Darakeh

The neighborhood of Darakeh is in the foothills of the mountains above Tehran, and used to be a small village. These days it is one of the most popular parts of town. My cousins took me to SPU restaurant there for lunch (shown in photo below) and I loved the place. They first served us a delicious barley soup, and then brought us fava bean and aromatic spring dill rice/baqali polow flavored with saffron and cardamom. As a finishing touch, the server drizzled hot brown butter over the rice—wow! This was accompanied by fresh trout, sautéed in olive oil and served with a squeeze of sour orange/narenj, and lamb kababs. Sitting with my dear cousins in an old garden on wooden benches covered with Persian carpets, with water bubbling in the nearby stream and intoxicated by the aroma of hot fresh bread made in front of us in an outdoor oven, made me think for a moment that I was in paradise.