Iranian Saffron Lemon Chicken Wings

So close, but so far away. That’s how I felt as I stood on the balcony of my hotel room in Baku, Azerbaijan, looking out over the Caspian Sea. A half day’s ferry ride, and I could be in one of the world’s great grill cultures, known in Alexander the Great’s day as Persia and today as Iran. But this is one case where politics and religion trump barbecue, so I had to settle for dinner at one of the many fine Iranian restaurants in Baku. Which, as it turned out, really wasn’t settling at all.