Cooking in Tabriz

A brilliant young Tabriz University student was our guide. He took us to his grandmother, Rahman Khanum, who made me feel welcomed in her house. They were a religious family and the women covered their heads not because of government edicts but because that had been their tradition. Their tiled yard with a fig tree at its center was no more than the size of a large room. The family spread a beautiful Tabriz carpet under the tree, placed a tablecloth on top, and arranged the dishes we had prepared together on the cloth. I loved the very simple soup/osh-e omaj. I was enthralled by the fresh herb platter of basil, chives, summer savory, and radishes, and was surprised that they used summer savory, as I had not encountered it elsewhere in Iran’s iconic herb platters/sabzi khordan. See the recipes we made in the pages that follow.