Ingredients
Discover the essential ingredients of Iranian cuisine
Kashk
Kashk is a fermented dairy product well known in Iranian food culture, made from the buttermilk left over after butter has been separated. This liquid is first boiled down and thickened, then salted, shaped, and dried until most of its moisture is gone. This moisture loss allows kashk to be stored for a long time without refrigeration.
Saffron
Saffron comes from the dried stigmas of a small purple flower called Crocus sativus. It is often treated only as an expensive spice, but its long history shows that it has always carried a much wider meaning.Saffron flower, widely known as “red gold,” in Qaen, South Khorasan, Iran (Elaheh Yaghoubi, 2026)