Old Mill: New Flour

“Come on down,” shouted the toothless old man dressed in white, sitting at his old mill wheel.

Mr. Sharbati at Shooshtar Ancient Hydraulic Dam

Well that’s what the local guide and interpreter said that he said.

So, come on down I did – into the belly of the 2,200-year-old mill, powered purely by water from the Karun River and nearby tributaries.

Jumping down into the tiny mill was a good move.  For not only did I make a new friend in Mr. Sharbati, a miller whose family has apparently been grinding wheat for 30 generations, but I was also given a personalized lesson in how to make organic, preservative-free flour – the old fashioned way.

This all happened in the historic town of Shushtar. 

Situated in the heart of Iran’s Khuzestan Province, and only one hour’s drive from its capital Akhvaz, Shushtar possesses a series of thundering short-drop waterfalls and ancient watermills.  

Having arrived in Shushtar, make your way to the Gargar Bridge, follow guidance from the obliging English-speaking locals and the rest, as they say, is history.

Stepping on to the bridge it feels almost like a time-travelling trip back into the era of the Sassanids who ruled the area almost two millennia ago.  For, with the exception of air-conditioned Japanese vehicles, folks sporting designer sunglasses and clutching the latest smartphones, nothing much in Shushtar has really changed.

Water diverted from the Karun River flows rapidly into an ancient – but still-functioning – hydraulic system, which continues to feed water to local farms and these traditional mills, as well as providing a home to a variety of local water birds.

Dams at Gargar Bridge Ancient Hydraulic System

Anyway, back to the lesson on grinding wheat into flour!

“How do I get this big wheel to move?” I asked – revealing my city-slicker status.

“Watch this,” said Mr. Sharbati with a cheeky wink, and beckoned me to bend down and feel the onrush of loud water and check out the antiquated gearbox.  The next thing I knew I was being shown how to flick the old wooden gears without falling into the waterfall.  Then, suddenly, my wheat started being ground into flour and came flying out – at great speed – in front of my feet.

Scooping up the flour into a bag, my new friend said, “You won’t get organic flour like that anywhere nowadays.”

I ran my fingers through the smooth flour and smelt its earthy aroma.  I had to agree with my teacher.  Sometimes the old ways are the best.

And what did I do with this indigenous flour?  Well, I tossed it together with some local cheese and made some scones.  Hardly Iranian, I admit.  But, then again, you never know…

Liz’s Cheese Scones

What you need for about 8 scones:

250 grams self-raising flour (or mix 1 teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda with all-purpose flour)

Cheese Scones

125 grams Cheddar cheese

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking powder

55 grams butter, cut into cubes

2 tablespoons of sour cream or low fat natural yogurt

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon of dried mixed herbs

3 to 4 tablespoons mild

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 220°C/ Gas Mark 7. Dust a baking sheet with flour.

Grate the cheese and keep half for topping the scones.

Break the egg into a cup and whisk it.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and add the butter.  Rub it in until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the sour cream (or yogurt), egg, mustard, herbs and half the grated cheese.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix together and add milk gradually until you have a nice soft dough.

Knead gently and then roll out until it is 2cms in thickness.

Use a 6cm cutter and make scone rounds and place the scones on the baking tray.

Brush with some milk and sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until they are golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack.  Tasty with a little butter when they are warm.

Tahchin-e Zereshk and the Beauty of Barberries

“Never put off until tomorrow, what you can do today.”

The old adage warning me not to procrastinate was nagging at my brain as I sat at my desk this morning – admiring the Spring hues on the Alborz Mountains – and staring at the big pile of projects waiting to be finished.

View of the Alborz Mountains from Northern Tehran

“Right,” I thought, “today’s the day!”

No, not to finish the work.

But to do something else I had been putting off for ages – making tahchin-e zereshk.

Tahchin-e zereshk is a Northern Iranian dish made from three of the country’s famous ingredients: rice, saffron and zereshk, or barberries.  Tahchin is a layering of cooked rice mixed with saffron, yogurt and egg yolks, with cooked chicken and barberries tucked within each layer.  In Farsi, tah means bottom and chin is the root from the verb chidan, which means to arrange things in order, meaning the layering. 

Tahchin is cooked in a glass dish in the oven and then, when ready, turned (a bit like you would a pineapple upside down cake) onto a serving dish and garnished with more barberries and slivers of pistachios.  The bottom (or top depending on how you look at it) becomes the best part – a crusty rice layer known as tah-dig.  Iranian food followers universally love tah-dig and I have known grown men quarrel over who gets the best bit.

What I love about the dish is not only its subtle flavouring but also its burst of colour.  The saffron gives tahchin its vibrant yellow appearance and the zereshk (the barberries) bring it alive with their ruby red shine.  As the saying goes, you feast with your eyes, and tahchin certainly gives you a beautiful banquet.

Tahchin-e Zereshk Garnished with Barberries and Pistachios

I can just hear some of you not living in Iran asking yourselves where on earth you are going to get zereshk.  These delightfully tart little barberries (known to botanists as berberis vulgaris) grow mostly - along with saffron - in Iran’s South Khorasan Province.  Not exclusive to Iran, however, the plants grow in other countries in the Middle East, as well as parts of Europe and North America.  The barberry plant is known to contain wheat rust, which can devastate crops, and has therefore been eradicated in some places.

But, fear not, if you are determined to cook tahchin, you can find barberries in most Middle Eastern stores overseas or, if you are in the UK and really keen, you can order them online at The Spice Shop.  The dried ones keep for a while and all you need to do is soak them for 10 minutes before using them.

Zereshk are quite common in many Iranian dishes, adding colour and zest.  You are quite likely to find them in food served at Iranian weddings as the sour flavour, so I am told, reflects that not everything in life is sweet and hunky dory.

Barberries are also rich in Vitamin C and high in pectin.  So if you are an avid jam and jelly maker - which I confess I am not – then they are a must have in your kitchen cupboard.

So, what are you waiting for? There is no time like the present to get cooking tahchin!

Tahchin-e Zereshk

What You Need:

For 4 people

400 grams (4 cups of rice)

5 egg yolks

300 grams strained natural yogurt

300 grams cooked chicken (you can use any meat, or for vegetarians you can use spinach or other vegetables) I fried the chicken in olive oil, onions and lots of garlic and seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

1 heaped teaspoon of saffron. Grind the saffron down into a powder using a pestle and mortar.  Infuse the saffron with a little boiling water (about ¼ cup at most).

¼ cup of olive oil or melted butter if you prefer.

Tahchin-e Zereshk Before Baking

50 grams barberries. Soak the barberries in water for 10 minutes then rinse and drain them. Mix in one tablespoon of sugar, one tablespoon of olive oil, one tablespoon of the saffron water and let the berries sit for about half an hour. Before you need to use the berries in the dish, fry them gently for about 2 or 3 minutes.

Salt and LOTS of freshly ground black pepper to taste.

To garnish, slice pistachios into slivers and fry a couple of tablespoons of barberries.

What to do:

Rinse the rice with cold water, then leave it to soak, adding a fair bit of salt, for about 40 minutes to 1 hour.  Cook the rice until it is al dente, making sure it isn’t soggy. I solve this problem by using my trusty rice cooker! Set the rice aside until you are ready to mix it with the other ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. 

In a large bowl, add the egg yolks and beat them gently.  Then add the saffron water, strained natural yogurt and the olive oil (or butter). Add salt and pepper.

Mix in the rice thoroughly.  You should have a bright yellow rice mixture now.

Use a clear glass ovenproof dish and grease it really well with butter.  The glass will enable you to see when the rice is crispy.  Make sure you grease the dish well or the tahchin will stick to the glass.

Spread a layer of rice mix into the bottom of the glass.  Press it down well with the back of a spoon. Add the cooked chicken (or whatever you choose to add) and then the barberry mix.  Keep the barberries close to the middle of the dish so that they don’t dry out or burn. Add another layer of the rice mix, pressing down firmly. You can add more layers if you have a deep dish.

When you are ready to bake the rice, melt some butter and pour a few tablespoons over the top of the rice.

Cover the tahchin with tinfoil and poke a few small holes in it with a toothpick to let the steam out.

The tahchin will need about 2 hours to cook.  Check it after one hour to see how it is cooking and keep an eye on it until the crust is ready. Cook for longer if you want a darker crust.

Let it cool for a few minutes then carefully, using oven gloves, place a serving plate on top and then flip it over so that the tahchin comes out easily and rests on the serving plate.

Tachin is best served with a crisp green salad, natural yogurt and some pickled beetroot or cabbage.

Zereshk Tip! My dear friend, Golmehr, has given me a tip about keeping the zereshk fresh and that is to keep them in the freezer.  Apparently, this way, the barberries will stay lovely and their ruby red colour will be enhanced.  And, Golmehr's mum adds slivered almonds with the pistachios to garnish.

A Date with Bam

Bam's date palm orchards seen from the citadel

Most of our Iranian friends thought we were crazy when we said we were driving all the way to Bam – an ancient city in southeastern Tehran in Kerman Province.

“There’s nothing to see,” they all said. “The city is in ruins.”

To a degree, they were correct.  Eleven years previously, on 26 December 2003, Bam had been devastated by an earthquake, measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale.  The epicenter was right below the centre of Bam itself.  There was no escape.

Earthquake damage to the Bam Citadel

The old city was flattened, its historic citadel was extensively damaged and almost 30,000 people – mainly living in the rest of the city – lost their lives.  What was once a thriving tourist destination became – in an instant – a disaster zone.

“But that was 11 years ago,” we told our friends, “It must have changed by now.”

And it has.

The long road from Tehran is smooth and – with a single minimal exception between Kerman and Bam – great to drive on.  The scenery is mostly desert with some towns on the way.  But, when we approached Bam, we found ourselves in a lush green oasis of date and orange orchards.

The wrecked town we had heard about no longer really exists.  There were traces of the devastation – especially in the citadel.  But what greeted our eyes was a new town, filled with earthquake-proof modern homes, new hospitals, schools and a German-built sports stadium equal to any in a modern, medium sized Europe city.  New life was everywhere.

The Arq-e Bam, reconstruction under supervision of UNESCO

But, what we had really come to see was the 2,000-year-old citadel – The Arq-e Bam.  It had been badly damaged by the earthquake but, now under the supervision of UNESCO – and with support from the government and donors like Japan, Germany, France and Italy – it is being rebuilt, piece by piece, to reflect its former glory.

Bam Dates

Despite the obvious damage, it is breathtaking.  And, watching the craftsman slowly mix their adobe and rebuild walls was fascinating.  I am happy we didn’t listen to our friends’ advice.

Bam is definitely a must-see.

But, what is perhaps, most eye catching are the welcoming date orchards that just suddenly appear out of the desert.  Bam is famous for its luscious, sweet dates.  Dates are an energy food in Iran and are usually served at breakfast with white cheese, honey and Iranian bread.  There is no recipe for this blog.  If you are lucky enough to get a box of Bam dates, I suggest you just eat the lot.

And the highlight of the trip?  Meeting the local Bamis (as they like to call themselves) and listen to their stories of calm optimism for the future, tinged with sadness at the losses from the past.

Mr. Akbar Panjalizadeh of the Akbar Guest House, Bam

Mr. Akbar Panjalizadeh, former teacher and proprietor of the Akbar Guest House, invited us to take tea in the garden of his guesthouse.  Before 2003, it was never empty, with tourists from all over the world.  We were handed the old torn visitor books – salvaged from the rubble.  We were able to gaze upon the past and read travelers’ tales mixed with the usual delight and frustrations. 

But today, the guesthouse – somewhat resembling a construction site – is still being repaired and attracts only the rare adventurous backpacker.

“Bam is still here!  We are still here” Mr. Panjalizadeh said in the hope that we would tell others to come. “We get energy from you people who visit us.”

How true!  And how reassuring.

Bam6.6 is a film about a young American Jewish girl and her fiance, who were trapped in the earthquake. Click on the link to the Bam6.6 website to find out more about this remarkable story of survival and the wonderful people of Iran.