Mysterious and exciting Iran

MANILA, Philippines - So who has been to Iran? I asked around and it seemed no one had been to this mysterious country.  Yes, we know it’s Persia and we have all heard of Persian carpets, Persian food and even Persian music. But as guide book Lonely Planet said, “Don’t ask your friends or relatives or you may never go to Iran.” How true!

A lot of the participants invited to an Asian Productivity Organization (APO) workshop on Business Models for Rural Women communities had second thoughts about attending. But on our last day, everyone gave an “a-OK” sign (a thumbs up means different in Iranian culture, like giving the middle finger).

After reading a bit about Iran from a guide book and reading our Travel Advisory one thing was clear: women must always have their heads covered by wearing a hijab. Some front hair can show, at least for tourists. More conventional Iranian women show no hair at all, and also do not show their rear end’s shape. They mostly wear longer manteaus or coats, and some older women wear the full-length dress or robe, not showing any body shape at all. So I readied many colors of pashmina, scarves and even had a cap that could fit all my hair like a tight shower cap and over it was any shawl or scarf down to neck and shoulders.

For me, this was the most difficult custom I had to respect and learn. It was a relief taking off the head gear in the privacy of my hotel room, I must admit. And one has to be careful not to be seen without it even while crossing hotel corridors or sleeping in the tourist bus with headgear sliding off.

But the Iranians are a friendly people. We met a lot of friendly men and women during our five-day workshop. Except you should not shake hands with men, but merely put your right hand over your left chest as a sign of respect, more like a “pleasure to meet you” kind of greeting. You also should not stare at men or look them in the eye (if you are a woman). I think it is disrespectful to stare anyway, even at a woman. But you cannot help but ogle because the men are handsome and the women are very pretty.

That’s where the mystery ends. The culture is so interesting that you cannot help but try all the food, the drinks (no alcohol) and the desserts. We were invited to a restaurant where entertainment was provided by several groups singing Kurdish, Turkish and Iranian songs. Very rich culture, indeed.

Persian food is mostly kebabs, a lot of chicken and lamb, and many ways to do eggplant, and even stews with walnuts and pomegranate called fesenjun – which you pour over chicken and eat with rice. The rice grains are longer than Basmati and are served either plain, or with saffron, malberry (small red berries) or with green beans and meat (then the rice is called polo).

The breads are traditional breads which are crisp and flat, some with sesame like barbari, some plain whole wheat like lavosh which when cold becomes like plain thin bread. Taftun is ribbed, like a nice crisp French bread crust which is a bit salty but perfect with butter or cheese.

Cheese is labneh or haloumi. And the fresh cream (which I thought was yogurt) is served with freshly-cooked sugar (like panocha that’s cooked in water then allowed to reduce to a thick heavy syrup).

A standard Iranian meal starts with pearl barley soup (ash-e jo) served with quarters of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil. Then a lot of salads. Here is one place where everyone eats a lot of salads, because Iranians believe that  a mix of hot and cold food is good for the health. It is not about temperature but the nature of food – for example, meat, animal fat, wheat are hot while yoghurt, radish and pickles are cold.

So all meals have soup and salads before the kebabs. And all meals serve both breads and a selection of rice. But all these make for a balanced meal which my tummy agreed with completely. I so looked forward to breakfast each day – a selection of breads, a spread of cheeses, honey, rose jam and carrot jam!

What is a trip to Iran without shopping? Our group had to be driven to a souvenir shop strip mall so we could select lacquered boxes, carpet mouse pads and a lot of plates and hand-painted cases, woven bags and more. And of course, there are carpets everywhere. They are made from silk, wool and some are kilims – wool woven without knots.

Another request was for our group to go to a nut store. The store owner was a bit overwhelmed with 20 women buying kilos and kilos of pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts to bring home. But you cannot go wrong buying all these food in Iran. After all, they have 12 climates and can grow almost anything you could possibly think of. Nuts, dates, oranges and apples and rice, wheat and more.

The bazaar is the place to go for individual tourists or couples but not for a group as big as ours. Our hosts had to put their foot down that they could not watch over all of us in the bazaar which is big and crowded. So they took us to a mall where my friends got Iranian shawls, bags and some other souvenirs.

Tehran is quite polluted and cold in January. But one of  the best parts of this trip was during our first day when we all ran out in the snow! The Alborz mountains behind us were always snowcapped, a pretty sight. And during the beginning of our workshop, it snowed. So – carpe diem – we went out to take the customary photos in the snow.

Iran. Women. Farmers. Sustainability. That was why we were invited to Tehran, Iran. To share our experiences in sustainable business with other women leaders from eight Asian countries, Iran included. Yes, Iran is part of Asia but geographically is within the Middle East. But more than just sharing what we know, we learned a lot more about and from Iran.

It is still mysterious but definitedly a place one must visit in one’s lifetime.

BENEATH THE VEIL (clockwise from top): Workshop participants ready to explore Iran. Figs and pistachios abound at the market. Tea served in traditional glass cups, with sweet accompaniments. A platter full of rice, vegetables and meaty kebabs.