And because it’s not enough to figure out where to go, we’re also helping you decide when to plan each trip, according to hotel price data from Google and insights from our preferred destination specialists across the globe. The cheapest and most expensive times to go are rarely the best and worst.

So get your passport ready—there’s lots of ground to cover in the next 12 months./ Bloomberg

IRAN

For intrepid travelers, the question is not whether to visit Iran; it’s how to get there before an influx of tourists taints the experience. This is no casual undertaking. The visa application process is lengthy and complex; citizens from the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. must be on escorted tours; and travelers have to abide by a government dress code.

Take our word for it, though. The hassle is worthwhile. Since 2015’s historic nuclear deal was brokered, several companies have launched itineraries and major European airlines have resumed their flights.

On trips such as Cox and King’s Heart of Persia, you’ll get to roam the desert bazaar of Kerman, ogle Moorish palaces and mosaic-tiled mosques in Isfahan, and see ancient sites like the royal city of Persepolis, which dates to roughly 500 B.C.

“These are the kinds of sites that you can’t find elsewhere—and which, in places like Afghanistan and Syria, have been tragically destroyed,” said Brian Allen, Asia specialist for Mountain Travel Sobek, which has been leading tours to Iran for four years.

Iran hotel price, by Google

Then there’s the legendary Persian food and hospitality. “There is a cultural norm in Iran that guests are from god,” Allen said. “I frequently hear people say they’ve been all over the world and never received a welcome like they got there.”

As always, please check your government’s travel alerts website (like this one for the U.S.) before going to a country that shares complex diplomatic relations with your own.

When to go: Late October or early November, when the climate is just right for outdoor sightseeing.
When not to go: Iranian holidays clog the streets with traffic, and Ramadan makes a trip extra-complicated; this year, avoid the last two weeks of March and the month of June.

The post Bloomberg suggested to visit Iran on 2017 appeared first on IRAN This Way.

Dizi as a traditional Iranian meal, which apparently is better when it is home cooked. I did not get the recipe.

Press TV introduced two Iranian traditional dishes, Kallepache and Dizi, which are also famous around the world.

Abgoosht: One of the Most Traditional Foods of Iran

{iranreview.org} Abgoosht is a Persian and Mesopotamian stew. It is also called Dizi, which refers to the traditional stone crocks it is served in. Some describe it as a “hearty mutton soup thickened with chickpeas.” Ābgoosht is usually made with lamb, chickpeas, white beans, onion, potatoes, and tomatoes, turmeric, and black lime.

Other variations exist in the beans used, such as kidney beans and black-eyed peas.

The ingredients are combined together and cooked until done, at which point the dish is strained. The solids are then mashed and served with the broth, but in a separate dish, along with flatbread. It is a form of Piti, which encompasses many similar dishes in the region.

There is a similar dish in Armenia, called the same, Abgoosht stew, the difference between these two is that in Armenia they use beef instead of lamb.

The Abgoosht soup is a traditional Persian meal, often eaten daily in the winter time due to the fact that is a warm meal that contains a good source of protein.

Now onto the recipe! There are a few variations to this dish and this recipe is the first and most simplistic form of it.

Jon getting a lesson in how to eat dizi

Ingredients

2 lamb shanks
4 lamb necks
2 medium onions
1/2 cup chickpeas, soaked over night
1/2 cup white beans, soaked over night
1 tsp turmeric
2 Persian limes
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 tomatoes
3 potatoes
2 tsp cinnamon
salt & pepper

Wash and dry the meat. Season it with salt and pepper.

Chop the onions and place it in a heavy pot.

Add meat on the top of it.

Make a hole in the Persian Limes and add to the pot along with the beans. Add turmeric, cinnamon, and 9 cups of water. Cover and cook it on medium heat for 2 hours

During this time make sure to check the pot and remove any foam that might come to its surface.

Add tomato paste and mix well. Then add fresh tomatoes.

Dizi on Christmas Day in Iran

Add potatoes and adjust seasoning. You will need a good amount of salt due to the beans and potatoes. Cover and cook everything for another hour.

Once done, place a colander over a bowl. Remove meat and place in colander.

Separate meat from the bones and discard bones. Some like to remove the morrow from the bones and add it to the soup or meat.

Empty the content of the pot in the colander.

Return the broth to the pot and adjust seasoning if needed. Mash meat, beans, potatoes, and tomatoes.

This is how your end product should look like once the solids have been mashed. Taste it for seasoning and add more if needed.

The mashed meat and soup are served separately.

The soup is eaten first. You may put a few pieces of Persian bread in it.

The mashed meat is eaten with Sabzi, Persian herbs, fresh lime, and bread.

A lot of families go to Dizi restaurants at the weekends. (Photo by Farshid Alyan)

Many times Abgoosht is referred to as Dizi, but this has to do with the dish it is cooked in. Dizi is a dish in which Abgoosht is cooked. Most of the people prefer to eat Abgoosht which is cooked in Dizi, since its ingredients are cooked slowly in a long time and the meal will have special flavor and taste.

There are three major kinds of Dizi (dish) including stony, cuprous and earthen of which earthen Dizi is widely used. But many of us use pots, slow cookers, or even pressure cookers for convenience and the amount of time we have.

Recipe + Pressure Cookers

Soak chickpeas and beans one day before and change its water. Cook meat with onion, salt, pepper and a little turmeric and spice. Cook chickpea and beans separately and remove its water. Once the meat is cooked, pour chickpeas, beans, green pepper, lady finger and donbeh (fat) along with potatoes in pressure cooker and place it over medium heat without closing its lid. Once the potatoes are cooked, add tomato paste and taste its salt and hot.

Abgoosht should contain 5 bottles of water in order to make Tilit. You can serve its meat with seasons or you can remove its bones and mash meat, grains and potatoes and design it with fried onion, cinnamon and chopped vegetables. You can also add grated onion, orange and cinnamon on mashed meat and serve it. Pour meat water in a beautiful dish, sprinkle some cinnamon on it and serve it with bread (which had been cut into small pieces before), vegetables, pickles and onion.

In order to observe the traditional customs, use traditional dishes, the best one is Dizi. It is noted that the kind of dish has a role in provoking appetite. Try to use beautiful and traditional dishes and Chinese pitchers with roses design or cuprous jugs.

Bon Appetite!

Recommended
Also you can fine more about Essential Iranian Dishes in this article: Top 10 Essential Iranian Dishes

The post Tasty Abgoosht-Video appeared first on IRAN This Way.

A visit to Iran yields a stunning variety of culinary delights. That’s because of the country’s unique history and geography, which translates to a diverse mix of cultural in×uences on the cuisine. Louisa ShaÖa, author of The New Persian Kitchen, guides us through the basics.

By: Louisa ShaÖa: A visit to Iran yields a stunning variety of culinary delights. Between the familiar kebab and the decidedly outré grilled lamb’s testicles, there’s a vast spectrum of foods: caviar, pickle, and smoked äsh in the north; samosas, falafel and hot and sour shrimp in the south; noodles, åatbread and rosewater-scented ice cream across the country. Take a look at Iran’s place on the map and it’s easy to understand why the scope of native foods is so wide. Once the center of the Persian Empire, Iran neighbors the former Soviet Union countries, as well as Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Arab states and Turkey. Although Iran is part of the Middle East, it has close ties to Europe, the Far East and Africa, owing to its central place on the Silk Road trade route.

Kebabs come in many kinds: beef, chicken, lamb liver, among them.

What’s more, the ancient warrior-king of Greece, Alexander the Great, conquered the Persian Empire back in the 4th century, and later it was invaded by Arabs, Turks, Mongols and Uzbeks. While Iranians already had a well-developed food identity before these invasions, they assimilated what the outsiders brought in. Think Russian-style borscht with cumin and cilantro and Chinese noodles in a soup of beans, herbs and sour fermented whey. Many coveted ingredients are native to Iran, including pistachios, almonds, walnuts, saffron, mint, oranges, pomegranates and grapes. Iran has a variable climate with four distinct seasons, and unlike other parts of the Middle East, where the dry terrain limited what food could be grown, the ancient Persians transformed vast stretches of arid land into fertile oases via underground aquifers that drew melted snow water into the desert. A bright, sensuous, fruit-and-herb älled cuisine was born. A core curriculum of classic Persian favorites can be found on most Persian-American restaurant menus. Here are 10 to try. Noosh-e jan! (Yes, that’s Farsi for “bon appétit.”)

1. Fesenjan (Pomegranate Walnut Stew) This iconic stew, an essential part of every Persian wedding menu, pairs tart pomegranate with chicken or duck. Ground walnuts, pomegranate paste and onions are slowly simmered to make a thick sauce. Sometimes saffron and cinnamon are added, and maybe a pinch of sugar to balance the acid. Fesenjan has a long pedigree. At the ruins of Persepolis, the ancient ritual capital of the Persian Empire, archaeologists found inscribed stone tablets from as far back as 515 B.C., which listed 5/9/2016 Persian Food Primer: 10 Essential Iranian Dishes – Food Republic http://www.foodrepublic.com/2014/10/29/persian­food­primer­10­essential­iranian­dishes/ 4/9 pantry staples of the early Iranians. They included walnuts, poultry and pomegranate preserves, the key ingredients in fesenjan.

2. Bademjan (Eggplant And Tomato Stew) This stew has the shimmering red-gold color of tomatoes cooked with turmeric, with a sheen of oil on top, a prized characteristic in Persian cooking that shows a stew has been cooked long enough for the oils to rise up. Slightly tart, with the tang of tomatoes, lemon juice, and sometimes the juice of unripe grapes, its tanginess is kept in check by the eggplant, which is ärst fried on its own until golden-brown, then cooked with onions, lamb and the tomatoes and seasoning. Like all Persian stews, bademjan is thick and meant to be eaten over rice with a fork.

3. Baghali Polo (Rice With Dill And Fava Beans) In Iranian cooking, rice can be prepared simply with butter and saffron, known as chelo. But just as often, it’s cooked with other ingredients and called polo. Polo can be made with herbs, vegetables, beans, nuts, dried fruit, meat and even noodles, and acts as the centerpiece of the meal. This polo is particularly good in the spring, when fava beans are young and tender and dill is in season. The dish is åecked with green dill and favas, and is often cooked with very tender chunks of lamb. Alternately, it may be served alongside lamb on the bone. The rice should have a mild saffron åavor, with the saffron mixed into the rice just before serving.

4. Zereshk Polo (Barberry Rice) Iranians love sour åavors. Like cranberries, barberries have a vibrant red color, but they’re even more sour. This classic rice dish is studded with the red berries, which are dried and then rehydrated before cooking. The rice is cooked with plenty of butter, which helps to soften the intensity of the berries. Quince, rhubarb, green plums, sour oranges, lemons, limes, dried limes, sour cherries, tamarind, sumac and pomegranate are all used in Persian cooking to make food more tart.

5. Gormeh Sabzi (Green Herb Stew) Made from herbs, kidney beans and lamb, deep green gormeh sabzi satisäes two Persian åavor obsessions: it’s sour and full of herbs. The stew is seasoned with dried limes, limoo omani in Farsi. These limes are extra intense and sour, with a bittersweet taste that gives the stew a unique åavor. The other constant in gormeh sabzi is fenugreek leaves, a taste unfamiliar to most westerners. Other herbs include parsley, coriander and scallions.

6. Ash e Reshteh (Noodle and Bean Soup) A richly textured soup full of noodles, beans, herbs and leafy greens like spinach and beet leaves. It’s topped with mint oil, crunchy fried onions and sour kashk, a fermented whey product eaten in the Middle East that tastes akin to sour yogurt. The noodles, which made their way to Iran from China, are thought to represent the many paths of life, and this soup is traditionally served when someone sets off on a long journey. Because of its auspicious ingredients, it’s also part of the menu for Norooz, the Persian new year, which occurs at the spring equinox in March.

7. Tahdig (Crunchy Fried Rice)

It’s the crisp, golden layer of fried rice at the bottom of the rice pot, and it tastes like a combination of popcorn and potato chips, but with the delicate åavor of basmati ice. (Tahdig is usually not printed on the menu, so you may have to ask for it.) At Iranian family gatherings, there are always plenty of leftovers, but the one dish that disappears completely is tahdig. It’s eaten as a side dish, and it’s forgivable to pick it up and eat it with your ängers

8. Jeweled Rice (Rice with Nuts and Dried Fruit) Dotted with brightly colored dried fruit and nuts, like little jewels, this is a sweet-andsavory dish that shows off some of the native ingredients of Iran, including pistachios, almonds, candied orange peel, barberries, carrots and saffron. It’s cooked with a little sugar to balance the sourness of the barberries. Jeweled rice is served for special occasions, particularly at weddings, because the sweet elements symbolize a sweet life. It’s traditionally served with chicken, which contrasts nicely with the sweetness.

9. Kebab (Lamb, Chicken, Lamb Liver, Ground Meat) Kebabs have more variety than you might think. First, there’s koobideh, ground meat seasoned with minced onion, salt and pepper. It sounds simple, but the taste is sublime. There is kebab-e barg, thinly sliced lamb or beef, åavored with lemon juice and onion and basted with saffron and butter. Chicken kebab, known as joojeh, is traditionally made from a whole chicken, bones and all, for more åavor (although in American restaurants it’s often made from skinless chicken breast), marinated in lemon and onion, and basted with saffron and butter. If you’re lucky, you’ll änd jigar, lamb liver kebab, garnished with fresh basil leaves and a wedge of lemon.

10. Sabzi Khordan (Herb and Cheese Plate) No Persian meal is complete without a dish of sabzi khordan, or edible herbs. The plate can include mint, tarragon, basil and cilantro, alongside scallions, radishes, walnuts, feta cheese and Iranian nan (åatbread). Simply tear off a piece of åatbread, tuck a bit of the herbs and cheese and other garnishes inside, and fold it up like a rustic sandwich. The plate stays on the table throughout the meal, and the herbs are a crunchy palate cleanser between bites of stew and rice. Fresh and dried green herbs are eaten daily in Iran. The Zoroastrian new year Norooz celebrates rebirth and renewal, and the Norooz menu includes several dishes made with green herbs representing new life, including rice with herbs, an herb omelet and the herb platter.

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