Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...
: Chaashnig; Chaashnik,
Persian Language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken a ...
: چاشنی) means a condiment and is a spice, sauce, or preparation that is added to food to impart a specific taste, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. Some chaashnies are used during cooking to add flavor or texture:
saffron
Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in ...
ketchup
Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and tangy flavor. The unmodified term ("ketchup") now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes used egg whites, mushrooms, oysters, grapes, mussels, or walnuts, among o ...
,
mustard
Mustard may refer to:
Food and plants
* Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment
* Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment
** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...
Sriracha
Sriracha ( or ; th, ศรีราชา, ) is a type of hot sauce or chili sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt.
Use
In Thailand, sriracha is frequently used as a dipping sauce, particula ...
, or
hot sauce
Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of mass-produced hot sauce exist.
History
Humans have used chili peppers and other hot spices for thousands of ye ...
. One of the most important secrets of famous chefs around the world is the use of delicious chaashnies for various dishes. It goes without saying that choosing a good chaashni will make the food or salad tastier and more delicious.
Moreover, Chashni (
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' چاشنی) is the generic name in North Indian, Pakistani, Nepali and Afghan languages for a sugary syrup. The syrup is usually thin enough to allow some swirling, and can have several flavors incorporated in it, such as rose or saffron. Chashni or sugar syrup is used in many Indian sweets and desserts in varying consistencies such as one-thread, two-thread or three-thread consistency (1 tar-chasni, 2 tar-chasni or 3 tar-chasni). Its preparation involves boiling of water with sugar and stirring till the desired consistency is reached. For foods in which chashni needs to be absorbed, a thinner consistency called single thread syrup is used. Sweets that need sugar to set use two thread syrup, which is obtained by boiling and stirring for a longer time. Three thread syrup is used in making Indian ground sugar.
Definition
The exact definition of Chaashni varies. According to Persian dictionaries, a chaashni is a combination of honey with vinegar or lemon juice to increase the food delicacy. Some definitions also refer to Chaashni as the taste of the food. Others restrict the definition to include only "a little amount of the food that is tasted". Moreover, Chaashni is used as prepared food compounds which are added to food after the cooking process such as the chili sauce.
Etymology
The term Chaashni in New Persian roots in the term “Kweks” or “Kwok” in Indo-European languages meaning to see; show. Then, in Avestan, one of the languages of Old Persian as a branch of the Indo-European languages in their Indo-Iranian subdivision, the term has changed to Cāsh-, kash-, Chash- meaning to behold, see, and taste. In Middle Persian, terms such as Chaashnig, Chaashnik, čāšišn, čašitan, and čaxšišn were used to mean taste, tasting, and teaching. According to Henning, C’šny in Parthian language and C’šnyg in Middle Persian language were used to mean taste. “A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary by D. N. Mackenzie” refers to č’šnyg as meaning taste in Middle Persian. According to Iranica, “With Aristotle it has been observed that it is through the faculties of sight (wēnišn), touch (pahrmānišn), taste (čāšišn), smell (bōyišn, hanbōyišn), hearing (āšnawišn) that, in association with the organs of the body, principally the tongue (mādayān uzwān), man conveys his thoughts (mēnišn) in the form of language (Dēnkard, p. 48, tr., p. 66).” “Ka dārūg ē ō kāmēd xwardan ud ka dārūg az ān ī pad xwarišn mehmānīh pad drōn frāz nihišn u-š čāšīng pēš ēn az dārūg kunišn. When one desires to take a drug is among the edibles assembled and set out with the drōn, he should taste the drug before.” According to this, the word originates from Persian, in which it means ''taste'', or ''flavor''.
History of using Chaashnies in Iran
In ancient Persia, saffron (kurkum in Middle Persian) was cultivated in the 10th century BC. Saffron was used by ancient Persian as a brilliant yellow dye, perfume, and a medicine and they mixed it into hot teas as a curative for bouts of melancholy. Indeed, Persian saffron threads used to spice foods and teas. In addition, Persian saffron was dissolved in water with sandalwood to use as a body wash after heavy work and perspiration under the hot Persian sun. Later, Persian saffron was heavily used by Alexander the Great and his forces during their Asian campaigns. They mixed saffron into teas and dined on saffron rice. Alexander personally used saffron sprinkled in warm bath water, taking after Cyrus the Great. Much like Cyrus, he believed it would heal his many wounds, and his faith in saffron grew with each treatment.; Pages 41, 54-55
Golpar (Heracleum persicum, commonly known as Persian hogweed), originally native to the region of Iran, has been used as a spice in Persian cooking since ancient times.
Moreover, pomegranate juice or
pomegranate molasses
Pomegranate molasses, also known as Dibs Ar-rumman ( ar, دبس الرمان, rakkaz rimonim he, רכז רימונים, robb-e anâr fa, رب انار, "pomegranate syrup"), and nar ekshisi ( tr, nar ekşisi, "pomegranate sour"), is a Middle Eas ...
has been used in Iranian cuisine from old times since the pomegranate originated in Iran and is native to this region.
Today, a variety of chaashnies are used around the world to satisfy the diverse tastes of people. Nowadays, chaashnies such as ketchup, mayonnaise, paprika, hot sauces, Sriracha, and thousands of other sauces and spices are inseparable components of the dining table.