Et Tut, Brute?

Tut. Toot. Toote! However you spell it, it is the little adorable mulberry-fruit-shaped Persian treat made from ground almonds, cardamom and rosewater; dusted with a glittery coat of granulated sugar; stemmed with a sliver of pistachio; typically served at weddings and for Norooz; and generally gobbled up with fingers, relish and gratitude.

Since I’d already posted tut’s recipe, I had good and ardent intentions to make a few different types of shirini for Norooz. Good intentions are like beauty queens: pretty hyperboles of niceness but somewhat glib. I need concrete intentions that are weighed down with a heavy-duty tool-belt bulging with every gadget, crouching under the bathroom sink, getting dirty and fixing the leak – not up on the stage hamming it up with a sparkling dress and tiara, waving beautifically.

Which is my long-winded way of telling you that much like a one-trick-pony I ended up making only the tut for Norooz. So that if you didn’t know any better you might have thought that tut is the only Persian shirini. And that would have been so very wrong. To remedy that theoretical wrong, behold the following show-and-tell exhibits:

Exhibit A: A plate of goodies made by the hands of a lovely and ravishing khanoom (that is, lady with capital letter “L”) including: 1) noon nokhod’chi (chickpea flour cookie); 2) noon berenji Kermanshahi (rice flour cookie sprinkled with poppy seeds – Kermanshahi style); and 3) my favorite: sohan ‘e assal (almond brittle.) So good! It was rough going keeping paws off of these to take pictures. Suffice it to say they did not last long once the prying eye of the camera lens was shut down.

Exhibit B: Specimens of Iranian sweets typically served for Norooz – purchased from a store. The gaz (pistachio nougat) was no gaz ‘eh Shirazi but it was delicious, the noghl was rather a travesty of what it should be (that is: it was not a glorious and fragrant hard-candy-covered almond sliver) but it was nice to behold and served its festive purpose. The noon nokhodchi and noon berenji were pretty decent actually. I like how they look like hearts – a traditional shape for these types of cookies.

Exhibit C: To see this one, you have to stop by and check out Turmeric & Saffron‘s inspiring and lovely Persian desserts. She actually has the recipes for the almond brittle and for the Kermanshahi noon berenji among other things. Personally, I most covet making her Persian rosewater cardamom pudding. Looks wonderful.

Exhibit D: And finally, if you’re in the mood for drooling uncontrollably and thus making a notable spectacle of yourself, do check out the lovely Fae’s gorgeous Iranian style baklava and baklava cake. Why must you torture us so, Fae? Why?



And on this rather cruel note, I bid you farewell till we meet egg-ain!