My family and I have been fans of Persian food for as long as I can remember. Our first taste of this cuisine was shamefully experienced at a mall, the Sherman Oaks Galleria in the 80's. The food was so good at this place that we had a Pavlovian salivatory response even from the mention of the mall. When that place closed we moved on to Persian restaurants closer to our home like Your Place (SOOOO good and now closed), Javan, Shamshiri, Shaherzad and Pars. Although each restaurant has been distinctly different they have all been delicious but EXPENSIVE. I finally got the nerve to face the challenge of cooking my very first Iranian meal and to up the ante I invited guests. I made Jujeh (Chicken) Kabob with onions and peppers (marinaded in yogurt and kabob seasoning), Shirazi salad (tomato and cucumber), brown Basmati rice and assembled some semblance of a sabzijat (mixture of fresh herbs...cilantro, basil, parsley, chives, watercress) to pluck. I also purchased some lavash (whole wheat...it was good), feta and mast o musir (yogurt with shallots) from the Tehran Market in Santa Monica. I had some butter, limes, lemons and olives for accompaniments as well...oh and wine of course. The meal was a success and affordable.
