Grilled and Roasted Meats

Mullah Nasruddin bought himself a delicious piece of steak in the market, and on his way home he had the good fortune to come upon one of his friends, a chef, who gave him a fitting recipe for the meat. Sadly as the mullah neared his house, a huge crow swooped down and stole the steak. ‘Ha!’ cried the mullah, waving at the skies, ‘You won’t enjoy it, bird, for I still have the recipe.’

The Persians have a thousand-year love affair with fire, dating back to the time of the ancient Zoroastrians who were reputedly fire worshippers – although this is not really true. Still, today, food cooked over fire (kebab) is the food of choice for nine out of ten Iranians. My father-in-law lights a fire every single night, and given half a chance will cook over it. It is picturesque, but can be quite tiresome when you’ve just dusted. He is not unique, and for this reason one of our best-selling commodities is charcoal. It is not that they are secret pyromaniacs, but rather it is a deeply felt tradition.