3 Beloved Spices of IRAN (by Rana Zia Ebrahimi)
Learn more about three beloved spices of Iranian cooks
Rana Zia Ebrahimi from Kerman Province, southern Iran, talks about three beloved spices of Iran – Saffron, Cumin, and Sumac. Spices are part of everyday life in Iran and Iranian cooks almost never go food shopping without stocking up on some fresh spices. Variety is really the key as most of the authentic Persian dishes call for very different spices.
A special report by Rana Zia Ebrahimi in Kerman Province, southern Iran
The Middle East and Asia are renowned for their aromatic spices used to create some of the most mouth-watering cuisines. For some of the best spices in the world, look no further than Iran, and southeastern Iran in particular.
My name is Rana and I’ve been living most of my life in Kerman, the capital city of the Kerman province located in the northern part of southern Iran. The population is just below 1 million people and we refer to ourselves as Persians rather than Iranians. To be more exact, we are proud to be called Kermanis. Kerman province has a particular strong cultural heritage and known for our outstanding local handicrafts, carpets, music, poetry, and of course the “best spices in the world”!
Spices are part of everyday life here. We almost never go food shopping without stocking up on some fresh spices. Variety is really the key here as most of our authentic Persian dishes call for very different spices.
Across Iran we all use very similar spices even though there are notable differences in our regional cuisines, such as those in northern Iran, Khuzestan in the west near Iraq and Kuwait, Khorasan in the east near Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, Iranian Kurdistan, Iranian Azerbaijan, central Iran, and right here in southern Iran.
While we use too many spices to mention here, I would like to discuss three spices that have a very special heritage right here in Kerman province: saffron, cumin and sumac. While all three grow in several regions across the country, us Kermanis believe that our homegrown spices are superior!
This article continues in
Globerovers Magazine, July 2015
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