For part II of the traditional Persian Norooz sweets, I present you with a select but delightful array of goodies that were on display and offered to guests at the home of my friend Sara. All of these sweets were handmade by Sara’s talented sisters in law.
These first batch of cookies may be my most poetic gastronomic discovery yet as I valiantly eat my way through Iran. They are called mojde ‘ye bahar – or literally: “spring’s good news.” And they really are good news. Crunchy, fragrant, with just the perfect hint of sweetness. Sara tells me that to make these, her sisters in law store blanched almonds and hyacinth flowers together — all the way from June and until just weeks before Norooz — so that the almonds absorb the fragrance of the hyacinths. They then use these almonds to make these pretty little crispy and sweet smelling puffs that are meant to resemble little blossoms. A truly wonderful treat.
These are called sohan – a type of sweet that is crispy, crunchy and toothsome.
These are bereshtook – a type of sweet that is soft and mildly sweet, with a melt in your mouth texture that is reminiscent of halva. (The beautiful needlepoint in the background is made by and courtesy of Sara.)
And let’s conclude with these beautiful noon ‘eh berenji cookies that are embellished with flower patterns and “mobarak b’ad” inscriptions.
And with that, I bid you a truly fond farewell and a happy weekend all the way from Tehran.
More beautiful sweets. Those last cookies are gorgeous!
I have never seen such beautiful cookies! I’m loving these.
<<<hasoodee
these treats, and all your posts from Iran, are fabulous.
how beautiful the treats are, just imagine how much work went into the almonds and hyazinth blossom biscuits or the last cookies with the decoration on top – truly labours and offerings made with and filled with love. Times past in our more hectic “modernised” times where we don’t take the time to mindfully make things such as these….
Lovely post! I love the beautiful tradition of the mojde ‘ye bahar.
The hyacinth-almond-cookies sound beyond amazing! I wish I could try one!
These look fantastic. I would love to have recipe please.
Iran looks like such a fun place.
Oops!
These look fantastic. I would love to have the recipe please.
Iran looks like such a fun place.
None of these sweets, I have ever come across but I would love to try them all,..;They look very spectacular & apart too! Yummm! 🙂 x
Ah, Azita, you just transferred me into Shirini Land.
Among my special memories of the year I spent in Iran were the many sweet shops I visited and the pleasant aroma of rose water that scented those shops. So why is it that we can’t just all get along? Every culture has such wonderful things to share. Listening to the news and official pronouncements, there is no goodness in the other and all we think about are doing each other in. When most people just want joy and happiness and are very friendly. amanandhishoe.com
These are seriously gorgeous cookies!!
I’d love to taste each and every one of these different types of sweets Azita! Hope you’re having a wonderful time away. Thinking of you often!
[…] about the pretty customs of Norooz already anyhow (the meaning of haftseen, Norooz in Tehran, the sweets of Norooz, coloring eggs, sprouting sabzeh, Norooz ‘a […]
[…] little puff cookies that are meant to resemble spring time flowers were featured earlier in the Traditional Persian Sweets for Norooz installment of my Greetings From Iran series. (This was Norooz 2014!) (NOTE TO SELF: make this […]
[…] Make tea as usual in a teapot and add 1/3 teaspoon ground saffron. Brew for 10 minutes and you’ll have a wonderful and fragrant saffron tea. I drink this w/out sugar but if you’d like, it goes well with nabat or a cube of sugar. You know what else goes great with saffron tea? A COOKIE! […]
The nan-e-berenj cookie stamps are calling to me?
Savab dareh. 😉
Midonid chi bishtar savab dareh? Inkeh tashrif biyarid baray yek visit! 🙂 xoxo and love