Behold: gojeh sabz (literally “green plums,” known as unripe cherry plums outside of Iran)!
The uninitiated won’t get the fuss, but Irooniha (“Iranians” in informal Farsi) will, and (almost) any Iranian in diaspora will feel downright gleeful when spotting these. At least I did, not quite believing my eyes, when I spied some at Sahadis in Brooklyn.
Why is gojeh sabz so popular among Iranians you wonder? Simple: gojeh sabz is a fruit that is crisp, crunchy, tangy, and amazingly delicious with some salt. It is the perfect munchy and just … addictive!
I’m reminded of a scene from the film Charade where the Audrey Hepburn character asks the Cary Grant character: “Do you know what’s wrong with you?” and the Cary Grant character responds: “No. What?” and the Audrey character says: “Absolutely nothing!” I love that scene. Now replay the scene with me being Audrey and gojeh sabz being Cary and you’ll have the exact same dialogue if not the same intent.
Actually, I take it back, there is one thing wrong with gojeh sabz: its season (right now!) is blink-and-it’s-over short. As soon as the cherry plums ripen, they are ripe cherry plums and no longer gojeh sabz. This is not semantics, it is the heartbreaking reality.
If by some stroke of good fortune you do spot gojeh sabz in the farmer’s market or a grocery store, do yourself a favor and hoard as much of it as you can. Be greedy! Then go home, wash them, pop them in your mouth, and crunch away with reckless abandon and some salt.
Do share if you must, but only with those you love most.
Noosheh jaan!
hi, i love your blog — great content and photos! i was wondering, do you know where else i might find these gojeh sabz in nyc.. other than sahadis? i live in manhattan… there’s got to be a place, right?! : )
Hi Maryam – I agree, there’s gotta be a place but sadly there doesn’t seem to be … I know of stores in the DC and Northern Virginia area that carry gojeh sabz in season but in NY, the one and only place I’ve found these was Sahadis (where they also sell chaghaleh badoom, if you can believe it!!) Manhattan just does not have a decent Persian grocery/supermarket which is kind of shocking considering the number of Iranians living here … Wish I could be more helpful! Thank you for visiting and the nice words. Really appreciate it! -azita
Where In DC Tho
Love your writing within this. Huh, I’m not receiving updates for your new posts…wonder what’s going on. Going to try clicking Notify me of new posts…
Hi! Thank you! Makes me very happy to read this. Re posts, you know, technology is not 100% reliable alas. I had courgettes last night and thought of you, isn’t that funny?
[…] remember goje sabz, right? Unripe sour green plums: juicy, tart, crisp and crunchy. You snack on them raw, crunch […]
Thanks for sharing. I just purchased a small bag at a local small grocer that caters to the Armenian community here in Glendale CA so I was unsure how to enjoy them since they are not as sweet as a red cherry and mellower than a plum. Happy to discover your gorgeous blog!
Hi Cristin! Thank you for sharing – I’m totally surprised that gojeh sabz is still on the market. Hope you’ll enjoy it! By the way, it’s possible to also make stews with them, I don’t have the recipe for it but quite a few recipes will pop up if you Google it. Just FYI in case the taste isn’t to your liking – not likely though, ha ha! Anyway, I’m very happy you find this blog – thank you for visiting and commenting – and hope you’ll stick around.
[…] out the art galleries in Tehran, and go to the holy shrines. I want to eat chaghaleh badoom and gojeh sabz, I want to taste the sour-cherry lavashak, I want to sit on a good Persian rug and take dainty sips […]
I never noticed these when I lived in Tehran in the mid 70s! However, now we are in Baku and my husband discovered them. Must try them with salt as we think it definitely adds a certain something to both apples and oranges. I loved the food in Iran so will do a google search for stews with these lovely fruit.
Carolyn
[…] fruit and: it’s true! Be it unripe almonds (chaghaleh badoom چاقاله بادوم ), unripe green plums (gojeh sabz گوجه سبز), and now unripe grapes — which are usually picked halfway before […]
[…] wit, we have unripe almonds (chaghaleh badoom چاقاله بادوم ), unripe green plums (gojeh sabz گوجه سبز), and just recently we made the tart yet invigoratingly pleasant […]
[…] the edible goodies, as is my sacred duty as a Persian food blogger, that I commenced to gorge on gojeh sabz like a hungry and shameless savage […]