Taste of Home

Amin lives in Croatia for seven months. He abandoned his home because of the persecution on the basis of religion. Although he still doesn’t have a job, he would like to live here with his sister, whose cooking he misses so much. The local cuisine is quite different, but he got used to it and his favourite dishes are pasta and potatoes, while he also tried the stews that he finds similar to Iranian Qorma E Sabzi (herb stew) and Dizzi (lamb soup with chickpeas). When he came, he was surprised by the cooking utensils used, because in Iran they use utensils that make food tastier.

He is reminded of his home by the smell and taste of mint and turmeric, which are used in desserts or salads such as torshi (here known as "turšija"). While he was at home, the kitchen was mostly occupied by his grandmother and his sister, and while grandmother taught his sister everything, he was usually there as an observer and occasional helper.

He often remembers his childhood and the traditional Iranian dishes that his grandmother prepared over the fire, which gave them a special flavour, such as kashk-e bademjan (grilled eggplant and melted cheese), halim bademjan (grilled eggplant with lamb), aash-e gandom (various types of beans with spinach and wheat), his favorite qormi-e sabzi, gheimeh (stew of meat, lentils and tomatoes), kebab koobideh and kookoo sabz, eshkeneh kebesiar on special occasions, zereshk polow (barberries and rice with chicken) - the last meal he ate at home, and kale pache (boiled pig's trotters), a special dish that grandma was preparing for breakfast in winter, although his breakfast mostly consisted of bread with butter and jam or scrambled eggs.

He likes the life in Croatia, but he would love to eat qormi sabz or gheimeh in his city in the company of his friends one more time.

The territory of present-day Iran was a birthplace of some of the oldest civilizations. First states were created in the beginning of the third millennium BC and the Iranian people have settled there in the second millennium BC. After a referendum at the end of 1979, by Ayatollah Khomeini’s design, Islamic republic was established, with the supreme leader at the helm. Islamic Republic of Iran is the only theocracy in the world. Although the relations and cooperation with the rest of the world improved after the presidential election of 2013, Iran remains one of the countries with the highest level of censorship, violations of freedom of speech and religious freedoms.

The turning point in the history of Iran happened in the year 1500 with the foundation of Safavid empire, when Shiite Islam became the official religion of the country. Another important year in history is 1906 when the revolution resulted in the creation of the first national parliament in a framework of constitutional monarchy, while today's political system is the result of the Iranian revolution of 1979. That year has seen demonstrations and protests against the then existing regime that was finally overthrown in a revolution.

In 2014, one per thousand of nearly 81 million inhabitants left Iran.