Week 19: Iran

The BBC has a great profile of Iran: "Persia, as Iran was known before 1935, was one of the greatest empires of the ancient world, and the country has long maintained a distinct cultural identity within the Islamic world by retaining its own language and adhering to the Shia interpretation of Islam."

Iran's primary exports are petroleum (who knew?), carpets (do you think they're Persian carpets?) and agricultural products.

Check out some hilarity and excellent banter on The Daily Show regarding Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It will be interesting to see if the results of the recent election in Iran will keep him in power. Sounds like there is a lot of unrest surrounding the results of the election, with quite some violence in Tehran.

Speaking of violence and crazy world leaders, this reminds us that thanks to former President Bush #43, Iran has the distinction of being our first Geography of the Delicious nation to also be a founding member of the prestigious Axis of Evil! Congratulations Iran! We thought you just belonged to the Axis of Deliciousness.

Chelo kebab

The internet seems to agree that this is the most popular and most famous Iranian dish.

1/2 lb ground lamb
1 egg
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp marjoram

Place ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Use your hands--it's funner than making mud pies because you actually get to eat the results of this. Once ingredients are thoroughly mixed, divide mixture into four portions and shape each portion into a long hotdoggity shape. Grill on your bbq until cooked through. Serve with buttery rice and grilled tomatoes.

We loved the flavor of the cinnamon with the marjoram in the lamb. Grilling the meat made it much less greasy than lamb tends to be, which I think was a plus. This is pretty much individually-sized Iranian meatloaf.