A traditional Iranian potage

[Mansoor]

It is called " Ashe Reshteh" in Persian (Frasi), which means "string or cord potage" in English. Some people cook it as usual food but often is cooked on special days, especially on the holly days relative to religion or for a vow.




It is delicious and has a new flavor for those who taste it for the first time. It is cooked with dried cords of flour, pea, and particular vegetables, and at the end of cooking, oil mixed with turmeric and mint (are fried a little), fried onion, and "Kashk" as a mild sour material poured on the thick soup. Some people decorate the potage with these spices.

I don't know whether Kashk (the white substance) exists in other lands or not? It is one of the extracts of yogurt in Iran and has a unique taste and flavor.

 

[mdchachi]

Looks like a very good dish.

Kashk (dried yogurt) is common ingredient in your region of the world it seems. We can purchase it here at ethnic or international markets.
It's even manufactured in the U.S. it seems.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

That looks really good! The kashk would be a hurdle for me, though. I've never really liked yogurt, although I do like those Yakult yogurt drinks. Probably because they're sweet.

 

[Majestic]

Looks delicious!

 

[Mansoor]

Looks like a very good dish.

Kashk (dried yogurt) is common ingredient in your region of the world it seems. We can purchase it here at ethnic or international markets.
It's even manufactured in the U.S. it seems.
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Seems to be a good brand. Because I lived in Shiraz all my life and tasted every type of natural dairy I can distinguish the quality of these foods, so I should taste it to be able to opine about its quality.

The best and most natural Kashk is produced by the nomads whose occupation is herding. They have great herds of sheep (fewer cows). The milk of sheep is fatter and more energic and tasty. Its nature is mild, while the nature of cow's milk is cold and the nature of camel's milk is warm (probably you don't know what does mean warm, cold, and mild nature, while some non-bacterial sicknesses in the world are because of the different nature of people and the nature of foods. I probably will create a topic in this case later).

I remember when I was a kid, I saw a group of nomads from the Fars province bring the milk and dairy products of their herds to Shiraz and sold to a shop in our old neighborhood in the center of the city. I bought a zinc glass of Dough (not dough in English. I can explain to you briefly, it was a natural white sour liquid 'just like milk in appearance' that was produced from yogurt). When I drank the glass of Dough, it made me drunk! People said that Dough brings drunkenness in spring!

It was true, but pleasant drunkenness along with sleep that was different from the intoxication of wine. The nomads also brought pure and natural butter and Kashk to Shiraz which were memorable.

 

[Mansoor]

That looks really good! The kashk would be a hurdle for me, though. I've never really liked yogurt, although I do like those Yakult yogurt drinks. Probably because they're sweet.

Usually people don't eat sole liquid Kashk. It is cooked with some particular foods. Of course dry Kashk is eaten solely as snacks.

 

[Mansoor]

Here is how the Iranian nomads produce natural Dough, Kashk, and butter from sheep's yogurt. They are three folks in different areas of Iran (Bakhtiary, Ghashghaii, and Qajar). Bakhtiary folk lives in the west of Iran, Ghashghaii in the Fars province, and Qajar in the central areas of Iran, though they are less than the two other folks. Of course, there is another nomad folk named Turkman that lives in the north of Iran, besides the Caspian Sea. They have less contact with the central areas of Iran so I don't know much about them.

The occupation of all these nomads is herding sheep or a little number of cows. These folks due to living in the mountains and deserts all life, tolerating such hardships, and eating natural foods are brave, and warriors (not militant) and have resistant bodies and will, nevertheless they are kind and hospitable.

The women of Ghashghaii folk are powerful and work beside their men. I heard one of these women who went to a garden on a snowy day was attacked by a big and hungry wolf. After one hour of fighting that woman finally strangles the wolf by bare hand!

Here a Ghashghaii woman is shaking the sheep yogurt in the skin of a sheep traditionally to produce natural Dough (or Doogh) and butter.




Here I show you how much a middle-aged nomad woman is a powerful and hard worker. She carries that water tank for kilometers. She is healthier than many people who live in the cities. They lived so for thousands years.





Excuse me. I didn't edit my writing much

 

[Mansoor]

The Ghashghaii and Bakhtiary women are also skillful riders and shooters. They have a high value in their tribes. They do whatever the men do.







A known historical Bakhtiarii woman. She was one of the heads and commanders of that large tribe for some time. At that time, she fought with enemies who attacked to borders of Iran.




Explanation:

Having a gun is illegal for every individual in Iran and is considered a crime that has a penalty from 3 to 10 years imprisonment, but these tribes are allowed to carry registered guns In their natural environment as the rancher folks and the reserve force for the defense of the country.

 

[Mansoor]

The women of these tribes are also artful and have amazing and interesting handcrafts. Carpet weaving is one of their arts:

 

[Mansoor]

Well, let go back to the Iranian foods:

This is " Halwa Masghati" that is an Iranian sweet. I saw in the google translation that it translated Halwa , an Indian dish!

It is not correct. Halwa is a series of traditional Iranian sweets that this type is called " Halwa Masghati". It is something between Jell and chocolate that is decorated with pieces of pistachio or almond. I don't know how it is made but saffron is one of its ingredients.

 

[mdchachi]

The women of these tribes are also artful and have amazing and interesting handcrafts. Carpet weaving is one of their arts:


View attachment 103295
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Beautiful. "Persian" rugs have long been famous for their art, culture and quality.

Here's how Bing Chat explains Halwa Masghati:

Halwa Masghati is a type of Persian dessert that is made with starch, water, sugar, rose water, oil, and saffron². It has a soft and jelly-like texture and is often decorated with sliced pistachios and almonds¹. Halwa Masghati is originally from the city of Lar in Fars province, and is also known as Masghati Shirazi². It is usually served with tea or as a Ramadan treat².

Source: Conversation with Bing, 5/27/2023
(1) Masghati Recipe; Make this Delicious Persian Sweet in 5 Steps. Masghati Recipe; Make this Delicious Persian Sweet in 5 Steps.
(2) Halva Masghati Shirazi – Persian Recipes. Halva Masghati Shirazi – Persian Recipes.
(3) How to make masghati (مسقطی) l Persian wheat starch and ... - YouTube. .

 

[Mansoor]

Thank you, madchachi

You helped me in this way to introduce this Iranian sweet. I think, the last time I tasted this type of Halva was 20 years ago. It is elastic, energic and tasty. Having this sweet dessert after lunch or evening gives the eater energy and removes the coldness of the foods with cold nature (yoghurt and similar desserts).

It is suitable for the people who have cold nature and become powerless after eating foods with cold nature. If these people eat the foods with cold nature at night without eating foods or desserts with warm nature, they may have a stroke in their sleep, dependent on the level of coldness of the foods.

These are the list of foods with cold and wet nature:

Pineapple, strawberry, plum, plum, sweet pomegranate, orange, apricot, peach, nectarine, kiwi, sweet lemon, tangerine, peach, pomegranate juice. Roots: Potatoes. Vegetables: spinach, okra, purslane, edible mushroom, chicory, lettuce and green beans. Legumes: fresh beans and green peas, yoghurt and Doogh.


These are the fruit with warm nature that remove the coldness of some foods:


Dates, pears, white berries, melons, bananas, black olives, ginger, grapes, figs and dried figs, walnuts, sweet almonds, lilies, sugar cane, pistachios, hazelnuts, beans, almonds, cherries, raisins, Balang, various types of berries and raisins, mango and coconut, melon, cucumber, cantaloupe and cashew nut, bitter tree almond, mountain almond, mountain pistachio, pistachio, sunflower seed, chalghoz.


The meats with warm nature:

Lamb meat, camel meat, turkey meat, ghee, shrimp, deer meat, sparrow meat, quail meat, rooster meat, pigeon meat, salted fish meat, head, liver, duck meat

The warm spices

Thyme, pecan, green and black tea, mustard, cinnamon, anise, turmeric, saffron, ginger, zinnia, cumin, black seed, pepper, cocoa, angelica, vanilla, cardamom and salt.

I believe experimentally; Dates , grape syrup, and saffron are the warmest foods.

 

[Mansoor]

That is another type of Halwa which is made with Dates, flour, and oil. I occasionally make this Halwa and eat a lot to give me great energy. Some people add ground walnut, and some a little saffron.

I remember when I was a kid, that Halwa was cooked in the holly days or for the vow.

Also, I remember there was an old flew in the corner of the Vakeel Bazar who sold this Halva, but with another form, that was very delicious. He drew the shape of flowers and songbirds on the fried (and a little oily) flour on the Halwa. He mixed a notable amount of ground walnut with the cooked Dates. I gave him a penny and he cut a piece of the Halwa, put it on a piece of paper, and gave it to me. He was like a kind grandfather; his soul rest in peace.

 

[Mansoor]

Here is an integrated piece of grilled lamb that is called " Barg kebob" ( leaf kebob).

 

[Mansoor]

Shiraz Ashe Mast ( yoghurt soup). It may is cooked in other areas of Iran otherwise but in shiraz it is cooked so. Because its main ingredient is yoghurt it has a mild sour taste and is appetizing.





Of course, I like its simple type (without fried mint and onion on the food) with black or Indian pepper powder.




There was an old shop in the Vakeel Bazar ( my birthplace is around the historical Bazar) that cooked a few type of traditional Shiraz Ash. When I was a teenager I occasionally bought a bowl of Ashe Mast and ate in that shop or took it to home.

The nomads or some villager in the Fars province cook an Ash that is similar to Ashe Mast, but they use sheep Doogh (instead of yoghurt) and particular vegetables. It is also very delicious and appetizing.

 

[Mansoor]

Fereny. It is a simple sweet (low sweetness) soup that is made with pour milk, starch, rice flour, a little sugar and rose water. It is very good, delicious, aromatic and appetizing and was cooked at morning for breakfast. The shop I mentioned in the previous post cooked Freney as well, though my mummy cooked it at home sometimes. I could eat two bowl of hot Freney, while I looked for the third!

I was not interested to drink milk solely at morning.

 

[thomas]

They look spectacular, Mansoor!

 

[Mansoor]

Thank you, sir

 

[Mansoor]

Shirazi Ashe Anar ( Pomegranate soup)

It is another soup that was cooked in Shiraz from old seasons. Shiraz city and some other towns in the Fars province has notable pomegranate gardens. This soup is a homely food and I didn't see it is cooked in any shop.







This soup is cooked in another province and cities of Iran otherwise but I don't know them.

If you taste it, you will never forget its excellent taste, but when I was a kid I disliked it and when my mummy said, today we have Ashe Anar, I protested her unsatisfied, why you cooked this damn food; because I loved meaty foods!

It has a sweet-sour flavor and is very appetizing.

 

[Mansoor]

Ashe Sholleh Ghalamkar

This famous soup is particular to Isfahan city, and I have not even seen it yet, but due to its fame it must be a delicious Iranian soup. As I studied its receipt an amount of lamb is used for cooking it

 

[thomas]

Some culinary eye candy here, ya Mansoor! I also love the plates and the table clothes. When we lived in Iran, my family bought them (the table clothes) by the dozen. My parents still use them after almost 45 years.

 

[Mansoor]

I am glad you loved those foods and decorate and experienced living in Iran for a while

Well, every land has its own particular and delicious foods, as well as, Iran has foods that you see some of them here. Of course, these are mostly appetizers or desserts, not main courses.

What I found out of the old Iranian foods is that they are tied with the ancient medical tips in a way, in addition to a pleasant flavor and color.

In other words, the ancient people of Iran knew how to make a mixture of different ingredients to create food to have a nature according to the nature of eaters (especially in Shiraz). Let me to say more clearly, they didn't mix the ingredients of the foods by chance, but they mixed them with a medicine policy.

Today, I see on TV some new Western cookers mix different ingredients innovatively because they think those mixtures make the food more colorful and delicious without paying attention to the nature of every ingredient.


For example, it is good to know, based on the old medicine of Iran and experimentally, eating honey with solid melon together is dangerous because the mixture has the risk of a stork! Or eating yogurt with fish or apricot with yogurt simultaneously has a stork risk, as well.


Let me bring a real example:

Two nights ago, I had fried minced lamb's lung (it has a cold nature). Then I ate a few sour apples (has cold nature) to reduce the fat in my food. When I slept at midnight, I didn't know what time it was, that I felt I wake up, but neither could open my eyes nor move my body. I paralyzed wholly! I just tried to breathe faster to reach more oxygen to my body and then noticed God, the messenger, and Imams. I appealed to the Imams to rescue me from that critical and frightening situation. For a moment, I felt I was between life and death. After the seconds, I gathered all my power and tried to move my hand and body. I feared and only could understand what was going on to me without could move any organ of my body. Suddenly my hands moved, and then my body released from the freeze.

I have a cold nature, and the food and fruit I ate had a cold nature, as well.

My purpose is not to make this sweet topic bitter, but I am speaking about the reality that most people are unaware of. Many people get stork at night and day because of their cold or hot nature and using foods with the same essence.

Two heavenly quotes say:

"Sleep is the brother of death!"

Also

"When people sleep at night, their soul gets out of their bodies (but not wholly, just like an empty pot from water that is still wet). God will return the soul of somebodies into their bodies in the morning and will not give back the soul of somebodies else."

I have cold nature and experienced dangerous and intense paralysis frequently due to having foods with cold nature. I know there is a topic in medicine named "sleep paralysis" that some people encounter, and I believe it is mostly because of the reason I mentioned, though very few people may have a brain sickness. Some of these paralysis lead to death.

Most of the time, being unaware of the nature of foods causes paralysis or storks.

 

[Mansoor]

Kashk & Bademjan ( Kashk & Eggplant)

It is an Iranian food with fried or grilled eggplant and Kashk

 

[Mansoor]

Mirza Ghasemi

I is a famous and particular food in Iran that is cooked in the Gilan province in the North area of Iran beside the Caspian sea. I tasted it one time but not its original ones that is cooked in Gilan (nevertheless it was so much delicious). Its main ingredient is eggplant.

 

[mdchachi]

Most of the time, being unaware of the nature of foods causes paralysis or storks.

What does "stork" mean?