ACTION 2: Terroir – an offering.

Partner: Zahra Jalali
Duration: 1 week

Beginning

Zahra was my partner for this Action. She lives in Tehran, Iran. To begin with, we shared our food preference to each other, so that we can be mindful of each other’s diet, food tolerance and restrictions when we come up with the edible experience.

My Offering To Zahra:
八宝茶 (Babao Gaiwan Tea)

My hometown actually have some degrees of similarity in the food culture with Iran, and that surprised me when I was researching on my offering to Zahra. I wanted to offer something that is not utterly exotic to her, and can create a sense of “at-homeness” through sharing the food with family. So, Babao Gaiwan Tea came in to my mind. An one-word description for this type of tea would be – elaborate. Contrary to common types of Chineses tea that are usually made with tea leaves and hot water, Babao Gaiwan Tea is made with eight ingredients and tastes sweet (download the recipe here). It carries Muslim culinary culture and tastes from the Silk Road.

The Gaiwan Tea is really easy to brew, but it would take some time to collect all eight ingredients. Some ingredients, like dried jujube and raisin, were originally produced in Central Asia. During the research I was happy that I got to learn their Persian name as well as a bit of background knowledge. For instance, the fruit that is commonly referred as Russian olive, or wild olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) is called سنجد‎ (Senjed) in Iran and is used in ceremonies. However, the other ingredients like crystal sugar and dried longan might be hard to find in Tehran, and I had to research for local substitutes. I was satisfied with the result, and think that those substitutes are more like enhancements than compromises to the taste.

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Zahra’s Offering to me: آبگوشت (Abgoosht, Iranian Meat Stew)

Zahra’s instruction was very well designed (download PDF here), lively and packed with details. I am grateful for the including of the music which is another highlight of this experience. At first I thought of the need to find a Persian market, but then in the instruction I found that all the ingredients are available in any generic supermarket.

The making of the Abgoosht mostly requires time (4 hrs up) instead of much skills. Vegetables, beans, and meat doesn’t require preparing. In contrast to the simple nature of its ingredients and cooking, the taste of the dish is anything but simple. The richness and aroma of the broth, and the heartiness of the mashed content called Koobideh combined together made me instantly fell in love with this dish. Abgoosht is something that is calling for the need to share, literally, because of its amount – it took my girlfriend and I 3 full meals to finish.

I think I went to far on the food critique, and the following will be all about the experience.

The edible experience started through smell when the broth started to boil, concurrently with traditional Persian music that Zahra recommended played in the background (playlists are included in the instruction). At this stage, when the only thing I could and needed to do was to wait patiently for 2 hours before adding condiments, the smell and musics went beyond kitchen and transformed my apartment into another space, that is unfamiliar, but exciting. While waiting, I was doing some work on the laptop just like usual, but felt different because the occupants were immersed in a portion of Persian culture that existed in my place.

Serving was another highlight of the well curated experience. Zahra mentioned the importance of sitting on the ground, and I threw a blanket on the floor to because I couldn’t find a rug at home. Having meal on the ground is a brand new experience to me. I felt much closer to the food and to the person sharing food with me, in a way that as if we were never as intimate when eating together as now. Initially I attributed the difference to the heartiness of the broth and our hunger, which are definitely true, but I realized that there is something else. Although convenient, a table might have created an invisible barrier to the participants of the meal, which is contradictory to my understanding before (i.e. table is the vessel for family gathering). As a result, eating while sitting on the ground just made the already tasty food taste even better, and already enjoyable experience more enjoyable. Having meal on the ground is something I will celebrate more often.

One last thing I want to mention is that after this edible experience, I told Zahra that I will cook this dish for my family back in China as soon as I had the chance. On her side, she drank the Gaiwan tea with her family, and said that this drink will be made again. I really appreciate the exchange happened within a week and we got to experience something traveled across continents. Thank you Louise, Zach, and Zahra!

Presentation

Thank you for reading.

Download the offering instructions here