Fesenjān (; also called Fesenjoon in Tehrani dialect) is a sweet and sour

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been Cooking, cooked in Soup, liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for ...

khoresh Khoresh () or Khoresht () is a Persian word that refers to Iranian stews, usually slow-cooked and served with rice. It’s the heart of Iranian cuisine and comes in many varieties, often named after their main ingredients. The word is a substant ...

). The roots of this Persian delicacy trace back to the

Sassanid Persia The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

's golden age. It is typically served over rice in the Iranian manner. In Iran, it is made with minced meat (lamb, sheep or beef), meatballs, chicken or duck. Like other ''khoresh'' stews served over rice, ''fesenjan'' is common also to

Iraqi cuisine Iraqi cuisine is a Middle Eastern cuisine that has its origins in the ancient Near East culture of the fertile crescent.http://www.thingsasian.com/stories-photos/3592 Foods of Iraq: Enshrined With A Long History. Habeeb Salloum. Clay tablet, Tabl ...

through Iranian pilgrims visiting

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

sites such as Imam Husayn shrine. As a festive dish for special occasions, it has become part of Jewish Rosh Hashannah celebrations, even though the typology of Jewish ethnic cuisines is imprecise. In

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, where it called ''fisincan plov'', the stew is made with lamb meatballs instead of poultry.

About

Fesenjān is flavored with pomegranate paste and ground

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

s (see '' bazha'') and spices like turmeric, cinnamon, orange peel, cardamom, and rosebud. It is traditionally made with eggplant and

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

(

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

). Fesenjān can also be made using balls of

ground meat Ground meat, called mince or minced meat outside North America, is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other types of meats are prepared in a similar fashion, incl ...

or chunks of lamb. Depending on the recipe, it can have a sweet or sour taste. Fesenjān is served with Iranian white or yellow

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

(''

polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

'' or ''chelo''). If the pomegranate sauce comes out too sour, sugar and fried onions may be added to sweeten it. Sometimes, a hot iron is applied to cause

oxidation Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...

and darken the sauce's color. It is a dish that is part of the dinner table on

Yaldā Night Yaldā Night () or Chelle Night (also Chellah Night, , lit. "fortieth night") is an ancient festival in Iran, Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan that is celebrated on the winter solstice. This corresponds t ...

celebrations.

History

The earliest known reference to fesenjān is in ''Mirza Ali-Akbar Khan Ashpazbashi''s ''Sofra-ye at'ema'' from 1881, which lists ten different varieties of the dish: walnut (today the most common), almond, eggplant,

kidney bean The kidney bean is a variety of the common bean (''Phaseolus vulgaris'') named for its resemblance to a human kidney. Classification There are different classifications of kidney beans, such as: *Red kidney bean (also known as common kidney ...

quince The quince (; ''Cydonia oblonga'') is the sole member of the genus ''Cydonia'' in the Malinae subtribe (which contains apples, pears, and other fruits) of the Rosaceae family. It is a deciduous tree that bears hard, aromatic bright golden-yel ...

, potato, carrot, pumpkin, fish, and yogurt. The first dictionary to mention fesenjān is the ''Farhang-e Anandraj'', which calls it ''fasūjan''.

Culture

Fesenjān is an elaborate dish that is often reserved for special occasions. It is considered "a rich man's dish", which is referenced in the Persian expression "he behaves as if he has had partridge and fesenjān", meaning to show off or act pretentiously. In the traditional Iranian system of garm and sard foods (i.e. "hot" and "cold", respectively), fesenjān is considered "hot" because it uses walnuts, which are also considered a "hot" food. In order to balance out this hotness, sometimes people will add

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 ...

(a "cold" plant) to it; peeled pumpkin is also added for the same reason, as well as to act as a sugar substitute.

References

External links

Azerbaijani cuisine Iranian stews Afghan cuisine Iranian cuisine Rosh Hashanah foods Sephardi Jewish cuisine Talysh cuisine Turkish stews Poultry dishes Walnut dishes {{turkey-cuisine-stub

About

History

Culture

See also

References

External links