My first “encounter” with Kale Pache, or Sheep’s Head Soup was at an Iranian Nowruz (New Year) celebration concert at Cologne Arena.  Feri hadn’t mentioned this delicacy to me before and after one of the main acts in the 12 hour celebrity marathon (another story), it was announced on stage that they had sold out of Kale Pache.  Huge groans of disappointment, whistles and boos filled the concert hall and I was left wondering what the problem was.

Kale Pache is a traditional Iranian dish made with a complete sheep’s  head and its hooves. Kaleh = head; Pache = feet, or hooves. I have since discovered from experience that this delicacy is usually eaten at breakfast time although I have seen it served for lunch on occasions. ” Brains for Breakfast” ……mmmm not for me but clearly the thousands of Iranians who has descended on Cologne for their New Year celebrations were clearly disappointed to hear that they were unable to eat their national delicacy in the early hours and made their feelings known to all!

Feri cooks Kale Pache but only under certain conditions!

• He is “allowed” to cook the sheep’s head in a special slow cooker casserole dish which is only used for this purpose.
• He must clean and prepare the head outside and
• The slow cooker must be plugged in only in the garage!

Feri is generally meticulous in his food preparation but seeing someone brush and floss the teeth of a dead sheep and clean out the nostrils with a cotton bud is something else if not reassuring! In addition to the sheep’s head Feri adds onions, cinnamon and salt and pepper to season. The head is then cooked for 7-8 hours in the slow cooker until the meat falls off the skull leaving the brains(fluffy clouds) and eyeballs floating on the top. The sought-after tender and tasty cheek meat is found below the surface.

I understand that before slow cookers and commercial cooking pots, Kale Pache was cooked overnight  in copper dishes buried into the ground covered in embers. Hence it became a breakfast dish.

When in Iran I am lucky that I have a fellow-disliker of Kale Pache in my niece-in-law Sehtari so we sit together in kindred disdain and eat pizza instead!

Sheep’s head soup? No thanks, but please help yourself.

Here’s just a small collection which you might find interesting;

The village baker at work-fresh bread 3 times a day

Engagement/Wedding dresses

Very old vinegar vats

The gold quarter

Cuddly toys

Even Shaun the Sheep is big in Iran!

Work in progress

More gold

Road to nowhere!

More dresses

Spring chickens!

Inside a pigeon tower

Congregational mosque Esfahan

Three wise men!

Abyaneh-dresses for sale

Sexy underwear…..ladies only!

Mosaic of Ali Qapu-Esfahan Bazaar

With 52 rooms spread over 6 floors, the Ali Qapu Palace in Esfahan is sometimes known as the first Iranian skyscraper and when you consider that it was completed in the 17th Century, that’s pretty impressive. It sits on the east side of Naqsh-e Jahan Square almost directly opposite the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque and  overlooks the beautiful landscaped gardens and fountains.

The Palace has performed a number of functions over the years at some point being administrative headquarters whilst at the same time housing the Shah’s private bedrooms and acting as a buffer between the public square and the royal harem. The Palace was also considered lavish and sufficiently ornate enough to welcome visiting dignitaries, ambassadors and heads of state and even now you can see why.

The entrance door is more than 5m high  and whilst the first 2 stories have been ravaged by vandals in the immediate aftermath of the Islāmic Revolution, it is not difficult to imagine how startling this building must have been in its hey-day.

I am no engineer, but it is the examples of practical engineering found upstairs that impress me most.

View of Naqsh-e Jahan Square from Ali Qapu verandah

Climbing the steps to the third floor you step on the verandah which is not only beautiful itself, but has the most magnificent view across the square. It is simply breathtaking. The verandah is 28m long and 16m wide and the wooden ceiling is beautifully decorated. The verandah is supported by 18 columns each carved from the trunk of a plane tree and which were originally covered in mirrors.

Ali Qapu verandah painted ceiling & carved wooden column

You would never dream of finding a pool on the third story of a building, but here not only will you find a pool but also a fountain. The pool was filled by hydraulic machines which brought the water up from ground level. Ingenious!

The palace is full of lovely paintings and murals and some of the decoration which has been preserved will take your breath away but my favourite room in this building is the Music Chamber.

If you love  music then the Music Chamber on the upper story of the Ali Qapu Palace will both surprise, delight and amaze you.

Music and poetry have always been important to the Persians and here you will find what could be called one of the earliest Dolby stereo systems. Elaborately carved out of stucco work and at 400 years old, it is impressive.

As already mentioned, the Music Chamber is on the upper floor. The musician’s quarters however are on the ground floor. The Shah sat on a platform in the Music Chamber listening to the music whilst watching parades and celebrations in the square.

Stucco carvings Music Chamber Ali Qapu

Stucco carvings Music Chamber Ali Qapu

Stucco carvings Music Chamber Ali Qapu

Stucco carvings Music Chamber Ali Qapu

So how was this achieved without blaring out music at uncomfortable decibels?  It is all in the design of the building which meant that the music travelled from the ground floor up to the Shah’s Music Chamber by way of the hollow columns built into the walls and was then transmitted around the Music Chamber through carvings in the plaster. The carvings were designed to create echoes and thus improve the sound quality of the music. Sadly we weren’t able to test this theory out but I have no doubt that like the rest of the engineering, it works perfectly!

Nowruz is not an Islamic festival or celebration, rather it has roots in Zoroastrianism and primarily celebrates the Spring Equinox, the first day of Spring; the arrival of new life and rebirth as nature responds to the longer, warmer days and brings a welcome sense of new beginnings, celebrating the light (the good) winning over the darkness (the bad)

Preparations in Iran are already well underway for Nowruz in a just a few weeks with families spring-cleaning their house, “Khouneh Tekouni” (“shaking the house”) buying new clothes and filling rooms with traditional Spring flowers such as hyacinths and tulips.

An ancient Persian tradition which I follow every year is that of setting the Haft-Sin tableau in readiness for the celebrations. Translated literally, Haft-Sin means “Seven S’s” and most the items used in a Persian Nowruz display begin with the letter “S”, symbolising the important values celebrated at this time. Examples of Haft-Sin include;

Sonbol (hyacinths)- the coming of spring

Sir (garlic)- medicine, cleanliness  & health

Sabzeh (green shoots)-new life and growth

Serkeh (vinegar)- old age and patience

Sib (apple)-beauty and health

Sekkeh (coins)- prosperity

Somaq (a dried spice)- colour of sunrise

Senjed (dried oleaster fruit)-love

Sekanjabin, a sweet mint syrup-just for good measure!

The display is usually set against the backdrop of a mirror symbolizing the sky, truth and reflection and illuminated by lit candles representing enlightenment and happiness. A goldfish is often included in the tableau representing life and the constellation of Pisces which the sun is leaving. This is particularly symbolic for me as I am a Pisces and feel that as we enter March and then into Spring I too am starting a new year. Sadly, there will be no goldfish this year. After three years of patient stalking, our cat Tom finally caught the fish he had been waiting patiently by the pond for and as yet, we have no replacement. In good Persian tradition however, perhaps we should celebrate the New Year with new life and buy another one.

After all the preparations, New Year celebrations in Iran begin on March 20th and last for 12 days. During this period the focus is very much on visiting family, friends and neighbours, throwing large parties (and believe me, Iranians know how to party) and on the 13th day, there is a mass exodus from homes with families enjoying picnics outdoors, taking advantage of the increasingly balmy evenings.

Visiting family takes on a whole new meaning to me when in Iran. The concept of the “extended family” really comes into its own here with numerous relations living in and around the small town of Sede where we are based. It would take us more than a day visit everyone if the visits were much more than 30 minutes at each house, so short and sharp is the key to a successful Nowruz visiting campaign. Tea (Chai) is served constantly together with sweets, pastries, nuts and fruit and everyone has well-stocked cupboards in preparation for the influx of visitors.

For Nowruz here in England and “in concert” with my Iranian family, I have hyacinths in bud and will soon need to sow my cress seeds and mung beans ready to grow the “sabzeh” (green shoots). Everything else is ready to put together as my Haft-Sin tableau for 1392. Feri and I will be celebrating Nowruz with our Iranian friends and we are looking forward to our upcoming visit to Iran “next year”.

In the meantime we both wish you all…..

“Nowruz Mubarak”…….”Happy New Year”

The 2013 Festival will start on Friday 1st February and end on Sunday 10th February so there is plenty of time to enjoy the activities.

Details of what we can look forward to have not been released yet, but will appear on this website in due course.

Edinburgh Iranian Festival 2013

This is the official programme for the 2011 event-I look forward to seeing the 2013 version.

I never fail to be amazed by comments I receive about my writing however mundane I feel it is. It is important to describe and explain how people live in Iran even if my observations are based on a small rural/urban population around Esfahan. I cannot and will not pretend that my experiences of traveling in Iran are representative of the population. They cannot possibly be so with a country the size of Iran but I hope that I can give comfort to readers that Iranian people are just like us. They have families, jobs, go on holiday, eat and drink, enjoy themselves. They are not all extreme political or religious animals. They are normal. Just like us.

Let’s hope that by writing about my experiences, more people will begin to understand and appreciate the Iran not publicised by the western media.

Fingers crossed.

Starting on Monday 25 June at 8pm, BBC Radio 4, three programmes Through Persian Eyes in which “Prof Ali Ansari presents a world history as seen through Persian eyes, taking the listener on a journey from ancient past to immediate present and asking them to rethink their understanding of Iran”

Most Iranians look at me blankly when I rave on about their driving exploits clearly thinking I am a hyper-sensitive neurotic woman who knows nothing about driving. However, I seem to have found an ally in Maziar Bahari, whose book I am reading this week whilst on Jury Service. In his book ” Then they came for me”, he describes Iranian driving as follows;

” The effect of years of chaos and insecurity, war and revolution, can easily be seen in the way Iranians drive; these generally courteous people turn into monsters behind the wheel. They rarely allow another car the right of way and honk their horns as soon as a pedestrian steps into the street. Road rage-even using machetes against other drivers-is not unheard of in Iran. As a friend of mine once put it, “The disgraceful way we drive is like crapping on more than twenty-five hundred years of Persian history, arts, and culture.”

Thank goodness I’m not the only one who thinks that Iranian driving could be improved! I was beginning to think I am a hyper-sensitive neurotic woman who knows nothing about driving.

I’m forever trying to bust myths about Iran when asked about my visits and some of the questions I’m asked seem ridiculous when seen from my eyes and with my experience. But that’s the issue. I’ve seen some of Iran myself and experienced family life over there. I’ve bought fruit and vegetables, clothes, done the tourist “thing”. I’ve been to weddings and mourning ceremonies in the mosque. I’m not a practising Moslem but no one minded. I respect their culture and dress code just as I expect visitors and residents to respect our culture and expectations here in the UK.

The picture that the media portrays of Iran  is very different and whilst I understand that the political situation is controversial, the propaganda and unbalanced approach to the reporting is very frustrating. I’m not qualified to comment on politics be it about the situation in the UK/Europe or about the latest Middle East issues. It is complex and frankly very confusing so I don’t do it. Many may think this is a cop-out, but I could spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week trying to understand world politics and I honestly just don’t have the time.

I happen to think that there is room for more information to be made available about Iran from a non-political perspective. There is so much more to Iran than the nuclear debate, human rights issues and the religious tension and we will all get along better if we understand the different cultures and history and learn to appreciate our differences and similarities.

I found this quote on the net today. Sadly the author’s link was broken and I’ve been unable to trace its origins to give credit. I like this as it deals with many of the myths and attitudes embedded so deeply in people’s psyche. I know, as I get asked the questions.

• No, I am not a terrorist nor a wife beater,
  I don’t live in a tent in a desert
•  
• I speak Farsi, not Arabic
  Iran is pronounced “EERAUN” and not “I – ran” (it’s not track & field)
•  
• News flash: Iran and Iraq are two different countries ,
  Middle east is a region and NOT a continent,
  And camels are not our way of transportation.
•  
• Iranian women are just as outspoken (if not more) and liberal as the
  European women,
•  
• Iran is the first country to have red white and green for a flag,
  A beautiful country ran by the wrong people
  But still the best part of Middle East
•  
•