IRANIAN DINNER & MOVIE NIGHT + SUNDAY HANGOUT
Dinner and movie nights are back!
It's been a while since my friends and I met up for a dinner and movie night. I checked, and the last time we got together was for Spring Festival, where we played games instead of watched a film.
Last Saturday, my friends V and N hosted at their place. My friend N chose the theme and his Iranian friend, B, took part and chose the movie: A Separation (2011).
Food
What I love about these themed dinners is challenging ourselves to follow recipes that we may be unfamiliar with, especially from other cultures. Food brings people together! Daniel chose to make an appetizer and I chose a dessert.
KUKU SABZI
It looks burnt but it wasn't! Daniel had to pre-cut the kuku because it broke off into pieces when he tried to flip it.
Kuku sabzi is a Persian herb frittata. A new Afghan grocery store opened up near us, selling a variety of ingredients from West Asia (and soon from the Balkans), so we were able to find pre-mixed dried herbs for this dish here.
I've never had Persian food before, so when Daniel was cooking, the house was filled with a delicious scent that was new to me. Since it was his first time making it, it was on the verge of being burnt, so I was nervous that it wouldn't taste good. However, B gave it 8/10 stars for presentation and 9/10 stars for taste!
I want to try making this myself since we now have a huge tin of dried herbs specifically for kuku sabzi, but I will add more eggs to make it more eggy.
NAN-E GURDUI
Easy peasy and delicious cookies!
Nan-e gurdui are Persian walnut cookies. It seemed simple enough to make as it only has three ingredients: walnuts, egg (yolks), and sugar. The recipe called for 1 cup of walnut pieces, which resulted in a very watery mixture, so I blended another cup of walnuts. I also added in full eggs not realizing that it only required egg yolks, but it came out ok to me.
I don't really love nuts, so I was surprised that I really enjoyed these! I would 100% make this again, next time following the recipe to a T and see if that makes a difference. You can also add cardamom or rosewater for additional flavor, so I took out my container of cardamom only to promptly forget it. Sounds like an inspiration for June's FOTM cookie...
Dinner party
Full spread.
We arrived at V and N's around 17:45. The apartment was filled with the now-familiar smell of sabzi*. B was in the kitchen preparing a stew (I believe it's ghormeh sabzi) which took longer to cook. We didn't eat until around 19:00, but it was well-worth the wait!
*B told us that in Persian, the word for vegetables and herbs is the same (i.e. sabzi).
Steamed rice with tahdig (crispy bottom, which is the top because it's flipped).
A close-up of the ghormeh sabzi.
I used to take way better food pictures, but I was hungry so I just took some quick shots. Wish I got an actual close-up rather than a close crop. Note to self for next time. All the vegetables in the salad were from L's garden!
Chocolate pudding with orange water and pistachios.
For dessert we had matcha white chocolate cookies and the walnut cookies. V also made a chocolate pudding flavored with orange water and pistachios.
After dinner sunset.
While putting away the dishes, V motioned for me to step out onto the balcony and pointed at the setting sun. She's been telling me about the amazing sunsets at the lake nearby her home. We still need to go together!
Movie
We watched A Separation (2011), a film by renowned Iranian director Asghar Farhadi. B said that it's a good starting point if one has never seen an Iranian film. I believe most of us hadn't.
The movie focuses around a couple where the wife wants a divorce. This act becomes catalyst to a series of unfortunate events, mostly drama between two families. The movie reminded me a lot of Yi Yi (2000), which is also about family conflict and a teenaged girl bears the brunt of her family's miscommunications. (A grandparent also plays a large role in both movies.) It was a surprisingly intense watch and I found myself at the edge of my seat at times.
N couldn't find English subtitles, so we ended up streaming the movie from Facebook using B's phone, projected onto the wall! I thought it was a super effective and funny setup.
After the movie, we stayed til after midnight chatting about various hobbies, including keyboards, watches, and aliens. Daniel and I walked home from their place, which was nice on a summer night.
Bonus hangout
The following day, we met V and N for a chill day by the lakeside. We went to Ufschötti, which I dislike because it's always packed. V wanted to go for a swim in the lake, but the water was too cold, though there were plenty of kids swimming around. I dipped my feet in the water and immediately sprung back. I'm not a water person, and I didn't like that the water was murky and brown, ("From the sun," said V), but I feel like it's also from the people.
We found a nice spot in the shade, even though we were about 2 feet away from neighboring groups. I ended up enjoying the people watching, passively observing how families from various cultures and backgrounds choose to spend their time during a long weekend.
Our picnic spot, featuring Daniel's leg.
V, N, Daniel, and I chatted about many topics. N plays the guitar, so we shared music we were into, and I eventually shared my music from back in the day. I told them that when I first moved to Switzerland, I used to do open mics. "You guys should jam," said V.
We sat there all afternoon. Around 17:00, V asked if we'd like to see her garden in Kriens. In Switzerland, you can buy a garden plot. It comes with a shed and tools and is maintained by the government.
Daniel and I bought ingredients for burgers and met them there.
N showing me the lay of the land.
Suddenly, we heard V yell. She had been gathering rainwater from a giant bucket and shouted for us to come over. "What is that?" she shrieked. She explained that some of the neighbors had warned her about a certain insect that could eat her crops.
Thanks to my Animal Crossing knowledge, I knew exactly what it was:
"That's a mole cricket!"
Mole cricket, or Maulwurfsgrille in German, sometimes referred to as Werre or Erdkrebs.
We hastily searched up ways to get rid of mole crickets, and V ended up asking one of the neighboring garden owners for advice.
Meanwhile, the rest of us prepared dinner.
We stayed until after 20:00, when the weather finally cooled down. I love summer evenings, when it's still light out but it's no longer hot.
I had attempted to save a bee earlier and had put it inside a flower, so I kept walking back to check on it. It had died, and an ant was already inspecting it.
I took a final stroll around the garden, helped pack up, and then Daniel and I headed home by train while V and N left on bikes.
Here's to more hangouts like this.