Iranian foods and drinks and cuisine
The cuisine of Iran has made extensive contact throughout its history with the cuisines of its neighbouring regions, including Caucasian cuisine, Central Asian cuisine, Greek cuisine, Levantine cuisine, Mesopotamian cuisine, Russian cuisine and Turkish cuisine, among others.
Aspects of Iranian cuisine have also been significantly adopted by Indian cuisine and Pakistani cuisine through various historical Persianate sultanates that flourished during Muslim rule on the Indian subcontinent, with the most notable and impactful of these polities being the Mughal Empire.
Iranians pride themselves on their skill in preparation of rice, and there are a vast number of varieties of two common dishes, polo and chelo. Polo consists of vegetables or meat cooked and mixed with rice, whereas chelo is prepared over the course of many hours with crustier rice topped with sauces.
The best aromatic rice is obtained from the north of the country in the paddy fields along the Caspian Sea.Some popular polos are polo chirin, which is made with saffron, raisins, almonds and orange; Adas polo, made with lentils and meat; and shekar polo, a very sweet dish prepared with honey, sugar almonds and pistachio. Wheat bread is considered the poor mans alternative to rice, but still comes in many different varieties.
Advieh or iranian spices
Advieh or chāshni refers to a wide variety of pungent vegetables and dried fruits that are used in Iranian cuisine to flavor food.
One of the traditional and most widespread Iranian spices is saffron, derived from the flower of Crocus sativus. Rose water, a flavored water made by steeping rose petals in water, is also a traditional and common ingredient in many Iranian dishes.
