Persian cuisine

Persian cooking is built on rice, sour fruit and herbs: dried lime, pomegranate, barberry and sour plum in place of vinegar.

Acidity in Persian cooking comes from fruit rather than vinegar. Dried lime, pomegranate molasses, barberries — each brings its own sourness with its own flavour, and they do not substitute for one another.

Rice is an art of its own here, with its own vocabulary. It is boiled, drained and finished in steam, and the crust from the bottom — tahdig — is considered the best part of the dish.