Caspian Olives with Pomegranate & Angelica

Separated from the Iranian plateau by the great green wall of the Alborz Mountains, the Caspian Sea is a huge inland salt lake, convenient, during the Silk Road era, for transporting to the west spices from India and silk from China. The high mountains, the sea, and the frequent rainfall make this region rich in many kinds of agriculture: Its paddies produce most of Iran’s rice; its high valleys are quilted with wheat fields and pastures; and among the mountains are walnut and chestnut grov