Breakfasts and Snacks

An experienced Iranian housewife will usually have a fridge full of easily assembled or heated snack foods. My mother-in-law will often spend all day Sunday cooking, preparing proper food for her family to replace all those skipped breakfasts and fast-food lunches of the week ahead.

The Iranians are inveterate snackers and their cuisine amply supports this habit. Not only do they eat proper breakfasts, lunches and dinners, they are lucky enough to live in a country where the stuff of healthy snacks is abundant – seeds, nuts, fresh and dried fruits, every household has jars and bowls of these. It has to be said that the seed thing is at first quite incomprehensible; I have still not acquired the oral dexterity required to open and shell the wretched things, and usually end up having to spit the whole soggy mess out. Furthermore, after entertaining any group of Iranians, I have to spend many an extra hour sweeping up – the floor is always a sea of discarded shells. But these seeds (melon, sunflower, pumpkin, courgette) are just so popular; when you share your life with an Iranian you learn to check every pocket before filling the washing machine.