Iranian food

All of the guide books and blogs I'd read before coming to Iran didn't particularly inspire me about the food. The diet is very meat-based, but there's much more to it than kebabs and flatbreads - although the kebabs are really tasty too. Also there are traditional specialities unique to each region. In Esfahan, we had an unusual sweet/savoury starter called khoresh mast. We had to get our heads around the fact that it looked like a dessert and yet it contained egg yolk, lamb meat, saffron and sugar. Its bright yellow and has the consistency of something between thick yoghurt and melted cheddar - a kind of gelatinous stringy cheese with chopped pistachios sprinkled on top. It tasted nice, but my brain was screaming "meat dessert!"

Most restaurants or teahouses have a selection of day-beds or takht, covered in rugs on which you can recline on cushions and eat your meal. Some of the dishes we've enjoyed include Fesenjun, which is roast chicken in a sauce of grated pomegranate, walnuts, aubergine and cardamon, served with rice. Another dish, Mirza Ghasemi, which is mashed aubergine, tomato, egg and garlic served with bread or rice - and one of my favourites, cooked by Nima's mum in Masuleh, was a green vegetarian dish with nuts and seasoned with lots of dill. This was served with sliced tomato and cucumber on the side, yoghurt and a bowl of crispy rice. Yum!