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Stan Higgins
Although Harare diners have access to a reasonably wide range of international cuisine types, one of the styles not readily available is the traditional cuisine of the old Persia, now known as Iran, of course.
So it was thrilling to join members of the Restaurant Operators’ Association of Zimbabwe this past week for their monthly lunch, hosted this time by one of their members, Ramin Khalatbari, owner of the Café Nush chain and of Sandalwood Lodge in Mount Pleasant.
There are three Nush outlets at present – Avondale, Village Walk in Borrowdale and the new Highland Park shopping centre – and these will soon be joined by another at Harare’s new international airport complex.
Sandalwood is an upmarket accommodation and meeting venue that is popular with top-end travellers to Harare.
Ramin hails from Iran and when Cafe Nush Highland Park was selected for the August lunch he decided to treat guests to a full-on Persian meal and I must say what a treat this turned out to be.
Complementing the food were two wines generously donated for the occasion by leading beverages distributor Drop Beverage Solutions, both of them shiraz orsyrah varietals, since the shiraz grape is closely associated with centuries-old Persian culture.
The food was prepared by Ramin’s family and was superb to the taste, to the eye and in terms of portion size.
The starter was a meze selection of kashke bademjan (barbecued aubergine in a garlic and mint whey), burani esfanaj (spinach in yoghurt), burani bademjan (grilled aubergine in yoghurt) and humus (chickpeas with a tahini-flavoured olive oil), served with a delightful bread.
Then came a generous thick soup, called soope jo, which was chicken with barley, mushrooms and other vegetables.
Main course was a selection of tooje kabab zafarani(skewers of chicken and onion with a saffron dressing), shami(a delightful ring of minced beef, split peas and walnuts), zooboia polo (delightfully-spiced rice with beef, green beans and a tomato puree) and olivieh (a special mayonnaise incorporating potatoes, eggs, gherkins and pulled chicken).
As if that was not enough, dessert was a wonderful baklava with ice cream, called baghlava castani.
The food was all gently spiced and flavoursome, none of it hot, and was a mix of interesting and enjoyable taste sensations that showed how east European, middle-eastern and near-eastern cuisine is all closely linked.
The wines we enjoyed with it were both South African shiraz or syrah styles(these are both the same grape, with shiraz the Persian name and syrah the Arabic). One was an enjoyable 2021 EdgbastonVineyard David Finlayson The Pepper Pot, aptly named as it had a definite pepper-style spiciness to it.
This was a blend of 60 percent shiraz, 31 percent grenache, 6 percent mourverdre and 3 percent tannat.
The other was even more stylish: a top-of-the-range 2020 Bacco prelude 100 percent syrah that was outstanding in every respect.
Shiraz is the name of Iran’s fifth most populous city, once the centre of a thriving wine industry that at one time boasted more than 300 wineries.
Of course, there is no wine production in post-revolution Iran, but the heritage is there, although the modern shiraz grape is more likely the successor to a French grape than the original Persian one.
Nonetheless, to have these wines linked to a Persian meal was pleasing.
The cuisine was excellent and I suggested to Ramin that Café Nush or Sandalwood could from time to time offer public enjoyment of this cuisine on special themed nights or weeks and I look forward to going to one of those.
If readers see this advertised I’d say: go for it! Ramin is a thoroughly amiable person with a genuine flair for the hospitality scene and was a warm and welcoming host for us.
Part of the lunch was spent watching a roasting of coffee beans used in Café Nush and experiencing what is called a ‘drop’ of the beans after roasting.
Nush is now producing its own capsules of espresso coffee with boxes of 10 capsules featuring two styles – Chipinge and Rusitu – and made up of a mix of beans from these areas and from Latin America.
These are on sale and I am sure will become popular with consumers eager for a top-end coffee experience at home.
?The three Café Nush operations offer day and eveningcoffee and other hot beverages, pastries and cakes, light meals and other food and beverage options. They are genuine bistro-café venues where people-watching is an much fun as the food and drink.
The new Nush in Highland Park is attractive and impressive and can be recommended as a great place to meet socially or have a coffee-office experience.
Your feedback is welcome, readers. E-mail me at [email protected]
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