Saturday, December 6, 2008

(What is) "Zereshk"? (click on photos)

7 comments:

Gail said...

Hi Naj-

Your photos are breath taking and your writings so informative. The faces and natural capture of their intent is fascinating.

Thank you for these.

Gail
peace.....

nunya said...

Oh my god, do you know how expensive saffron is here? It's twelve hundred dollars a pound. At the grocery store enough to use it 4 times was 12 dollars. I smoked for so long that I don't taste as well as I used to. I like strong spices--Greek food, (Kurdish grapeleaves are better than Greek ones) Mexican food, Chinese, Thai, Indian, even some soul or Creole, Italian if it's not too carb laden.... hmmm, come to think of it, I think I like all kinds of food.

Naj said...

YEs Saffron IS expensive, even in Iran!

And Iranian Saffron is the BEST! The Spanish one is not nearly as aromatic as the Iranian one :)

I usually bring these 1gm/$1-3 dollar little souvenirs when I come back from visiting to Iran.

To use saffrom "economically" it must be ground. to grind it efficiently, you should put a little chunk of cube sugar ... once it's a soft powder, then a tiny bit goes a much longer way than if you put the whole flower!

Utah Savage said...

Hi honey. Gail has it right. Your site is so beautiful. I'm betting it mirrors your own beauty.

And cooking with saffron is like cooking with gold.

goatman said...

Hi Naj,
Is zerenshk the same as barberry?
I would like to try it but would need an English reference.
I use saffron all the time in rice dishes. I thought it was the stamen of a spring flower, which explains its price--someone has to pick those little dillys out of there!. Who was the first to sample flower parts to come up with this beauty I wonder?

Anon-Paranoid said...

Naj...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year or any other Holidays you follow to you and all your loved ones.

May the New Year be filled with nothing but love and joy for you and yours.

God Bless.

MarcLord said...

Dear Naj,

that's very kind and gracious coming from you, and you remembered my wife's genealogy!

Serious question--is there something I may wish you in return? Most cultures do something momentous to commemorate the season, please pardon my ignorance of Persian tradition, but I would like to know.

PS--re: Princeton, I used to commute thru Manhattan to Morristown (or AT&T Labs, near it) and the New Jersey weather can be pretty rough. Prolly not as bad as what you've got now, and I hope the little 4wd is a Subaru. Missing my WRX now big-time.

Happy Holidays, and it is good to know you.