A Sip, a Bite, a Mouthful by Afsaneh Hojabri

Author:Afsaneh Hojabri
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: montreal, shiraz, food and drink, culinary memoir, iranian history and culture
Publisher: Afsaneh Hojabri

Chapter Three: Aash and Kotlet for Supper

It would be impossible to describe the culturally-specific ritual of preparing and eating an Iranian-style supper without imagining myself somewhere in Iran. To me, supper is a remote translation of shaam--the last meal of the day or “night”--even more so than nahaar, or lunch suggests “mid-day.”

The most accurate interpretation of the specific nature of shaam came from Maji. After returning to Shiraz from her two-month stay with us in Montreal, she tried to give her children and grandchildren a sense of what she saw as a hectic and chaotic life abroad. She described our eating habits as all mixed up.

“They don’t have time to eat a proper nahaar (lunch); so they eat nahaar as shaam. Afsaneh makes rice around six or seven in the afternoon when they are too full to have shaam at night. That’s why they either go to bed early, or on an empty stomach!” In fact, some families that have settled abroad stick to the Iranian late-supper schedule either because they cannot kick the habit of having a heavy evening repast, or because women’s jobs outside home does not allow them to prepare and serve an early, elaborate Iranian-style meal as supper.

The order of things in Iran is different, of course, and although I lived almost two-thirds of my life in Shiraz, I still catch myself feeling stunned when I encounter the difference. I once called my cousin in Iran, heedlessly, at 11:00 in the evening their time, saying, “Oh, I’m sorry! Did I wake you up?”

“No way!” my cousin’s cheerful voice replied. “We just walked in; the boys were about to have their tea.” The boys mentioned were aged seven and ten, and the next day was a school day.

The last meal of the day then, second only to lunch in importance, is supper, or shaam. Unless there are plans for a dinner party, shaam consists of a light dish served with flat bread. This dish may include any variety of aash; stuffed vegetables and stuffed grape leaf bites of dolmeh; an endless variety of round, flat croquettes made of eggs, milk and cooked potato, or eggs and chopped herbs (koo-koo); ground meat and onion (shaami); macaroni with ground beef sauce; deep-fried shrimp; stir-fried chicken or fish; omelets; cheese and sabzi or grated cucumber in yogurt depending on mood and budget. Flat bread is not to be omitted under any circumstances, even with potato-based meals. Most supper dishes require frying, except for aash.

Kotlet, which is arguably an Iranian version of a cutlet, is a perfect candidate for supper and is often prepared along with aash-e reshteh (conveniently, if not accurately translated as “noodle soup’"). The two complement each other to create a rich supper that is popular with Iranians throughout Iran and beyond. Both kotlet and aash-e reshteh also happen to be dishes that have their own specific significance and character. Kotlet almost always has a place in a picnic basket, just as aash-e reshteh is chosen as a “vow dish”--cooked and distributed to make a wish come true.

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