Just back from a wonderful trip to Iran where I had been in April, also once many years ago during the time of the Shah when I worked for Sotheby’s who then had an office there. While walking through the Tajrish bazaar last April, I was struck by the abundance of seasonal produce, some of which I was seeing for the first time. This time I went up to Rasht in Gilan province where they have a fabulous, bustling bazaar with an amazing live poultry section where you can buy your chickens, roosters and/or ducks live to take home and fatten up or you can have them killed and plucked there there and then before taking them home to cook. In the clip above, you can see how meticulous the lady is about choosing her chickens. She reminded me of the Chinese housekeeper of a friend who lived in Singapore. When I went to the market with her, I watched her turn over each and every vegetable and fruit before buying it to make sure it was perfect. But whereas the Chinese housekeeper was vociferous in how she made her choice, I could hardly hear what the Iranian lady was saying. They have a wonderful gentle culture in Iran and almost everyone speaks in whispers. My kind of place!
In this second clip, you see how the vendor stuffs the poor, chosen live birds into a plastic bag and to keep them from dying an unnatural and early death, he pokes two holes in the bag for them to be able to breathe on the way home.
While in the third clip above, you can see two men busy plucking a small and a large duck which were going to be used in fesenjan (an intriguing sweet and sour stew where the poultry is cooked in a walnuts and pomegranate syrup sauce). I was so taken by these birds that I used one of the pictures as my 2010 season’s greetings card. Here it is for those of you who didn’t get it by digital post! Wishing you all very Happy Holidays.
