Throughout history, Persian cuisine has been considered one of the tastiest and most refined in the world. Today the cuisine of Iran continues to awaken passions and is a great claim to visit the country. In all cities and small towns you can eat in characteristic restaurants for little money. The traditional restaurants, small and cozy, and the exotic tea houses they are ideal places to taste excellent dishes and listen to traditional music of the country.
Despite the latitude, lunch and dinner times in Iran are more similar to those in Central and Nordic Europe than in the Mediterranean. There is no dinner after 21:00 p.m., although that does not mean that the evening is over. Tea, sweets and music accompany diners until late at night.
Curiously yogurt is used more as a starter than a dessert. It is a ubiquitous product that is consumed alone or accompanied with cucumbers or musir (young garlic), but never with sugar. It also highlights the dugh, blended yogurt with spearmint or mint. The rest of dairy products such as cheese and cream are served for breakfast, accompanied by Persian bread.
The main dishes in Iran are based on vegetables, legumes, meat and rice, although the Iranian national dish par excellence is the Cello kabab: fine and long rice accompanied by first quality lamb meat. The rice, cooked and steamed, is served on a separate tray decorated with saffron, while the meat, in long strips, is prepared in the form of charcoal skewers. This dish is accompanied by butter, an egg yolk and sumac (wild berries) and numerous sauces.
Baking deserves a separate chapter. There is a great variety of desserts, sweet and sour, such as Falude, while in the drinks section it stands out the tea, which is never mixed with milk and is served everywhere as a gesture of hospitality.