A Persian-inspired Orange Blossom Frozen Yogurt Dessert

The Story of the Persian Themed Dinner Party – written by Shukri:

While waiting for my friend to dine and catch up at the wonderful Cafe Nadery in Greenwich Village, I happened upon a copy of The New Persian Kitchen by Louisa Shafia in their little library. Noticing they had two copies, I convinced the manager to sell me one. Upon arrival, my baker friend extraordinaire Bojana, immediately volunteered a Persian themed potluck dinner at her place. The date was set and guests were asked to contribute a dish inspired by the Persian cuisine.

Having grown up in the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, the ingredients in the book’s recepies were somewhat familiar to me. As the Persian Empire once stretched from Libya to India, Kurdish cuisine shares many of the same ingredients and dishes, although naturally varying from region to region.

I choose three recipes from the book:

• A fresh herb platter with feta cheese; showered with olive oil, baked seeds, and walnuts, and served and eaten with flat bread
• Homemade yogurt with fresh shredded beets and
• A potato and dill salad, served warm

I made rice the Kurdish way, the way my mother taught me. Neither Kurdish nor Persian, Medjool dates stuffed with walnuts and Roquefort were a personal touch and therefore legitimate Hors d’oeuvre. Finally, I made the ubiquitous-in-the-Middle-East drink of salted yogurt, called Doogh in Farsi, Dao in Kurdish, and Ayran in Turkish. This too I made the way I knew.

Although rigidly themed as you can tell, some guests proved unruly and insubordinate.

One guest had misheard the invitation and instead of Persian inspired dishes, he made two Syrian salads. Another guest baked a Dorada fish Mediterranean style.The venison, hunted by a personal friend, was entrusted to a guest who had never before tasted game. With a self described cookbook of intuition and feeling, the honorable deer was roasted to perfection.

And while spirits are not (publicly) part of an Iranian meal, the assembled Diaspora enjoyed the homemade Romanian pear and apricot brandy procured by our friend Pericle, whose beautifully ethereal photographs communicate the atmosphere of our dinner.

For desert, our gracious hostess and recently anointed architect of deliciousness, thought up a delicately layered Persian inspired Orange blossom frozen yogurt.

The ensemble looked like a mountain, snowcapped with a sweet nest of halva, where two lovers (pistachios) are surrounded by a field of red roses (pomegranate seeds). Our photo shows one pistachio on the peak and one in the crevasse, but so it goes. Moans and groans were heard (for either pistachio) upon the tasting of the first spoonful.

A truly amazing dessert, A worthy ending for the best of Persian feasts.

Here’s Bojana’s recipe and instructions, in her own words:

“I set out to create a desert that was easy and quick to make, subtle in flavor and very light. Knowing that Shukri’s dinner will be bountiful, I wanted our guests to have a palate cleanser at the end of the meal, that has a tart punch and clean finish.”

Persian (inspired) frozen Orange Blossom Frozen Yogurt

• Plain tart yogurt (yogurtland) or for homemade (Ronnybrook)
• Orange blossom water
• Shelled unsalted pistachios
• Freshly cleaned ripe pomegranate
• Shredded Halva

You can make frozen yogurt using your own home-made yogurt. I use Ronnybrook plain full fat yoghurt as a starter and whole milk. Follow any low sugar content frozen yogurt recipe, using an ice cream machine or; You can cheat; I found that plain tart flavor of Yogurtland yogurt is very close to the real thing. It will not be as full body tasting, as they are fat free, but it’s a great alternative.

Bring yogurt to soft serve temperature. Add Orange blossom water and mix in by hand with a silicone spatula. To a 1/2 gallon of yogurt you only need to use a capful of the orange blossom water. Add more to taste, but carefully, the flavor can quickly overpower.



Scoop nicely in a serving dish, sprinkle with pistachios, pomegranate arils and form peaks with your fingers atop of the yogurt with Shredded Halva.

Ta-da! The desert is done. Serve with that sound and smile.

Simply lovely! Thank you Shukri jan, Pericle jan and Bojana jan for a very special feast of a guest post!