Finding My Social Bookmarking Soulmate

            Social bookmarking websites such as del.icio.us and Stumbledupon are online services that allow users to add, annotate, edit, and share bookmarks through web links. After signing up on del.icio.us, it took awhile getting use to the different features because I had never used a social bookmarking website. One feature I liked about del.icio.us was the tag bundle that allowed the user to sort their preferred tags by combining several related tags into a logical grouping. So, for instance, you might combine the tags “Persian Food”, “Music”, and “Farsi Language” into a bundle and call it “Persian Culture”. It doesn't change anything about the existing tags, but does allow you to create another level of hierarchy. When looking at your bookmarks, del.icio.us will show the bundle and all the tags grouped under it as a separate section. Another discovery engine I used to find my social bookmarking soul mate is Stumbledupon, which is a form of web search engine that finds and recommends web content to its users. Its features allow users to discover and rate web pages, photos, and videos that are personalized to their interests. What’s cool about this website is that when you sign up it asks you to checkmark topics that are of interest to the user and it finds web feeds that are linked to those topics. The topics I selected were food, music, language, and history. It was difficult to narrow the search to “Persian or Iranian” because there was not that many search results coming up. Even if topics did appear, the users had no common interests that I was looking for. Although I didn’t find my social bookmarking soul mate, I would recommend del.icio.us rather than Stumbledupon because it was easier to use and I found similar tags related to my blog topic. The basic tags that I used to highlight the topics that are relevant to my blog are “Persian Culture”, “Farsi Language”, “Iranian Revolution”, “Persian Celebrations”, and “Persian Food”. I found a website that was of useful content called Iranchamber.com. Iran Chamber Society is a well-organized and comprehensive online source of information on Iranian/Persian history, art and culture without any membership requirement to access the data. The Iran Chamber society is a non-partisan and non-profit organization with the aim to promote Iranian culture and history. The website is divided into three sections. The Art & Culture of Iran section offers a variety of fields to look at. Some of the fields include Language and Literature, Culture & Ceremonies, and Architectural and National Monuments. Other sections include a History of Iran and Iran’s guide. The History of Iran section is unique because it is set up in a chronological time line and you can select the era and learn about the history during that specific time period. The Iran’s guide section provides updated news on media, sport, currency, weather, provinces, and politics. Overall, the website that I found through the social bookmarking tool has showed that social bookmarking tools are helpful in finding topics of interest by narrowing your search terms by using tags. Unfortunately, the website did not provide how many members or followers are signed up. 

Persian Goodies

I thought it would be interesting to share with the audience about a specific Persian candy called Gaz. It is the traditional name of Persian nougat from the city of Esfahan, the third largest city of Iran. Growing up, I would always look forward to eating these during dessert and coffee time. When I was younger I would pronounce Gaz as gas, but as awkwardly as that may sound it actually tastes really sweet. For those who are unfamiliar with nougat, it is a family of confectioneries usually made with sugar, roasted nuts, and whipped egg whites. The type of nut found in Gaz is pistachio. When chewing into the nougat it has a unique candy texture, similar to taffy texture but not that stretchable. Gaz has a distinctive flavor, making it unique compared to European nougats because of the rosewater ingredient. The reason I brought this topic of discussion in my blog is to talk about something that I didn’t know about Gaz all these years. Basically, what I’m about to address is another ingredient found in Gaz that was disturbing to hear. Apparently it is a combination of sap coming from an angebin plant shrub that is in mixture with secretions from a tiny species of insects. After hearing this from my uncle and him actually bringing a box of these candies, I could barely swallow the candy. At first I couldn’t believe my uncle because he always jokes around but he was serious about traditional ingredients used to make Gaz. But good news he told me that the ingredients don’t follow the traditional method of making Gaz now. So I probably didn’t eat any insect/plant secretion that’s for sure. For Americans this may seem like some type of insect taboo, but for Persians this is their national candy and is fairly common among Middle Eastern countries bordering Iran.

Personally, my favorite Persian candy of all time has to be Sowhan, or Iranian saffron brittle. Sowhan is a flat sweet brittle made of pistachios and saffron. It is usually packaged in intricately designed tin cylinders. Best quality Sowhan could be found, especially in the city of Qom, north-central Iran. Unlike Gaz, Sowhan crumbles and leaves a chewy chunk stuck between your teeth and at the same time an enjoyable mix of flavors and textures. The process of making Sohan is fairly simple, boiling a mixture of water, sugar, milk, and corn flour until it becomes solid. So if you haven’t tried Gaz or Sowhan and you have a sweet tooth for candy I would highly recommend it. These candies are sold at your local Armenian/persian markets. 

~Nowruz~ The Persian New Year

I found it interesting to share a blog post that discusses Persian New Year, also known as Nowruz. The word Nowruz in Farsi translates to "The New Day" in the Solar Hijri calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. This is a common traditional celebration practiced by many Persian households.  Nowruz is an official holiday lasting for 13 days during which most national functions including schools are off and festivities take place. It proclaims the end of the winter and cold and the coming of spring. Persians have a spring-cleaning in their home for new events in the New Year. Nowruz is seen as a relic of ancient times, memories of old tales and epics, "a celebration of rebirth and rejuvenation". The dark has passed and the light of hope shines in people’s hearts. The night before Iranians celebrate the last Wednesday of the year as Chahārshanbe Suri, Sur meaning feast, party or festival in Persian. The tradition includes people going into the streets and alleys to make bonfires, and jump over them while singing the traditional songs. The fire is believed to burn out all the fear (yellowness) in their subconscious or their spirit, in preparation for New Year.

 Historically, Nowruz dates back many centuries ago. Historians trace it to pre-Islamic Iran. Some historians believe that there is a connection to Jamshid Shah Jam, one of the epic kings of Persia (Iran). Engravings on ancient tablets and monuments picture Archamenid kings celebrating Nowruz some two thousand and five hundred years ago. It was, therefore, a highly auspicious occasion for the ancient Iranian peoples. It has been suggested that the famous Persepolis complex, or at least the palace of Apadana and the Hundred Columns Hall, were built for the specific purpose of celebrating Nowruz.  It is remarkable that for many centuries of history Iranians have kept their ancient way of celebrating the New Year in Iran in the midst of Arab invasions and the conversion of the nation to Islam. The practice of Nowruz is a collection of many centuries of cultural influence. Haft-Seen or the seven 'S's is a traditional table setting for Nowruz. It is made up of seven symbols of life and the interaction of human beings with nature. These are visiting elders, giving gifts, special foods, house cleaning, wearing of new clothes, forgetting old grudges and embracing new things all make up different aspects of Nowruz. This is a celebration that all Persians look forward and like to preserve their ancient roots. Even though I am of Armenian descent, my relatives that recently came to America still practice traditional Iranian celebrations because they have become so enriched by Iranian culture that it becomes second nature. I remember growing up we would celebrate Nowruz and even start a small bonfire in our backyard and hop over the fire as a way to cleanse or start off the New Year.