''Ash reshteh'' or a''sh-e-reshteh'' () is a type of ''

āsh Aush ( ; ), properly romanized as , is a variety of thick soup, usually served hot. It is part of Iranian cuisine and Afghan cuisine, and is also found in Azerbaijani, Turkish, and South Caucasian cuisines. Etymology The spelling of the n ...

'' (Iranian thick soup) featuring reshteh (thin noodles), kidney beans, chick peas, herbs, and

kashk Kashk, kishk, ( ''Kašk'', ), () qurut, kurut, qqet, jameed, shilanch ( Tuvan and , , , , , Tajik: қурут, , Turkish: ''kurut''), chortan ( ''chort’an''), aaruul or khuruud ( Mongolian: ''ааруул'' or ''хурууд'') is a range o ...

(a sour dairy product, made from cooked or dried yogurt) commonly made in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Hot, fried garlic, onion, or mint are used as edible garnishes.

Varieties

There are more than 50 types of thick soup (ash) in Iranian cooking, this being one of the more popular types. The ingredients used are reshteh (thin noodles), kashk (a whey-like, fermented dairy product),

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

s such as

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum''), is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to Greece, Morocco and the former Yugoslavia. It has been introduced and naturalisation (biology), naturalized in Eur ...

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is native to North Africa, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula; it is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring ...

spring onion Scallions (also known as green onions and spring onions) are edible vegetables of various species in the genus ''Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions. Their close relatives include garlic, shallots, leeks, chive ...

ends and sometimes

coriander Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual plant, annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the ...

chick pea The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, cultivated for its edible seeds. Its different types are variously known as gram," Bengal gram, garbanzo, garbanzo bean, or Egypt ...

s, black eye beans,

lentil The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual plant, annual legume grown for its Lens (geometry), lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in Legume, pods, usually w ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

, dried

mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

and

pepper Pepper(s) may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plants ** Black pepper ** Long pepper ** Kampot pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanacea ...

. This is a soup that is

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

but can easily be made

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

by omitting the kashk; alternatively, meat can be added.

History

Ash reshteh has its origins in the distant past, with the recipe evolving and transforming over the centuries. By the year 500 A.D., the addition of noodles to the dish helped to shape it into a form much closer to the version we know today. The soup's history is one of gradual adaptation, as each generation of cooks left their mark on this timeless culinary creation. It is cooked most in autumn and winter. Traditionally, aush reshteh is served at special Iranian events, like

Nowruz Nowruz (, , () , () , () , () , Kurdish language, Kurdish: () , () , () , () , , , , () , , ) is the Iranian or Persian New Year. Historically, it has been observed by Iranian peoples, but is now celebrated by many ...

Sizdah be-dar Sizdah Bedar (), also known as Nature's Day (, ), is an annual Iranian festival held thirteen days after Nowruz, which is on the thirteenth day of Farvardin, the first month of the Iranian calendar (and the first month of spring), during which ...

, or during winter time. The noodles are supposed to symbolize good fortune for the new year.

References

Iranian soups Vegetarian dishes of Iran {{soup-stub

Varieties

History

See also

References