The Tajrish Bazaar

As soon as I stepped into Tehran’s Tajrish bazaar, the atmosphere, aromas, people, and sights of all the fresh fruit and vegetables almost overwhelmed me, but in the most pleasant way imaginable. Here I was with my backpack, wearing a Nike hat and a light blue cotton scarf around my neck, iPhone camera in hand, talking like a mad person to every vendor and taking pictures of them and whatever they had to sell. When I asked an old lady with a purple scarf and a beautiful smile what she was going to do with the cardoon/kangar stalks she was buying (they taste like a cross between artichoke and celery), she smiled and said, “Cardoons are now in season, and they are local to this area; they grow in the foothills of the mountains.” Then she patiently gave me a cardoon braise recipe in detail. I hugged her and thanked her.