Cultural Smash Up

Folks who personally know me, know that my husband is Iranian. In honor of his culture, our family celebrates the Persian New Year, or Nowruz. It is a celebration rooted in longstanding cultural ties back to ancient Persia.

Nowruz is not rooted in religion, but culture, and recent leadership in Iran does not encourage it. Yet, folks continue to celebrate and hold the celebration dear.

Persians, among others, celebrate their New Year, Nowruz, on the first day of Spring and their celebration includes a haft-seen table. Haft is Persian/Farsi, for seven; and seen is Farsi for “s”. So, the haft-seen table is supposed to have, among other things, seven edible items that begin with “s”.

Usually, the seven items are; apples/sib, vinegar/sarkeh, sumac/sumac, garlic/sir, fresh herbs/sabzi, Russian olive/senjed, and a sweet paste made from wheat sprouts and wheat flour called samanu.

Well, I am not about to try to figure out how to make samanu. It doesn’t sound too good to me, it doesn’t look too appetizing to me, and my husband doesn’t even care for it. You can buy a small jar at an international market, but it costs a lot.

So, I asked Mohammad if any other Persian food item began with an “s” so we could make a substitution. The only thing he could come up with was a potato/ sib zamini. Sib zamini means apple from the ground. Well, this worked for me because both potatoes and apples have been important to generations of my family. It might not be so pretty, but I wouldn’t mind it.

Well, when Mohammad talked to his sister Fali, he asked her for foods that started with an “s”. She suggested sohan which is a Persian saffron brittle with pistachios.

 

Sohan

Sohan is not quite as brittle as peanut brittle, as there is some flour in it. Still, the pictures of sohan made me think of Aunt Alta Allen Cantrell’s peanut brittle, which Mom says is the very best peanut brittle she has ever eaten. I have her hand-written recipe, so, I decided that I would make a batch of Aunt Alta’s peanut brittle substituting pistachios for the peanuts.

 

I got out Aunt Alta’s recipe and I made a batch. After it cooled, I broke it into pieces and placed a few of my Aprilized sohan into a dish on our Nowruz table. It looked very similar to sohan to me, and Mohammad told me that it tasted quite similar but was harder in texture than sohan. Mohammad ended up buying some real sohan for our table, so we ate all of the Aprilized sohan!

                       Haft-seen table with Aprilized sohan

 

                             Haft-seen table with real sohan.

Cameron took some of my pistachio brittle/“sohan” to his worksite to share with his partner Adam. A couple of young men from Iran were working on installing the AC and heating system. He spoke to them in Farsi and offered them some “sohan”.

They were shocked when Cammy spoke Farsi to them and asked if he was from Iran. He told them no, but his dad is. They tried the sohan and said it was good but the texture was a little different than they were used to.

Cam told them that I had made it and they asked if I was Iranian. He told them no. They seemed surprised that I could make something sort of similar to sohan, and asked if I cooked any other Persian dishes. Cam surprised them with a yes and listed some that I cook Aprilized versions of. One of the young men told him to tell me that my Aprilized sohan was very good. I figure that is like a Betty Crocker seal of approval.

I have made several batches of my Aprilized sohan since that initial batch. I think that the last one was the best yet. Every time I make it, I picture Aunt Alta stirring the ingredients in her big iron skillet on top of her big old coppertone colored gas range. Just after putting in the baking soda, I picture her beating it like she is going to a fire; my face and my heart smile!

Aunt Alta’s wrapped up in a quilt she made. She is standing in front of the range where she made her delicious peanut brittle.

                        

                                              Aunt Alta in her kitchen.


Here are directions on how I made the sohan/pistachio brittle. I followed Aunt Alta’s peanut brittle recipe, substituting pistachios for the peanuts. 

 

I line two cookie sheets with buttered or sprayed foil and have them close by.

 

Let 2 cups sugar, 1 cup white corn syrup, and 1 cup of boiling water come to a boil in a thick bottomed pot. 

 

Cook until it makes a string, or to 230 degrees, the “thread” point on a candy thermometer. 

 

Add three cups of shelled, roasted, and salted pistachios and continue to cook until it begins to brown. 

 

Candy thermometer will be not quite to 300 degrees or “hard crack” stage. At this point add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

 

Continue stirring and heating until candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees and remove from heat. 

 

At this point, quickly sprinkle a heaping teaspoon of baking soda over the mixture and “stir like you are going to a fire”! The mixture will become lighter and expand during this step. 

 

Quickly pour onto prepared cookie sheets and spread as thinly as possible, 

 

Let the brittle completely cool and then break into serving size pieces. I store it in a covered bowl on the counter. We all like it and I often have requests for more, especially from my husband.