Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Unpatriotic?

On Friday I made ghormeh sabzi for the first time. This is a Persian dish I have not had since I lived in London, mainly as all of my Persian friends still live in London. On Friday I decided that if I couldn't mooch any off anybody else, I could at the very least make it myself.

My mother quipped, "That's not very patriotic." I don't suppose I could really be considered overly patriotic, I'm afraid, although I certainly wasn't trying to make a political religious statement. So I continued chopping parsley.

I had pulled some meat out of the freezer the night before, and I cut that up and put it in the pot, only then realising that what I had thought it was beef was really pork. I don't think I know any Iranians--not even non-Muslim ones--who would put pork in ghormeh sabzi. I feel that I have now sufficiently flaunted the culture and nationality of two opposing countries, in which case, there shouldn't be a problem.

It tasted good anyway, by the way.

4 comments:

Barry Pike said...

I have snagged your recipe and hope to try it out soon. It sounds really good.

Scott R. Davis said...

a good tasty challenge. That is good that you took a cook off challenge. Hope that you get to share a version with your friends soon. a good outreach.

Rebecca said...

The weird thing about blogging is that people like me read blogs like yours (even though we've never met and probably never will) and get the crazy notion that we are kindred spirits. But, honestly, I think we are. =)

When did you live in London and for how long? I lived in Oxford (yikes! has it been that long)7 years ago. I loved every grey minute of my six-month stint there! In fact, it was in England that I discovered my affinity for Indian food and my aversion to owning a car. When I moved back to the States, I tried to get by in Hometown, USA by walking everywhere; a lovely idea that only lasted about 2 weeks. The nearest grocery store was half-a-day, not half-a-block away.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that I've been enjoying your blog.

Jennwith2ns said...

Barry--it is really good. I would recommend, however, using the meat they suggest, and not pork. ;)

Scott--I try cooking new things all the time. Keeps me from getting bored, since I actually don't enjoy cooking very much!

Rebecca--I lived in East London for 5 1/2 years: 1997-2002. I'm still trying to figure out a way to get back there. Oh, and I'm totally with you on the car-dislike thing (current tyre-changing skills notwithstanding).