Iran - Andrew Burke [57]
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DRINKS
Nonalcoholic Drinks
TEA
Socialising in Iran almost inevitably involves chay (tea). Whether you’re in a chaykhaneh, carpet shop, someone’s home, an office, a tent – actually, almost anywhere – chances are there will be a boiling kettle nearby. According to the rules of Iranian hospitality, a host is honour-bound to offer a guest at least one cup of tea before considering any sort of business, and the guest is expected to drink it.
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Puffing on a qalyan (water pipe) over tea is an Iranian tradition that is now banned in several provinces, including Yazd and Esfahan, it’s because it’s unhealthy. When you do find a qalyan, know that flavoured tobacco is more deadly and more expensive than plain tobacco.
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Tea is always drunk black and the tea tray is usually set with a bowl of ghand (chunks of sugar), often crudely hacked from huge rocks of sugar. It is customary to dip the sugar into the glass of tea, then place it between the front teeth (or on the tongue) before sucking the brew through it.
COFFEE
Traditional Iranian ghahve (coffee) is like Turkish coffee, served strong, sweet, black and booby-trapped with a sediment of grounds. However, there’s a new urban fashion for coffee-houses that usually double as trendy ice-cream parlours. These places serve a variety of brews made on espresso-style machines. While this sounds hopeful for caffeine addicts, the coffee blends used are often lack-lustre, and the beans pre-ground and somewhat bitter. Usually in rural areas the only option will be instant coffee.
JUICES & SOFT DRINKS
You’ll never be too far away from a delicious fresh fruit ab (juice) and fruit shir (milkshake). Both cost between IR5000 and IR12,000. Depending on the season, you’ll find pomegranate (the dark-red ab anar), honeydew melon (ab talebi), watermelon (ab hendune), orange (ab porteghal), apple (ab sib) and carrot (ab havij). Popular shakes include banana (shir moz), pistachio (shir peste) and strawberry (shir tut farangi). Shakes are often loaded with sugar.
Also widely available, dugh (churned sour milk or yogurt mixed with water) is a sour but highly refreshing drink. The best dugh is usually found in restaurants, comes with chopped herbs and is uncarbonated, unlike most prepacked bottles found in stores.
Tap water is drinkable almost everywhere, though Rasht and Zahedan are notable exceptions. Bottled water is widely available in cities. Despite the US embargo, Coca-Cola is still bottled under licence at a Mashhad plant, though it’s worth asking for Zam Zam (cola), Parsi Cola or some other black or orange soft drink. Canned drinks can cost around five times more than the same drinks sold in reusable bottles.
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WHERE TO EAT & DRINK
If anyone asks you to their home for dinner, accept the invitation! Eating in an Iranian home is where you’re most likely to experience the real joys of Persian cuisine mixed with unbridled hospitality. At other times, your options will be fast-food/pizza joints, kababis (kabab shops), traditional restaurants and teahouses, hotel restaurants and the occasional place serving foreign slow food.
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The Art of Persian Cooking, by Forough Hekmat, is the only English-language cookbook you’ll find in bookstores in Iran. It’s not the most complete book, but there are some good recipes and descriptions of the ceremonial role of food.
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Many traditional restaurants are buried below street level and can be hard to find. Even if there is an English sign there’s no guarantee there will be a menu in English. Fast-food joints and kababis, on the other hand, tend to be at street level near main squares and along main roads.
Quick Eats
The most ubiquitous fast-food joints are shops selling a range of bread-roll ‘sandwiches’ topped off with tomatoes and pickles