Inside My Table #90 | Excerpt
Dining Without Borders—Beyond Kebabs
By Dennis Abrams
Question: Which sounds more tempting, Iranian cuisine or Persian cuisine?
They are one and the same, of course. But, given the lingering political and cultural climate, the words “Iranian food” tends to conjure up visions of stern-faced mullahs supervising the kitchen, while an army of women dressed head to foot in their chadors dole out meager portions of restrained utilitarian food. “Persian cuisine,” on the other hand, calls to mind long, languid meals of delicious grilled meats and saffron-scented rice, meals that conclude with sweets, dates and mint tea. Quite a difference.
Obviously this issue’s Dining Without Borders is going to be about “Persian” food. But there’s an absence. This will be a kebab-free, grilled-meat-free, skewer-free article. Instead, I’m going to focus on the thing that makes Persian food stand out from other Middle Eastern cuisines -– its famous stews.
My first stop was Saffron Persian Cafe, located on the second floor of a Hillcroft strip mall, Hillcroft being one of my favorite areas for ethnic cuisines of all kinds. We began with a few shared appetizers, including abgoosht, a hearty beef soup with shredded beef, chunks of potatoes and beans, and ash-e-reshteh, a potato and garbanzo soup flavored with herbs that gave the soup an appealingly viscous texture. Served with them was a barley soup that was closer to a sludge, which even a generous addition of salt could not coax come to life, and a Persian version of haleem, made with chicken and cracked wheat, and which bore an unfortunate resemblance to a thick, somewhat bland chicken pie filling. (To taste haleem in all its spicy splendor, make your way down Hillcroft to Himalaya, for chef Kaiser Lashkari’s definitive Pakistani version.) Served with the starters was a stunningly good round of hot bread, slightly charred on the bottom, rich and buttery tasting, almost good enough to make a meal of. Thankfully, fresh bread was brought out throughout the meal.
Next came the stews. Ghormeh sabzi is the classic Persian stew: beef, kidney beans, green onions, herbs and spices, with a haunting sour taste provided by pickled lime. Ladled on top of warmly aromatic basmati rice (or scooped up with more of that fabulous warm bread) it makes for a memorable meal. As does the gheymeh, a beef, tomato and yellow split pea stew topped, somewhat incongruously I thought, with canned shoestring potatoes. You can safely skip the zereshk polo, boiled chicken in a light broth flavored with herbs that, while tasty, lacked the intensity of the two other stews.
My second stop was Cafe Caspian. One of Houston’s better known Persian restaurants, and clearly a meeting place for Houston’s Iranian community, the restaurant is one of those places that has earned its reputation: The food was splendid.
We started with an appetizer sampler: kashk-e-bademjan, an excellent roasted eggplant dip; hummus; tabouli; and mast-o-mooser, a dip of creamy yogurt and shallots – all were delicious. One of my dining partners thought that both the tabouli and hummus were among the best he had tasted. I loved both of them, too -– the tabouli was remarkably fresh and balanced -– but found it impossible to choose a favorite among the four. I do have to allow, however, that the bread at Cafe Caspian didn’t measure up to the lofty standards set by Saffron.
Cafe Caspian’s stews, though, were absolutely spot on. Of course we once again sampled those two Persian classics, ghormeh sabzi, described on Caspian’s menu as a “fresh herb stew,” and the gheymeh, once again topped by canned shoestring potatoes. Apparently canned shoestrings is not that odd at all, but it still left me wondering where the idea came from in the first place. Ancient Persian secret?
Both of those stews were marvelous, but if you will, allow me to direct your attention to two stews that were even more unusual and equally delicious, each of which displays fully the Persian fondness for the contrasting tastes of sweet and sour. Esfenaj-o-alu, a spinach and prune stew with beef (all stews at Cafe Caspian are cooked as vegetarian stews, with the meat added when served, making the cuisine quite vegetarian friendly), had a subtly sweet and sour taste that was most beguiling.
Much more “in your face” was the fesenjan, a pomegranate sauce and walnut stew with chicken. Wow! The first taste was like taking a big gulp of concentrated pomegranate juice – pure tang – but then the other flavors and textures emerged, and, in combination with Cafe Caspian’s slightly salty basmati rice, the dish positively sang. Our friendly waitress informed me that fesenjan is one of those dishes that people either love or hate – call me a fesenjan lover.
We also had khoresh-e-bademjan, a wonderfully tasty eggplant stew, as well as loobya, a green bean stew with chunks of sautéed filet mignon. For me, the latter was the least interesting of all the stews I tasted. But on the other hand, one of my guests loved the familiarity of the dish, comparing it to a Thanksgiving green bean casserole. Whether that’s a good or bad thing is up to you.
For the last few months, my partner David and I have been thinking about taking this year’s vacation in Iran. Well, recent events in the Middle East have kind of put the kibosh on that idea (we’re going to Yemen instead -– go figure), but it’s nice to know that while I may not be going to Persepolis any time soon, I can avail myself of some terrific Persian -– okay, Iranian -– food, right here in Houston. One more reason why Houston is such a great food city.
SAFFRON PERSIAN CAFE
5711 Hillcroft, #B2, bet. Westpark & Highway 59, 713-780-7474
TIP Saffron is well-loved in the local Iranian community for the quality of its tea.
CAFE CASPIAN
12126 Westheimer west of Kirkwood, 281-493-4000
TIP The restaurant gets crowded, especially on weekends. Call ahead for reservations.
