Iranian cooking has much in common with Middle Eastern cooking, where rice, lamb, poultry and yogurt are all popular, which makes it close to our hearts, and tummies too.
However, despite the similarities in these two cuisines, the Persian food has its own flavorings such as saffron, dried lime, cinnamon, turmeric, and parsley, which are mixed and used in various dishes.
I have been lucky enough to be treated with Persian food at Kateh, with the richest tastes that one can never forget.
Kateh is a very popular Persian restaurant in London and it opened its doors in Kuwait end of 2015. They have a diversified menu and do all the cooking fresh everyday – no pre-cooking or frozen ingredients – which is reflected on their dishes.
After you are seated, you will be served with a complimentary hot Iranian bread with feta cheese, fresh basil, mint, and walnuts.
We choose three appetizers:
- Fried Olives; marinated green olives, deeply fried forming an amazing crisp, and layered with Persian feta sauce and chili olive oil. Not to miss, seriously!
- Kashke Bademjan; one of the most famous appetizers in the Persian cuisine, grilled eggplants with dried mint, soured yogurt, fried onions and walnuts. If you are an eggplant lover, you will definitely love this one.
- Borani Spinach; thick yogurt with fried baby spinach, fried onions, garlic and saffron.
Persian cuisine is famous for its traditional grilled dishes, especially the Kebab, commonly served with your choice of rice (dill, saffron, or zereshk). We ordered a Mixed Grill dish, which included a selection of Koobideh, Joojeh, Chicken Tikka and Kabab Azari, all, served with saffron rice and another Koobideh because it’s the classic Persian kebab prepared with natural lamb and veal, and we replaced the saffron rice with fried dill potatoes this time. Everything was very delicious.
From the stews, we tried Ghormeh Sabzi; veal in a blend of fresh herbs and greens, red kidney beans and dried lime, and Gheimeh Bademjan; again a veal stew but this time with eggplants, peas and fried potatoes, which I liked better. All stews are served with rice on the side.
As for the desserts, our picks were the Baklava; crispy from the outside, chewy pistachios from the inside with a layer of Persian milk ice cream. It was different from any other baklava I have ever tried. The second pick was the Cheesecake Millefeuille; creamy cheesecake with crispy phyllo sheets and rose flavoured syrup, I loved it.
The kiddo enjoyed a strawberry milkshake, while we ended our meal with a cup of authentic Persian chai! Iranians make tea in their own ritual. It tasted much like Turkish chai.