Hey, it's Francis, and I hope you're ready for a pot of rice with a crisp crust on bottom,

for some pomegranate seeds, and for an incredible fish stew.

This is an encore episode about Persian food, and I am going to go buy a sackful of herbs this weekend because of it.

Have a listen.

I'm Frances Lamb, and this is The Splendid Table from APM American Public Media, the show for curious cooks and eaters.

Here are some things that are probably not wrong to say about Persian food.

It's a cuisine that loves acidity and earthiness,

like combining concentrated pomegranate juice with walnuts,

or lime with caramelized parsley and dill.

Yeah, caramelized parsley and dill,

because Persian food also loves its herbs, a lot of them,

in every which way.

And Persian cuisine is one of the great rice traditions of the world, including a seven-step

technique for cooking rice that still involves a hope and a prayer, that it comes out right

in the end.

But that's about all I can say, really, about Persian food.

I have definitely got a lot to learn.

But working on this show made me realize something.

And that's, you know, there are some cuisines

that have plenty of restaurants and chefs and ambassadors here in the U.S.

But to learn about Persian food here,

you really just kind of have to talk to Persian people.

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