COMMUNITY COOKING WITH IWIN AT HOMELAND
I was delighted to be part of Homeland’s recent community day which brought together a beautiful group of ladies from IWIN (Iranian Women in New Zealand). The Iranian women demonstrated how to cook a traditional Persian dish called Tahchin, which is a delicious and aromatic dish made from rice, egg, yoghurt, saffron and a layer of meat.
The women were generous in sharing their cooking knowledge with a lot of chatting and laughter along the way. It was evident just how important their cuisine forms part of their culture and how this dish is often made to be shared for special occasions. The preparation was a shared experience with everyone pitching in on their work benches and sharing the different tasks needed to create this dish.
Tachin or saffron rice cake is prepared by cooking rice and combining it with Greek yoghurt, saffron and egg yolk. The rice mixture is then used to layer up the rice cake and, on this occasion, included a layer of slow cooked pulled lamb. The dish is then baked on a stove top or in the oven until the rice is set and a crispy crust forms on the outside.
Once out of the oven the rice cake is flipped upside down (very carefully) on to a serving platter and garnished with barberries, pistachios, and crispy onions. The result was a feast for the eyes as much as it was for the palate. A crunchy fresh salad using red onion, tomato, cucumber, mint and lemon was the perfect accompaniment to the dish.
We were also treated to a bowl of Ash Reshteh which is a type of Iranian noodle and bean soup which was flavoured with some of the broth left over from the slow cooked lamb. Both dishes were delicious, and it was a wonderful experience to be amongst a group of women who are so passionate about sharing their culture through their cooking. The love and warmth from the women came through in their food and it was a very uplifting experience and showed just how important the sharing of food and recipes is to understanding different cultures and how food plays such an important role.
