Persian Culture Archives • Countries & Cultures https://www.countriesandcultures.com/category/cultural/persian-culture/ Sharing my love for learning languages, studying cultures and discovering worlds outside my own little bubble :) Fri, 23 Mar 2018 02:50:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.6 http://www.countriesandcultures.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Favicon-1.png Persian Culture Archives • Countries & Cultures https://www.countriesandcultures.com/category/cultural/persian-culture/ 32 32 Onions…the Persian Love Affair https://www.countriesandcultures.com/onions-the-persian-love-affair/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=onions-the-persian-love-affair https://www.countriesandcultures.com/onions-the-persian-love-affair/#comments Sat, 03 Mar 2018 05:22:07 +0000 http://www.countriesandcultures.com/?p=30633 The post Onions…the Persian Love Affair appeared first on Countries & Cultures.

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Onions...the Persian Love Affair

Original photo from servingjoy.com
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I had to write this post today to mark the first time I ever ate raw onion with a Persian meal. For those of you who may not be familiar with Persian culture, onion is practically the centerpiece of all their meals. You’ll find it boiled in stews, grilled with kabobs and then eaten raw with many of the dishes. From the moment I was first introduced into the wonderful world of Persian food people have been trying to get me to eat raw onion. But no matter how much they raved about the unbelievable flavor, the delectable crunchiness, the life changing health benefits (yes, they love it THAT much), I could not bring myself to eat it.

Now, almost 2 years later, I finally became a raw onion convert. I couldn’t even tell you what finally made me do it. Omid and I were eating ghorme sabzi (a type of Persian stew) at one of our favorite Persian restaurants in Glendale, Raffi’s Place. Seriously, the most amazing Persian food we have had in Southern California up to this point. And for probably the 1000th time Omid told me to try some raw onion with the stew. I don’t know if it was his face of pure pleasure as he crunched another bite of raw onion with a spoonful of stew or the exaggerated moans of enjoyment as he ate that finally pushed me over the edge and got me to try it.

Now I know what you’re probably picturing right about now. Me, hesitantly trying a bite of raw onion, chewing it and trying to decide if I like it or not. Maybe crinkling my eyes at the intense flavor and deciding that was enough experimenting for one day.

Yeah, that’s what I was expecting too, but after that first bite it was like I was seeing the world from a whole new perspective. Wer

My first meal featuring a beautifully crisp white onion with my ghorme sabzi and basil.

e these magic onions like the food from Alice and Wonderland or the Turkish delight from Narnia? There was no slow conversion process, after that first bite I was hooked and couldn’t even enjoy a single bite of stew without an equally as large piece of onion to accompany it. And it gets better….the next day…..I had onion with all three meals…I’m telling you I think he dosed them with some kind of love potion because the infatuation is real.

Now that I’m on the other side of this love affair, I can understand why everyone kept insisting I try it relentlessly for 2 years. They knew what I was missing! I feel like I understand Persian’s in general so much better now. It’s like Spaniards and their olive oil, or American’s and their ketchup…. Is it weird that I can’t wait to go to the next Persian gathering and see everyone’s faces when I pick up some raw onion and eat it in front of them for the first time?

Anyways, I’m pretty sure all of Omid’s hopes and dreams came true in that one moment when I finally fell in love with onion. Either that or he realized his previously white fiancé was now full on Persian and there was no going back. Bring on the onion breath and kisses…

So in honor of my newfound obsession with onions I thought I would actually do some research on these supposed health benefits and share them with you below 🙂

P.S. Omid wanted me to make sure that none of you were running off and eating raw onions like apples. While there are the special, select few who do enjoy this, they pair really well with savory or acidic foods. As mentioned below, it can be used as a healthy alternative to salt. Some very typical Persian dishes that are always accompanied by raw onion are  gheymeh, ghormeh sabzi, and kabobs.

Health Benefits
  • Heart health
    • Sulfurs and quercetin present can help lower blood pressure, prevent plaque build up, manage cholesterol, lower risk of heart attack and stroke
  • Anti-inflammatory
    • Quercetin also relaxes the airways which may provide relief of asthma symptoms,
  • Immune health
    • The polyphenols in onions are antioxidants which protect the body from free radicals. Eliminating these free radicals promotes stronger immune systems and stronger resilience to allergies.
  • Cancer
    • Can help reduce the risk of certain cancers by inhibiting cancer cell growth
  • Digestion
    • Soluble fibers promote good bacteria growth in the intestines, reduces risk of gastric ulcers and can be used to prevent and treat types of diarrhea
  • Blood sugar regulation
    • The sulfur in onions helps lower blood sugar by stimulating insulin production
Health Risks:
  • The carbohydrates in onions may cause gas and bloating for some
  • Raw onion can worsen symptoms for some who deal with heartburn
  • Eating too many green onions or quickly increasing the amount you normally eat can interfere with blood thinning drugs
  • Allergies or intolerances to onions are possible
  • Untouched onions keep for a long time, but once cut its important to store refrigerated and in an air tight container to prevent bacteria growth.

Sources: Living Science and BBC Foods

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]]> https://www.countriesandcultures.com/onions-the-persian-love-affair/feed/ 1 Fruit…The Persian Perspective https://www.countriesandcultures.com/fruit-the-persian-perspective/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fruit-the-persian-perspective https://www.countriesandcultures.com/fruit-the-persian-perspective/#respond Fri, 09 Feb 2018 13:06:49 +0000 http://www.countriesandcultures.com/?p=30377 The post Fruit…The Persian Perspective appeared first on Countries & Cultures.

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Fruits...The Persian Perspective

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ne of the things I love about my Farsi professor is that one second, he will be so serious as he’s explaining something and then a second later he’ll start telling us some funny joke or story from Iran. Today we were learning how to say and write the names of different fruits. Along with our vocab lesson we received some interesting and hilarious (or at least I thought so) comments on some of the fruits’ history in Iran.

For fun I listed the fruits’ name in English, Finnglish (Farsi written out phonetically in English) and Persian script (which, I am proud to say, I typed out myself on my newly installed Persian keyboard) and the little stories that I learned about each fruit from both my Farsi professor and Omid.

Bananas – moz –  موز

So I didn’t know this, but bananas don’t grow in Iran (I never claimed to know anything about agriculture or climate or geography…). So the bananas had to be imported. About 50-60 years ago they were very rare and usually only something wealthier people would have. On one occasion while my professor was still in Iran teaching for an elementary school they served whole bananas to the kids for their afternoon snack. A few days later, the school received reports from some of the parents that their kids had been having stomach pain after eating the bananas. They later found out that because the children were unfamiliar with the fruit and how to consume it, they had actually eaten the entire thing, skin and all! As bad as I felt for the children, I still laughed so hard when he told us the story.

He then went on to say they are very useful in marriages: for example, if your husband is ever bothering you just place a banana peel under his foot when he’s walking by! So he probably wouldn’t make the best marriage counselor, but it was still funny.

Cucumber- Khiar – خیار

So when the professor asked us, “Do you know what khiar is good for,” in my head I was thinking this meant apricots, so I proudly answered, “Jam!” and everyone immediately looked at me and someone was like, “cucumber jam?” yeah…let’s just assume that will be the first of many mistakes on my quest to learn Farsi.

Pear – Gholabi –  گلابی

So my fiancé, Omid, was telling me that when someone is acting a bit stupid they’ll call them a gholabi. I laughed and asked, “Why would you call someone whose being dumb a pear?” and He said, “Because a pear is shaped so weird, so when you call someone a gholabi it’s like saying you’re being so weird.”

Peach – Hulu – هلو

So you know how when you see a girl with a nice booty and you go, “Wow, look at those peaches!” Yeah…I don’t do that either….well Persians use this lovely fruit in a similar way. When they see a pretty lady walking by they might say, “Ajab huluy eh” Now, roughly translated, this means, “What a nice piece of peach,” or in other words, “What a beautiful woman!” So if you know me and I ever call you hulu, you can take it as a compliment 😉

White berries – toot sefid –   توت سفید

In older days they said that white berries, because of their delectable flavor, were a fruit from God and therefore couldn’t be sold anywhere but rather given freely to everyone. So, it was common practice for people to plant these white berry bushes in front of their homes so that anyone walking by could eat them as they passed.

When I came home and was telling my fiancé, Omid, about these stories he immediately lit up and started telling me about how good the white berries were. He said in the Spring, when they were in the middle of finals for high school, the berries would be covering the bushes. Because many of the plants were years old they would be as tall as trees and as soon as they finished their finals for the day they were run out of school, climb the trees and eat as many berries as they physically could.

I don’t know about you, but I love hearing little stories like this. It just draws you into another world, another reality that someone else is living right now. It takes me out of my little California world for a second and reminds me that there are other people who are just as happy as I am, but living life in a completely different way.

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