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.