Iranian foods and Persian Cuisine
Iran Traditional Food

Iranian Foods and Persian Cuisine

Iran has numerous ethnic groups and tribes in its vast and historic land. Each ethnicity and tribe have its own traditional food according to geography and climate. The type of Iranian foods and Persian cuisine in the hot regions such as the Iran Deserts is very different from the northwest of Iran with its cold temperature. It also varies from the vegetarian food of the Caspian Sea to the spicy seafood of the Persian Gulf.

Persian Food
Persian Food

The idea behind these distinct Persian dishes is not only to provide an endless variety of tasty recipes but, more importantly, for the food to have nourishing properties, using special herbs, to ensure a healthy body. To achieve this, it is vital to understand how traditional food was selected to suit the varying climatic conditions.
The out-of-the-ordinary delicious Persian cuisine, combined with the colors of Iranian food, is for us the art of cooking. In our tradition, which goes back centuries, the hot and cold nature of the body and its temperament were taken into consideration when it was determined what to eat and where. This was to control the balance of this system. The ingredients, the root of everything we eat, are essential to keep our bodies from preventing illnesses rather than curing them. We are thankful and proud of our Persian medicine, developed over two thousand years, which is included in our every meal. In Iran, we call it ‘Iranian Traditional Medicine’, where some of our universities offer various programs about this ‘traditional medical science’. Not only, but also, this history of the hot and cold nature of our bodies has been followed by other traditions of medical science such as the Chinese, Greeks, Romans, etc. ‘Avicenna’ was an outstanding and highly admired Persian scientist who was and still is celebrated for writing the famous book ‘The Canon of Medicine’ which is well known in the world of medical science.

To know more about Iranian foods and Persian cuisine on your travel to Iran, take a look at our cooking tours in different regions of Iran.

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Persian Food