according to two processes: chelo and polo. 

Iranian cuisine has been influenced by many other countries and cultures which can be explained by its history of invasions and its vast system of trade. Until 1935, Iran was a part of Persia, which has a long and rich history. Throughout history, Persia was invaded numerous times. The Achaemenid (Persian) Empire was founded in 550 BCE by the Persian King Cyrus. After that, Persia was invaded by the Ancient Greek, Parthian, Muslim Arab, Mongol, and Ottoman empire. Ancient Persia was a part of the Silk Road, a network of ancient trade routes that carried linking the Chinese and Roman Empires. With trade came “the constant movement and mixing of populations also brought about the transmission of knowledge, ideas, cultures and beliefs” (SILK ROADS Dialogue, Diversity & Development). Traders took their resources to bargain for goods across Asia and Europe. Much of what they traded included different foods, particularly pomegranates, saffron, and spinach for things like lemons, rice, and eggplant, which were not native to Persia.

Iranian/Persian cuisine has also influenced many other cultures. According to Batmanglij, “although Persian cooking many seem exotic to Westerners, its presence is felt today in kitchens across America” through ingredients like “oranges, spinach or saffron” which originated from Iran. Furthermore, many “vegetables common in Iranian cookery are readily available in American supermarkets today” (Batmanglij). Kebabs have become a barbeque favorite in America. Persian cuisine is legendary in the “realm of Middle Eastern food, and many dishes across that part of the world can trace their roots to Persian precedents.” Persians have also had a heavy influence on Indian cuisine during the Middle Ages and “to this day the Persian and Hindi names for many dishes are nearly identical” (Helou and Baraghani). Eggplant, sesame seeds, and garlic, which are all integral ingredients of Chinese foods, traveled to China along the Silk Road from Persia. 

Image:
https://transportgeography.org/?page_id=1048