Fesenjān

{{Short description|Traditional Iranian meat stew}} {{for|the village in Iran|Fesenjan, Iran}} {{Infobox prepared food | name = Fesenjān | image = Khoresht-e fesenjan.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = A bowl of chicken ''fesenjān'', with Persian rice topped by tahdig | alternate_name = Fesenjan, Fesenjoon | country = {{IRN}} (Gilan) | region = {{IRN}} | national_cuisine = Iranian cuisine | creator = Iranians | course = Main course | type = Stew | served = | main_ingredient = Pomegranate juice, walnuts, poultry (duck or chicken) | variations = Lamb meatballs | calories = | other = }} '''Fesenjān''' ({{langx|fa|فسنجان}}; also called '''Fesenjoon''' in Tehrani dialect) is a sweet and sour Iranian stew (a khoresh). The roots of this Persian delicacy trace back to the Sassanid Persia's golden age.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-14 |title=Fesenjoon is one of the best Persian food |url=https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444141/Fesenjoon-is-one-of-the-best-Persian-food |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=Tehran Times |language=en}}</ref> It is typically served over rice in the Iranian manner.<ref>{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=E.N. |title=Asian Cuisines: Food Culture from East Asia to Turkey and Afghanistan |date=30 April 2018 |publisher=Berkshire Publishing Group |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A5C8DwAAQBAJ |page=99|isbn=9781614728467 }}</ref> In Iran, it is made with minced meat (lamb, sheep or beef), meatballs, chicken or duck. Like other ''khoresh'' stews served over rice, ''fesenjan'' is common also to Iraqi cuisine through Iranian pilgrims visiting Shia sites such as Imam Husayn shrine.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Amanat |editor-first1=Abbas |editor-last2=Vejdan |editor-first2=Farzin |title=Iran Facing Others: Identity Boundaries in a Historical Perspective| date=2012 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan}}</ref> As a festive dish for special occasions, it has become part of Jewish Rosh Hashannah celebrations, even though the typology of Jewish ethnic cuisines is imprecise.<ref>''The Oxford Handbook of the Jewish Diaspora'', Oxford University Press, 2021, p. 683</ref> In Azerbaijan, where it is called ''fisincan plov'', the stew is made with lamb meatballs instead of poultry.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Fisincan Plov Nasıl Yapılır? - Can Azerbaycan - TRT Avaz |language=Azerbaijani |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK3iK9Okh-A}}</ref>

== About == Fesenjān is flavored with pomegranate paste and ground walnuts (see ''bazha'')<ref name="Miers">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/dec/15/roast-winter-vegetables-walnut-pomegranate-sauce-recipe-fesenjan-thomasina-miers|title=Thomasina Miers' recipe for roast winter vegetables with walnut and pomegranate sauce|last=Miers|first=Thomasina|date=2017-12-15|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-07-26|quote=Richly sweet, subtly sour, with a satisfying depth of flavour from ground walnuts: fesenjan is a tempting Persian stew traditionally eaten during the winter solstice.}}</ref> and spices like turmeric, cinnamon, orange peel, cardamom, and rosebud.<ref name="Davidson">{{cite book |last1=Davidson |first1=Alan|editor-last1=Jaine|editor-first1=Tom|authorlink=Alan Davidson (food writer)|editor-link1=Tom Jaine|title=The Oxford Companion to Food |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199677337 |edition=3|page=48}}</ref> It is traditionally made with eggplant and poultry (duck or chicken).<ref name="Davidson" /> Fesenjān can also be made using balls of ground meat or chunks of lamb. Depending on the recipe, it can have a sweet or sour taste. Fesenjān is served with Iranian white or yellow rice (''polo'' or ''chelo'').

If the pomegranate sauce comes out too sour, sugar and fried onions may be added to sweeten it.<ref name="Iranica">{{cite web |last1=Elahi |first1=Etrat |title=FESANJĀN |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/fesanjan- |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |access-date=6 March 2022}}</ref> Sometimes, a hot iron is applied to cause oxidation and darken the sauce's color.<ref name="Iranica"/>

It is a dish that is part of the dinner table on Yaldā Night celebrations.<ref name="Miers" />

== History == The earliest known reference to fesenjān is in ''Mirza Ali-Akbar Khan Ashpazbashi''{{'}}s ''Sofra-ye at'ema'' from 1881, which lists ten different varieties of the dish: walnut (today the most common), almond, eggplant, kidney bean, quince, potato, carrot, pumpkin, fish, and yogurt.<ref name="Iranica"/> The first dictionary to mention fesenjān is the ''Farhang-e Anandraj'', which calls it ''fasūjan''.<ref name="Iranica"/>

== Culture == Fesenjān is an elaborate dish that is often reserved for special occasions.<ref name="Iranica"/> It is considered "a rich man's dish", which is referenced in the Persian expression "he behaves as if he has had partridge and fesenjān", meaning to show off or act pretentiously.<ref name="Iranica"/>

In the traditional Iranian system of garm and sard foods (i.e. "hot" and "cold", respectively), fesenjān is considered "hot" because it uses walnuts, which are also considered a "hot" food.<ref name="Iranica"/> In order to balance out this hotness, sometimes people will add coriander (a "cold" plant) to it; peeled pumpkin is also added for the same reason, as well as to act as a sugar substitute.<ref name="Iranica"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Cuisine of Iran|khoresh}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fesenjan}} Category:Azerbaijani cuisine Category:Iranian stews Category:Afghan cuisine Category:Iraqi cuisine Category:Rosh Hashanah foods Category:Sephardi Jewish cuisine Category:Talysh cuisine Category:Turkish stews Category:Poultry dishes Category:Walnut dishes