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00:00A classic ingredient from one of the oldest cuisines in the world.
00:18Wow.
00:21Perfect.
00:23The pomegranate is an ancient symbol of abundance and prosperity.
00:27The jewel on the rich table of Iranian hospitality.
00:32I'm Suresh Das.
00:34I've spent my career writing about the local favourites that make Canada's food scene truly unique.
00:39I believe every bite tells a story.
00:42Now, I want to share those stories with you.
00:50A wonderfully vibrant cuisine.
00:53The most generous people you'll ever meet.
00:54And a devotion to lavish celebrations.
00:58This is Iranian culture to me.
01:02Many families left their country during the 1979 revolution.
01:07Others came here during the war with Iraq and the deepening conflict with the West.
01:12And many settled here in Toronto.
01:15Toronto has one of the largest Iranian populations outside of Iran.
01:20I would say probably second to maybe Los Angeles.
01:23And a good portion set roots here in North York on Yonge Street.
01:27The epicentre is still at Yonge, just south of Steele.
01:31If you look left and right, you see Farsi everywhere, you see Arabic everywhere.
01:34And colloquially, I mean, I think it's pretty cool that Iranians refer to this part of Toronto as Tehranto.
01:46For Iranians, food is deeply tied to the custom of elaborate hospitality.
01:50The Persian Empire was at the heart of the legendary Silk Road trading routes for spices and countless luxuries.
01:59Hosting guests with the very best not only showed respect, it helped grease the wheels of trade.
02:05I'm meeting a good friend to explore those traditions.
02:11With a meal that goes back thousands of years.
02:14At a restaurant named Bar Asafid.
02:17Where a feast is created from the humblest parts of an animal.
02:25Hey! How's it going?
02:27I've known Samira Moyadeen forever.
02:29As an Iranian restaurateur, journalist and food podcast host.
02:32Are you an eye man? Are you a brain man? Are you a tongue man?
02:37Shall we just do everything?
02:39Last time that we had lunch, you made me eat, like, lamb testicles.
02:43So I'm game for whatever you want to do.
02:45The full kalapache.
02:47Yeah, let's go for it.
02:51Samira and I have done a lot of adventurous eating together over the years.
02:54But we've never shared this dish.
02:57Kalapache, which translates to head and hoof.
03:00It uses the off cuts of the lamb to create a meal of broth and meats.
03:06Because prepping and cooking the lamb is so labor-intensive,
03:10some restaurants will only specialize in kalapache.
03:13In morning time, we start around five, five o'clock.
03:17This person says at least we need seven to eight hours.
03:23Chef Amir Khalawaipour came to Canada 20 years ago,
03:29bringing his family secrets for preparing this ancient dish.
03:324,000 years ago, the Persian people eat kalapache too.
03:40My father, he was very good chef.
03:43And I follow my father's recipe.
03:46Here we go.
03:52Brilliant.
03:54Got the lime.
03:55That's our broth.
03:56This is the lamb broth.
03:58That's their homemade bread.
04:01Two types of bread here.
04:03Oh, my goodness.
04:05That's sangak.
04:07Wow.
04:08That's right over that tongue.
04:09I mean, there's this prevailing notion that in certain parts of the world,
04:14you have to consume every part of whatever you are eating.
04:18And so kalapache is the idea of, like, consuming the whole animal.
04:21Absolutely.
04:22It really goes back to that not wasting the animal.
04:25And it's not a fad for us, right?
04:27Head to toe.
04:28This is the meat from the face and the head.
04:34Take some of this.
04:37Put it on your bread.
04:39And then do you dress it afterwards?
04:40You can put some pickled stuff on it.
04:43Squeeze a lime.
04:45Okay.
04:49This is probably my favourite part of the dish.
04:53But this is lamb tongue.
04:54Very different from cow tongue, of course.
04:56I mean, it's so soft. You can feel that it's soft.
04:57So soft.
04:58Yeah.
04:59Really well done.
05:01So that tongue, like, really kind of dissolves in your mouth for me.
05:04It's cooked, like, just perfectly.
05:06So there's one more thing we have to try.
05:08The eyeballs.
05:09Here's an eye for you.
05:11An eye for an eye.
05:14Like, eating properly cooked cod cheeks is what it reminds me.
05:17Cod cheeks, that's it.
05:19I bet that if you served that to someone and didn't tell them what it is,
05:22they'd just be like, this is amazing.
05:23Yes, absolutely.
05:25Making the meal is time consuming.
05:27And when made at home, almost always shared with guests.
05:31This is a very difficult dish to make for it to be good.
05:36And whenever it was made at home, it was, like, a big deal.
05:40Like, we are doing this and, like, 20, 30 people are coming over.
05:43It's like a celebratory thing.
05:45Oh, huge, yeah.
05:46But it's not something you cook for, like, a family of four.
05:49Right, right.
05:51Generally, you would have a little bit of garlic.
05:54I brought you some garlic.
05:55You brought your own garlic.
05:57So this garlic, I like to call black gold.
06:01Pickled condiments are a key part of Kalapacca, especially garlic,
06:04brined in vinegar and kept for many years.
06:07This was made by my grandmother before she passed.
06:13This one is 12 or 13 years old.
06:16Now, this is just in a little bit of salt.
06:18It's black.
06:19And vinegar.
06:20Just smell that.
06:22Whoa.
06:23You're getting a lot of herbally notes, but also medicinal notes as well.
06:25Yeah.
06:26Taste this, and it's almost like fruit.
06:28Like fruit, yeah.
06:29It's just unbelievable.
06:30That reminds me of pomegranate molasses.
06:39Yes, exactly.
06:43Most of my Iranian Persian friends, they always talk about the idea of, like,
06:47they've left a place that they maybe didn't want to leave and they can't go back.
06:51So how important is it in your culture and within your family to be able to preserve,
06:55you know, the cuisine and culture?
06:58Sometimes food is the only connection you have to the homeland, right?
07:03So you try and preserve those things, recipes or stuff like that.
07:07I mean, right now, this is all I have of, you know, my grandmother,
07:11other than, like, photos or whatever.
07:13So I do hoard it in that way, you know?
07:15I really, every time I eat it, I think of her.
07:18Well, I just got a taste of that history.
07:20Thank you for sharing that.
07:28When you pass Finch on Yonge Street, the world changes from a culinary and language standpoint.
07:38I remember when I was in my 20s coming here and being introduced to the idea of Toronto.
07:44It's this condensed neighborhood that is filled with Iranian businesses.
07:49It all kind of really started with two supermarkets.
07:52We're going to go to one of them, my favorite place, Korak.
07:57Korak is one of the foundations of the Toronto community.
08:00Expanding from a tiny convenience store in 1989 to a one-stop mega shop of Iranian delights.
08:06Looks pretty amazing for Nourouz right now.
08:12Beautiful store.
08:13I'm joined by Barbo Tsuti, a chef who's sharing his expertise in the diverse flavors
08:19that are key to his culture's hospitality.
08:24With Iranian cuisine, we use a limited amount of spices,
08:27but we use a lot of different plays on sweet and sour to flavor our food.
08:33Korak's aisles are packed with ingredients that are hard to find at other stores.
08:40This is a very important ingredient to Iranian cooking.
08:43So it's dried limes that are dried in the sun.
08:45A lot of the stews that we eat are based off of this flavor profile.
08:49Yeah, because you reconstitute them in stews.
08:51Exactly.
08:52So here we have cash.
08:53It's a fermented whey.
08:55These are the kind of ingredients that give our cuisine distinction
08:59and that are just really the flavor profiles of our cuisines.
09:02But I think the crown jewel of Korak is its bakery.
09:10In Iranian culture, sharing bread is an important act of hospitality that goes back centuries.
09:17Sangak is an unleavened flatbread that was originally baked on small stones over an open fire.
09:23At Korak, to mimic that ancient technique, dough was flattened on a paddle, tossed onto a special design bed of hot stones, then baked until soft and chewy inside and crispy out.
09:37What do you think, grab a couple of loaves?
09:38Please.
09:39Oh, don't roll it.
09:40Oh, you can't roll it.
09:41Why?
09:42You got to leave it whole.
09:43Because you want to keep the integrity of the bread.
09:44Slide it in.
09:45Oh, nice.
09:46And then generally just for transportation purposes, you would do one fold.
09:47A trip to grab some traditional dips and spreads from the hot counter and the rest of our lunch is complete.
09:52All right.
09:53All right.
09:54There we go.
09:55This is a nice spread.
09:56Iranian food is all about laying out a variety of dishes, even if the occasion is casual.
09:59I'll have the bread, I'll put a little piece of this, a little piece of that, and make a little bite, a perfect bite.
10:02And every bite is different.
10:03It's all about the spread.
10:04It's all about the spread.
10:05And the rest of our lunch is complete.
10:06All right.
10:07Here we go.
10:08This is a nice spread.
10:09Iranian food is all about laying out a variety of dishes, even if the occasion is casual.
10:21I'll have the bread, I'll put a little piece of this, a little piece of that, and make a little bite, a perfect bite.
10:27And every bite is different.
10:28It's all about the spread.
10:29Yeah.
10:30It's all about the spread.
10:31There's the stew of dried lime and fava beans, dips of yogurt with cucumber and beets, and the
10:38luxuriant blend of fermented whey, eggplant, and walnuts that is Kashgar Baram Jun.
10:43The Kashgar Baram Jun is always, like, favorite.
10:46Mm-hmm.
10:47I love it.
10:48But for Iranians, rice dishes are the pinnacle of any meal.
10:52There's so many varieties of rices from different regions.
10:59It has to be the most important thing at the table.
11:02And Shirin Pola, a dish that can be traced to opulent royal feasts, is a standout.
11:07So this has orange marmalade, carrots, pistachios, sometimes almonds, saffron.
11:14So just playing into that sweet and sour.
11:18The saffron lingers over and over.
11:20It comes around.
11:21It's delicious.
11:22No matter how much formal training I've had in the kitchen, it took me a long time to be
11:26able to cook rice as close to my mom as possible.
11:29I mean, moms and grandmas don't always measure things, too.
11:31No, never.
11:32And they're cooking by feeling.
11:33It's almost like when you ask, how much water do you put in with your rice?
11:36And they go like this.
11:37Yeah, yeah.
11:38Right?
11:39This is the measurement.
11:40This is the measuring cup right here.
11:41My mom is like this.
11:42She'll point her finger down.
11:43Yeah.
11:49Before you, like, knew you wanted to be a chef, growing up, where did you draw inspiration
11:54from?
11:55Part of the inspiration was really my mom, Sima.
11:59Every night for dinner, coming home, there would be the smell of rice on the stove.
12:04Her providing those memories and those experiences at the dining table through her cooking, that
12:11has come almost full circle to me.
12:14It sounds like tradition is such an important thing for you.
12:17You can never take nostalgia off your back.
12:19No.
12:20Wow.
12:21Yeah.
12:22It's who you are.
12:23It's who you are.
12:24It's who you are.
12:29While Korok is the iconic one-stop shop for Iranian food in Tehran, there are smaller specialty
12:40purveyors that offer wonderful windows into the tradition of lavish Iranian hospitality.
12:49It's good to see you, man.
12:50You as well.
12:51And my old friend Samar Bar, who immigrated from Iran in his late teens, has a unique
12:56way to explore them.
12:58This is what you're known for, right?
13:00You run, basically, cycling tours with food as a key component of it, which is amazing.
13:05My two loves, two passions.
13:07Yeah.
13:08Food and cycling, and just building community.
13:10Yeah.
13:11Today, we're in the northern reaches of Tehran, in Richmond Hill.
13:14Iran's proximity to India and the sugar trade help foster a love for sweets and tea.
13:20So Sam wants me to experience the traditional tea service and luxurious pastries that are
13:25our specialty at BB Cafe.
13:37Hi.
13:38Hi, Parisa.
13:39Hi, Parisa.
13:40Hey, Suresh.
13:41How are you doing?
13:42I'm doing some Zulbia, your special type.
13:44Yes, the black sesame.
13:45Yeah.
13:46My dad created that recipe, so it's a must-have here.
13:48Amazing.
13:49Amazing.
13:50And some tea?
13:51Yeah.
13:52Oh, fantastic, yeah.
13:53We start with the Zulbia, crispy spirals of deep-fried dough, bathed in rosewater and
13:58cardamom syrup.
13:59We get owner, Parisa Najad, to add some house-made cookies.
14:07So I'm going to start you guys off with some shrapesi tea.
14:10We'll get that lit.
14:11This is definitely a traditional way to serve the tea.
14:16Good.
14:18Enjoy.
14:19Thank you so much.
14:21Don't mind me.
14:22Oh, yeah.
14:23Nice, rich color.
14:24Whoa.
14:25Yeah.
14:26Ah, you can already smell it.
14:27Yeah.
14:28Yeah, totally.
14:29But a lot of the sweets that we saw in the display downstairs earlier, it's a lot of the
14:34stuff that the grandmas would make.
14:36And most of the time, it comes with tea.
14:38So you're having tea at breakfast, tea after lunch, tea in the afternoon, tea after dinner.
14:48And if there are guests there, then, you know, there is a couple of more rounds of it, too.
14:54So by the end of the day, it could be like six, seven cups of tea in.
14:58Wow.
14:59And if there's a party, there's a lot of sweets going around.
15:01I love it.
15:02Enjoy.
15:04Oh, that's lovely.
15:05I got to dive in straight for the Zulbia because I've been missing it.
15:07Absolutely.
15:08I haven't had it in some time.
15:09So you want to just, yeah, crack a piece of it?
15:11Let's do it.
15:12Oh, yeah.
15:13Perfect.
15:14Cheers.
15:15Cheers.
15:16Oh, yeah, man.
15:18It's just so good.
15:20Super crispy, but not too crispy.
15:22Super crispy.
15:23Doesn't flake off.
15:24The right texture.
15:25The black sesame seeds really add a nice little pop to it.
15:28You can tell it's not as sweet as your typical Zulbiaz.
15:32Yeah, yeah, yeah.
15:33So this is very special.
15:35There's such a sense of like, I don't know, like opulence when it comes to Iranian food
15:39and culture in general.
15:40We care about the aesthetics.
15:42It's not just the taste, but it has to look good.
15:45To be a great host, you want to impress.
15:47Right.
15:48Right?
15:49So it has to be the best quality.
15:50And it's how people talk about you.
15:52So you want to make sure it's not just the taste, but it's also optics.
15:56Right.
15:57But at the end of the day, hospitality and food is who we are.
16:01So we always want to share the best with you.
16:03That's how we show love.
16:04Right.
16:05Okay, okay.
16:06And what better way to share the best with your guests than a celebration?
16:16Passers-by might be startled to see flames on the street, but these fires signal the
16:21most significant of Iranian holidays.
16:25Persian New Year, which begins with the spring equinox.
16:29These flames symbolize rebirth into spring's new life.
16:41It's the celebration of Noruz.
16:46Meaning new day.
16:48And this ritual of jumping over fire marks its official beginning.
16:53Samira, her sister Salome, and her brother Amir have convinced me to leap along with them,
17:01right into the festivities.
17:03Oh, wow.
17:04This is going to be epic.
17:09A fizzy pomegranate drink.
17:24The perfect way to begin this Noruz feast.
17:31Oh, wow.
17:33Salome.
17:34Salome.
17:35Salome.
17:36My dear friend, Samira Moyadeen., has invited me to share in the most extravagant of Iranian
17:40celebrations, with a seat at her family's table for Iranian New Year.
17:46And, we're at a particularly well named restaurant.
17:49restaurant. What is the typical Nooroo's at home for you guys? Our Nooroo's time
17:56always changes with the vernal equinox right so in our house we always make
18:02sure that we get up no matter what time that vernal equinox happens and then if
18:06it's like four in the morning we kiss each other we say Happy New Year we go
18:10back to that that's amazing thank you Paribha. A traditional Nooroo soup of
18:20noodles and beans and greens in a rich broth
18:26garnish with mint fried onions and kashk or fermented way
18:32it's delicious what is the significance of here of the soup the herbs are for
18:42spring we're vivifying the season and then like the noodles represent
18:47prosperity hmm and you never break the noodles you're not break the noodle because
18:52that is not good for the new year you mean when you're eating it or when
18:55you're preparing when you're preparing it
19:02it's my this is my jam between courses there's traditional dancing with some
19:12elaborate light effects while classic Nooroo's dishes come together in the
19:17kitchen Torsh meat kebabs marinated in pomegranate molasses and walnuts
19:26Kubide ground lamb shaped around skewers then grilled over an open fire
19:31and tadig rice infused with saffron
19:41Oh look
19:46thank you
19:47wow look at that my goodness a touch of sumac is typically added to bring vibrancy to the dish
19:54you can put it on your rice and it hits that sour note yeah it adds a little sourness which again I'm a sour head so I like to love that little accent yeah there's
20:04seems to be like just a celebration of opulence richness and vibrancy color
20:09spring spring everything's coming to life yeah at the heart of it it's really a celebration of nature it's not really tied to a religion that's why it's a it's a national celebration it's celebrated by all the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia goes back like four or five thousand years
20:18what does it mean for the people of Iran that left Iran whether they wanted to or not how do you celebrate that
20:28I think just um something simple as smell of your food you see your own people around I think that in itself is
20:38brings us together you try to hold on to these sort of markers of identity that you you know grab wherever you can all of those things made us feel like we're still at home
20:45that desire to share and savor the riches of their culture is at the heart of Iranian cuisine
20:53the heart of Iranian cuisine
20:55us I think that actually has always held on to the
20:58you know something is a great question
21:00the smell of your food you see your own people around
21:02I think that in itself is
21:03Yeah you try to hold on to these sort of markers of identity that you you
21:06know grab wherever you can all of those things made us feel like we're still at home
21:10It's part of Iranian cuisine.
21:16The age-old tradition of elaborate and generous hospitality
21:20is one to celebrate not just once a year, but every day.
21:26Keeping this rich culture burning bright in Tehran.
21:40The Great Heads.
21:56The Great Heads.
21:59It's completely different.
22:02KCB is the most successful attraction.
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