Business monthly April 05   EDITOR'S NOTE COVER STORY EXECUTIVE LIFE VIEWPOINT IN PERSON SUBSCRIPTION FORM IN BRIEF MARKET WATCH ADVERTISING RATES IN DEPTH CORPORATE CLINIC Search Business Monthly | Back Issues

THE EXECUTIVE LIFE
DINING OUT	HEALTHY ADVICE	OFFICE UPGRADES

THE AROMATIC FLAVORS OF PERSIA

BY SARAH BROBERG

Shiraz restaurant is named after the beautiful city in southern Iran famous for its gardens, ancient poets and nearby Persian monuments. It’s a cozy and elegant affair, with traditional Iranian furnishings and walls decorated with plaster casts of Persian warriors battling lions. Iranian music plays softly in the background – a welcome reprieve from the blaring music videos of other Cairo eateries.

Upon entering, we noticed the large bread oven used for preparing lavash, Iranian bread baked with sesame seeds. We didn’t have to wait long for a basketful to arrive. The fresh, hot bread came along with a variety of fresh vegetables to whet our appetite. We browsed through the short but lovely menu, which offers a narrative on the restaurant’s namesake and the evolution of Persian cuisine over the years. Having set the tone, it lists menu items in English, Arabic and Farsi.

For appetizers we opted for merza qasemmi (spinach with yoghurt – £E 9) and the kashk bademjan (spicy diced eggplant – £E 9), both of which were distinctively flavorful and came with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of fried onions. The merza qasemmi was thick and hearty, with a dash of lemon juice and dill to give it a little zest. The kashk bademjan was equally tasty. A generous amount of turmeric gave it a spicy kick, which the sour cream helped keep from overpowering the taste buds.

The ash, literally “soup” (£E 15) arrived piping hot and fragrant, its creamy greenish hue the result of liberal amounts of celery, dill, green onion and barley. The soup gave the immediate impression of something far too healthy to taste good, but our quickly emptied bowls suggested otherwise.

Iran is known for its unusual food combinations, often combining meats and fruits with fragrant spices. One of the distinctions of Iranian cuisine is the subtlety of the seasonings. Onions and garlic are used only with discretion, but cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, saffron, paprika, nutmeg, turmeric and dill are used liberally.

Keeping in line with the skill and imagination of Iranian cuisine, Shiraz’s menu offers some interesting “stews” similar to Egyptian tagen, including fasenjoon, chicken with pomegranate and walnut, and khoresh alo, lamb and dried plums in tomato sauce with oriental spices (£E 35). We opted for the latter and while the portion size was far less than we expected, we were pleasantly surprised. The plums gave the sauce a fruity, but not overbearing, flavor. The lamb chunks were tender and melted in our mouths.

Lamb is in fact a favorite meat in Iran, which explains why nearly every item on the menu included it in some way. For the main course, I selected the chelo kebab sherar, minced lamb with veal and chicken served with dill and green bean rice (£E 50). The two large pieces of minced lamb came served beneath a heaping portion of basmati rice. An ample amount of dill gave the rice a garden-fresh taste, but the sparse portion of green beans didn’t enhance the dish one way or another. The veal and chicken were tender and juicy, making wonderful companions to the lamb.

My companion opted for the chelo kebab kobedeh, minced lamb with saffron rice (£E 45). As with my dish, the minced lamb was seasoned with a light mixture of lemon, pepper and a hint of onion. It was slightly under-grilled, almost to the point of being mushy, though this assured us that it was 100 percent lamb without any additives, which tend to toughen it up.

In Iran, long-grain basmati rice is served with every meal. It has been said that the preparation of rice in Iran is unequalled elsewhere in the world, requiring up to 24 hours. My companion’s saffron rice, however, failed to impress. The rice was light and fluffy, but a bit bland given the nominal amount of saffron used for the huge portion.

The dessert also failed to live up to expectations. We tried the jummana bastani, Iranian-style ice cream infused with saffron, crushed pistachios and rosewater (£E 17). Four generous scoops of various flavors of ice cream arrived, but the overly fragrant rosewater distorted the taste and left us wondering if we’d ordered rosewater with ice cream rather than vice versa.

Overall, however, Shiraz is worth visiting for its aromatic and exotic cuisine. While its cushioned seating and cozy corner booths are comfortable, its atmosphere doesn’t really lend itself to long stays. But that doesn’t stop the attentive and friendly staff from making you feel welcome. Hospitality, it seems, is a Persian specialty dish.

Submit your comment

Top