Cosmopolitan Tastes
When it came to food, quality and sophistication were just as important as quantity. Since at its height, the Iranian world stretched from Egypt to Afghanistan, with trading posts flung ever farther afield, a wealthy Iranian could sample delicacies from three continents. In a story from the Sasanian period, a young nobleman, Vaspuhr, who has lost his wealth, proves that he has noble blood by listing, among other things, his knowledge of the best kinds of food:
The king of kings said to the boy: “Tell me, then: When you, O boy, entertain such fine desires – since you claim such familiarity with good food and beautiful and elegant clothes – then tell me: Which dish is the finest, and the most delicious?”
At first, Vaspuhr answers in a way that shows his manliness and humility:
The boy said, “Condescend to be immortal, O lord of the seven parts of the world and the fulfiller of wishes! The finest and tastiest dish is the one that you eat when you are young, and in good health and safe from danger.
But he quickly demonstrates that he has a distinguished palate as well. His long exchange with the king, reproduced below, preserves valuable information on Iranian haute cuisine, from main entrees to dessert:
“Otherwise, this dish is the most delicious: a lambkin two months old, which is nourished on the milk of [its] mother and also on that of a cow; [particularly] its entrails, especially when they are rubbed with the juice of olives. Or, the breast of a fat ox, which is well cooked in its own juices, and eaten with sugar and sugar-candy.”
The king of kings agreed with him and declared his answer to be correct.
Secondly, he asked: “Which fowl is the finest and most delicious?”
The boy says: “May you be immortal! This fowl is entirely fine and good: the pheasant, and the hen, and the partridge, and the grey partridge with the white tail and the red wings, and the lark, and the male crane, and the chars with the crest, which appears at the beginning of summer, and the black starling, and the water hen.
“But with the male domestic fowl, that has been fed on hemp-seeds and olive butter, no fowl can stand the contest. First, on the day it is killed, one must chase and frighten it, and then must hang it up by a leg, and on the second day must hang it by the neck, and roast it on a spit.
“From this fine bird, the part from the back is the finest, and the finest part of the back is that which is nearest to the tail.”
The king of kings agreed with him and declared his answer to be correct.
Thirdly, he asked: “From that meat which they cool and store, which meat is the finest?”
The boy says, “May you be immortal! All this meat is fine and good: The ox, and the wild ass, and the mountain-ox, and the boar, and the one-year old camel, and the buffalo, and the domesticated wild ass, and the domesticated pig.
“But with the male wild ass, which has been fattened on lucern and barley, and which is marinated in sour milk, and with which they mix different kinds of savory stuffs and whose back they lay in gelée – its gelée is the best and the finest.”
The king of kings agreed with him and declared his answer to be correct.
The king's questioning turns to sweet food and wine.
Sixthly, he asked: “Which stewed fruit is the finest?”
The boy says: “May you be immortal! This stewed fruit is entirely fine and good: the yellow cucumber, when they eat it with the peel, the quince, and the plum, and the fresh walnut, and the lemon the white vahuman.
“But with the Chinese ginger and the preserved plum, no stewed fruit can stand the contest.”
The king of kings agreed with him and declared his answer to be correct.
Seventhly, he asked: “Which nut is the finest?”
The boy says: “May you be immortal! These nuts are all fine and good: The coconut, when they eat it with sugar – in the Indian language, they call it the coconut, and in Persian they call it the Indian walnut. The Hyrkanian pistachio, when they roast it on a grill, and fresh lentils, when they eat them with the juice of olives; the date of Herat, which is stuffed with walnuts, the fresh pistachio, and the Armenian peach, the acorn, and the chestnut with sugar and sugar-candy.
“But with the hemp-seeds of Neshahpur, which are fried in the fat of the mountain-goat, no nut can stand the contest, because they are fine to eat, delightful to the taste, well-digestible for the stomach, and also excellent as an aphrodisiac.”
The king of kings agreed with him and declared his answer to be correct.
Eighth, he asked: “Which wine is the best and the finest?”
The boy says: “May you be immortal! All these wines are good and fine: the wine of Kang, when they press it well, and the wine of Areng, and the wine of Marvrot, and the wine of Bust, and the sweet wine of Alvend.
“But with the Assyrian wine and the Barasangian sweet wine, no wine can stand the contest.”
The king of kings agreed with him and declared his answer to be correct.
Demonstrating this kind of culinary knowledge showed not only an educated elite palate, but also the vastness of the empire's reach and sophisticated preparations of kinds of food.
Excerpted and adapted from D. Monchi-Zadeh, “Xusrōv ī Kavātān ut Rētak,” in Monumentum Georg Morgenstierne II, Acta Iranica 22, Leiden, 1982, pp. 47-91.