Lamb Shocking Iranian Food in Isfahan, Iran (PART-01)
Story by Mark Wiens
- Hey everyone, hope you'rehaving an amazing day. It's Mark Wiens, I'm inIsfahan, Iran, and this is one of the most historically important and amazing cities of Iran. It is known as half of the world, because of it's significance,because at it's peak time, when it flourished, it wasone of the largest cities in the world. It's an important tradecenter, it's an important food center, and inthis video we are gonna go on an ultimate food tour of Isfahan. We'll also be walkingaround, exploring the city, going to some of themost amazing, cultural and historical sites,but mostly eating a lot of delicious food, and I'mgonna share this entire Isfahan tour with you in this video. (man singing in foreign language) Just arrived to Isfahan,so happy to be here and we're gonna start eating now.
And we're going down here, next? - Yeah, come. You know it's one way. (Mr. Taster speaks in foreign language) (Mark laughing) You chase each other. (Mark laughs) - It is beautiful, and definitely it's like if you putyour shoulders out wide nobody can pass, it's true. And it looks like mud, mud walls. (man speaking in foreign language) (laughs) (car horn honking) - Yes (chuckles). (men speaking in foreign language) (car horn honks) - [Mark] Now getting to a walking street, getting into one of themain square, the public square area, huge square area, yeah, where are we on our way to? - So, it's Azadegan cafe. - Okay. - It's one of the oldestand you can see all-- - Oh, we're walking into it right now? - Yeah. - Awesome. Just full of antiques, antlers, chains, clay vessels, tea vessels. Okay, and step into the real main area now and it's so many antiquesfilled with lamps filled with all sorts of vessels of silver and clay and photos, theantiques and the decorations just never end. You can just keep looking andlooking and find new things. If you just look up at theceiling there's portraits, there's photos, there's hanging lamps, there's hanging fish, there'slanterns, there's musical instruments, there's swords, there's, it's like a, you couldjust keep on looking around forever in here.
(Iranian instrumental music) (bell ringing) - Or, would you like a stool? - No, this is fine. We ordered a couple ofdishes, on their way now. (dishes clattering) (speaks in foreign language)(dishes clattering) Well, really it's like a tea house, more of a tea housecafe than a restaurant, but what I love is thatthey serve just a handful, maybe like five differentdishes, and serve the right way specializing them, and so we ordered this eggplant dish looksincredible just swimming in the sauce, eggplantlooks so tender, and then I love that pile ofcarmalized onions on top. It's so aromatic, it smellsso good, and then we also got, this one is the dizi? - Yeah. - It's already mashed up? - It's already mashed up.- Okay. - And it's the meat juice. - Oh, meat juice (laughing). - Might call it abgoosht. - Abgoosht (laughing) meat juice, and-- - This is kashke bademjan. - Kashke bademjan. - Kashke bademjan.- Kashke bademjan. - Which they cook it(speaks in foreign language) differently like thisso it's more tomato-y, - Ah.- You know? - Some kind of a dairy product. You put that on top? Ooh, oh wow, oh that's like cream on top. - [Mr. Taster] Yeah. - [Mark] Okay, take thebread, and just scoop it in? Okay, yeah that's good, I'm gonna slice off some of the... Oh, oh it's so mushyand, oh look how mushy. Eggplant is one of my favoritethings, too, in the world. - I know.(Mark laughs) (speaks in foreign language) (chewing and smacking) (Mr. Taster laughs) - Mmh, that just melts in your mouth. It's just so soft and mushy,in the best possible way. - Yeah. - Whole tomatoes, tomato paste, and the curd also I like it'srich and it's creaminess. Oh, it's so creamy, soawesomely good, yeah. Then I'll mix in nextwith these, all of the, the crispy onions, andadd on more of the curd.
Okay, I have to take anotherbite before moving on. - [Mr. Taster] Yeah? - I think the thing to dois just kinda like mash up the eggplant a little bit with the onions, and there's olives in there, too. - [Mr. Taster] Look at that, my mom used to do it like this, put more curd, I call it moss. She was doing it like this, oh. - [Mark] Mash it even more. - [Mr. Taster] Yes (laughing). (speaks in foreign language) messy Look at that. - [Mark] Oh, it turns to just a gravy, it turns to an overeager gravy.
All right. (both laughing) - Mm-hmm. - [Mr. Taster] My mom is experienced. - Yeah, momma taster. (both laughing) Mama taster. (laughing) - [Mark] Yeah, that justlike makes everything even more like, it's just like saucier. It's like literally melted eggplant gravy. (Iranian instrumental music) Tear the bread and breakit up into the soup. This is the lamb soup, (laughing) All the bread is just gonnaabsorb that lamb broth. Reach the surface.- [Mr. Taster] Yes. - [Mark] Reach the surface of the soup, just mop it all up, every piece of bread to just fully be absorbed. (Iranian instrumental music)(dishes clattering) (laughing)- Taste that with onion? Thank you.(laughing) It's like a lamb juice sponge, it explodes with this lamb aroma, and then just wrappedup with that soggy bread that's soaked up with the lamb. Squeeze on sour orange, (laughing) that will be good, too. Squeeze on sour orange juice, stir that around, yeah. It turns into like a mash. - [Mr. Taster] And let's have some - [Mark] Pickle as well? - Yeah.- Okay. Take a bite of the bread,and add pickle on top of it. - [Mr. Taster] Pickles, we call it torshi. - [Mark] Torshi a dark pickle. (chuckles) (Iranian instrumental music) (laughing) - Taste's different?- Yeah (chuckles)But with that sour orange, the pickle kinda has a-- - Should be aged. - Yeah, like a worcestershire sauce to it. And so this actuallythe chickpeas, the beans that are mashed up with the lamb. Just kinda scoop into that. That with a little sour orange? - Yeah.- Or onion? - Both (laughing).- Both. (laughing) - And we're gonna chase that with onion, to complete the bite. Again, like the lambflavor, because it's been mashed up it's dissolved into this hearty, pasty, beany dip. You've got the solid version,and the liquid version. They almost taste the same actually. - Yeah (chuckles). - Like, the flavor is the same, it's just totally different textures. (Iranian instrumental music) The food was amazing, butthis place is best known for this, and this combination. You have to have bothof them together, right? - [Mr. Taster] Yeah, goosh-e Fil. it means elephant ears, yeah.
So it's sweet, and it's sour. And they mix it together, it's so strange. (laughing) - Crunchy and sweet.(laughing) They do kinda look like elephant ears. And then, the... (speaking in foreign language) you can see how mint is floating on, this one looks like the mintiest one, I've had so far. Some of them have not had mint in it that we've had so far, this one the mint is just floating aroundon the top of the surface. And it's like a yogurty,slightly salty beverage, so, this is the combination that this place is.- The most strangest I would say. - And this is only this place. - Only in all Iran. (crosstalk)- Only in Isfahan. Oh yeah, it's like sticky and crunchy, you could just feel, andit's almost transparent. You can almost see through it. (upbeat music) Okay, starting with the elephant ears, it's juicy actually, just like a floral syrup, sweetness, that gushes out of it. And it's kinda like sticky and gummy at the same time and it kinda like caramelises on your teeth. And then you take a swig of the(speaks in foreign language) and it's like salty,refreshing yogurt mintieness. Just a hint of carbonationto give your tongue a little zing, with the mint. It's not too thick, nottoo rich, not too heavy.
But it just goes down easily, and it's addictive too. - [Mr. Taster] Yeah (chuckles). (upbeat instrumental music) (lips smacking) (laughing) (upbeat music continues) - Ah. It's an entire alley,it's an entire museum of antiques and history in this tea house. And on top of that, the food is amazing. The atmosphere is so cool,and that combination, that combination that they have here, is absolutely a mustwhen you're in Isfahan, and an amazing place. It's pretty late at nightand we're gonna call it a night, but quicklywe're just gonna take a, get my first glimpse, takea look, in the main square. And I know this is one of the world's largest squares, it's huge. There are two mosques within the square, and then surrounding it are shops, and the bazaar, absolutelyspectacularly stunning. And then tomorrow we're gonna be walking around a lot more in the daytime, but we just wanted to getthe night view right now since we're right here. (man singing in foreign language) And that was an amazingfirst evening in Isfahan. It's an incredible cityand I can't wait to explore more tomorrow, and tomorrowwe're gonna continue with this ultimate food tour of Isfahan, so I'll see you, tomorrow. (man singing in foreign language) Good morning from Isfahan, Iran. Had an amazing sleeplast night, slept well after that eggplant. And beautiful day today,the sun is shining, the Persian garden outsideof our room on the veranda is gorgeous,
I am readyto explore Isfahan today and to eat a lot more food. Morning,-
Hey, morning. - Good morning, morning.- Good to see you. - I remember you in GM. - [Mark] Yes, yes, thank you. - You are going to out ofthe boat and eat everything. (Mark laughing)- Yes. - [Mark] Thank you, (speakingin foreign language) Staff here are amazing, and we are off for the day to exploreIsfahan, to eat a lot of delicious food, and to see the square in the daylight now,and to see some of the most beautiful attractionsof this incredibly ancient, incrediblyimportant and powerful city. (water fountain splashing) Good morning.(speaking in foreign language) How are you today? (speaks in foreign language) very good. (upbeat music) - We're going for yogurt(speaks in foreign language) (laughing) We going for yogurt stew. - [Mark] Yogurt stew? - Yeah, we call it Khoresht Mast. - [Mark] And it's a musty-- - It's, ah, a strained yogurt with lamb. For breakfast, they have it for lunch, they have it as desert,they have it for dinner. (laughing) - Lamb for desert (chuckles). I like the sound of it. (background chattering) Step in here and immediately, again, you smell that lamb aroma. This is such an interestingdish and I love it already.
You can smell the lambboiling and then on this massive platter is this, all that yogurt, okay, we're gonna watch the whole process as they make it right now. (speaking in foreign language) (dough slapping) On this big metal platter, he has, this is strained yogurt,and it's kinda like sticky, buttery in consistency. And then they take shredded lamb, which has been boiling,it's completely shredded and tender, you can justfeel it falling apart. He sprinkles that ontop, and then he starts to like work it with hisfingers, mashing it up, mixing everything together,forming this putty of minced, shredded lamband strained yogurt. And then he starts massagingit, he start kneading it like a ball of dough,and then he continues to work it into the texture that he needs, and he takes this plastic mallet, and then just circularmotions, just mashes it again making a finermash, and that almost turns to a spreadableputty of strained yogurt and evenly mixed disinegratedlamb, through and through.
(Iranian instrumental music) (background chattering) That experience and that stickiness, he has to play with itto get the texture right, it's literally like puttyof strained yogurt and lamb. Okay, now, powdered saffron? - [Woman] Saffron. - [Mark] And the aroma of that saffron is just intense and the strongest saffron I've ever smelled, it's condensed and it's actually thick and dark, it's not even orange in color, it's like maroon and yellow. (water pouring) The saffron they're gonnabrew for ten minutes and that goes into aseparate, it's going to go into this pan where he'sadding more strained yogurt to a mixer andthat's gonna mix together and somehow it's all gonnacome together with that mushed lamb and strained yogurt. (machine whirring) It's just a never ending process of mixing and mashing. So now that entire blob that they like made perfect texture elastic goes into the mixer with themore strained yogurt and sugar. (machine whirring) Now it's all comingtogether, he pours in gently that saffron that wasbrewed, it's such a beautiful color and that just likesplatters into the entire mixture, and rememberthere's lamb in there. So this batch is ready.- Yeah (chuckles). He's giving us a tastetest, and look at that stickiness of it, it is like putty. You eat that whole thing in one bite? - Yeah, let's go. - Would that be risky?- One bite. - Okay, one bite (chuckles). Risky with the stickiness. Mmh. - More saffron. - Oh, wow! (Hamid speaks in foreign language) Mmh, it's sweet, it'slike sweet saffron, lamb, ice cream, whipped creamall together in one bite. It is amazingly good actually. (man speaking in foreign language) - [Mr. Taster] Have you had chicken kabob? - Yeah. - You're gonna have it with chicken kabob- Ah, it's like a garnish Like sauce, almost like a sauce. - Or, you can have your chicken kabob and once you finish youcan have it as a desert. - Okay.
CLICK PART-02
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