So when Mr. Shopkeeper introduced her to pashmak, the famous Iranian delicacy, she just fell about laughing. “That’s just candy floss in a posh bag,” she smirked. Except it isn’t quite that simple. Pashmak (which goes under the alias of Persian Fairy Floss down under: closet poets, the Aussies, I tell you) is full of flavour, less disposed to dissolve on contact, not really sticky until it is exposed to something wet, and really very moreish. It will still involve scissors if it gets stuck in your hair (in spite of the fact that artfully placed it could easily pass for a fascinator), and it is certainly no better for your teeth, but it is one useful little ingredient to have when you’ve got guests coming round.

You see, it is sooo very pretty you can use it to top anything from a slightly overcooked tart to the cheapest nastiest supermarket ice cream (but no-one actually buys that, right?) and your pudding instantly looks a million dollars. If you’re frightfully pretentious like us, you could also add just a few rose petals. It comes in vanilla, saffron and cocoa flavours, and at £2.99 for around 350g (£3.99 for the saffron one) you can’t really go wrong. It is, of course, really nice to eat as an after-work/school treat, just as it is.

By a very strange coincidence, we sell it in store and on-line: you can buy it here.

The basic theme of the class (and we do reserve the right to ‘drift’) will be Veggiestan, so we’re talking Middle Eastern vegetarian cuisine. With a Mrs. Shopkeeper twist.

There is only room for 5 in the class, and it is very informal. At the end of the session you can either eat the banquet therein produced…or take it home to impress your nearest and dearest/the cat.

Call us on 020 7639 8007 (or e-mail foratasteofpersia@hotmail.com) for more details or to book.

The next pop-up Persepolis is at Bambuni in Nunhead on Friday May 17th. This time we will be offering a selection of classic Middle Eastern street food and meze, with meat and veggie options.

We’ll start with traditional Iranian herbs, cheese and warm flat-bread. There will also be a trio of dips: mirza ghassemi (aubergine), caçik, green pea houmous + warm bread.

Next up we will offer fish kibbeh, squid cooked in its own ink and some salad Shirazi on the side.

The third course will comprise gyros: slivered pork served with spiced mayo, pitta pockets and spiced fries. And there will be jujeh kebab: saffron chicken, served with steamed rice. We will also serve Shahan Fouls: spicy mashed fouls medammes, and a warm aubergine salad.

Pudding will be saffron ice cream with cardamom wafers.

Cheese course? Bit of plonk? Nice cold ale to wash it down? These are all highly desirable extras for which you will need to talk to our host Huey.

The menu will be £37.50: call 020 7732 4150 to book and a £10 a head deposit will secure your place.

The next event after that will be on Friday June 14th, this time at a new venue: the Hill Station in Telegraph Hill. We’ll be honest here – we haven’t even seen the place yet: we are doing it purely on the grounds that the new proprietors are really nice. We’ll update this page as soon as we’ve done our homework and developed a menu accordingly.

And then on Wednesday 10th July we are back at Anderson & Co with a Summer Persian barbecue special. The price for this will be £40.00 a head: call Lisa on 020 7469 7078 to book, where once again a £10 a head deposit will secure your booking.

• 100g mung beans, picked through and washed
• 250g short grain rice, washed (brown is better for you – white rice possesses few redeeming nutritional properties)
• knob of ghee (or butter, or marg)
• 1 large onion, peeled + chopped
• 1 cm ginger, peeled + minced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled + minced
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• 1 heaped teaspoon garam masala
• 1 level teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt and pepper
• handful of fresh coriander, chopped
• 200ml liquid kashk (whey/quroot) or strained yoghurt
• 1 heaped teaspoon dried mint

Put the mung beans in a pan of water and bring it to the boil; simmer for 10 minutes and then add the rice together with enough extra water to cover them with 4cm to spare. Simmer for a further 30 minutes or until the beans and the rice are soft and the water is all absorbed. Cover the lid of the pan with a clean tea towel and leave to sit on the stove while you make the rest of the dish. Ketcheree is a soft, mushy affair, and so do not worry about ‘overcooking’ everything.
Next melt the butter in a pan and fry off the onions until they are soft; add the ginger, garlic and chilli, stirring for a minute or two, followed by the spices. Take the pan off the heat and stir the contents through the rice and beans, season to taste, and then finish with the chopped coriander.
Mix the kashk or yoghurt with the mint: if you are using bottled kashk you may need to mix it with a little water to thin it down. Pile the ketcheree on to a plate, make a well in the middle and pour in the seasoned yoghurt or whey.
This is a great dish on its own, although in Afghanistan it is more often served with kufteh (meatballs) or a rich, tomatoey qorma.
Happy Easter.

Anyway – it is truly the best time to visit Persepolis. We are piled high with sweets and all the (ancient, Zoroastrian) trappings of the rites of Spring – wheat grass, painted eggs, Haji Firooz (well, models of) and all sorts. Furthermore, the ‘staff’ (that means Mr. & Mrs. S. for the most part) are all incorrigibly jolly and prone to dancing in the aisles.

Whether you’re able to visit or not, we’d like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a happy and prosperous Nowrooz…and we look forward to welcoming you to the shop (virtual or otherwise) very soon.

This is our guide to the most famous varieties…

There are two basic methods of pickling stuff: using brine, or using vinegar. Brine makes things salty, or shor, whilst vinegar obviously makes things sour, or torsh. Once you have the basic vocabulary, it is pretty easy to work out from the title of each preserve how it is made.

The most famous pickle of the lot is literally just known as torshi, and consists of chopped-but-not-minced vegetables preserved in vinegar with (most commonly – recipes vary) a bit of chilli, golpar, nigella seeds, turmeric and garlic. But anything that you pickle by covering it with vinegar is known as torshi-ye-whatever. Torshi-ye-litteh (pictured left) is one of the most popular sub-varieties: it comprises minced vegetables, quite a dollop of chilli, and lots and lots of aubergine. Torshi-ye-Banadari is another: a tomato-y, fiery, sour mixed pickle from the docklands (bandar) of Southern Iran. Torshi-ye-Shah Pasand is one of Mrs.S’ favourites: a rich, slightly sweet mixed number, whilst Torshi Hafteh Bijar is a fresh tasting, green, herby pickle. All of these mixed pickles are popular with rice dishes such as sabzi pulao and bogoli pulao – and it is quite customary to put out a whole platter of different pickles for guests to try….

And then there is Torshi-Sir – garlic pickle (see top, and right). This is traditonally made with clear vinegar for peeled garlic, and malt or apple vinegar for whole garlic, and is quite often laid down to mature (our house garlic at the top is a 15 year old vintage…). Torshi Moussir is another classic: sliced spring garlic with saffron.

‘Shor’ pickles are pickled in brine with just a little vinegar added for good measure. The most well-known varieties are chunky mixed veg like the number in the photo on the left, and khiar shor – utterly addictive crunchy baby cucumbers bottled with dill or tarragon, chilli and garlic.. These salty pickles are enjoyed with snacks and in sandwiches.

If you want to start pickling stuff yourself, you just require sterilised jars (swill them round with boiling water and turn them upside down to dry), washed and dried whatever-it-is-you-want-to-pickle, and some sort of vinegar/brine combo. There is no mystery to it. None whatsoever. You just need a thrifty mind and a bit of determination. In the meantime, of course, there is always your friendly local Persian corner shop…

We kick off our Spring season with an evening at Anderson & Co in Bellenden Road. This will take place on Friday March 1st, and the theme celebrates the Iranian New Year (which this year falls on 20th March at 11.03am – the precise moment of the Spring equinox, since you ask). It is a very sociable time of year – the highlight of the Iranian calendar, in fact. It is also full of ancient and deeply symbolic ritual, no more so than in the case of the traditional food therein.

We will start with bread, cheese and herbs, which is the basis of any Iranian table. This will be followed by ash reshteh: bean and pasta soup, swirled with kashk (liquid whey). Not only does the green-ness of the soup reflect the forthcoming green sprouts of spring, but the strands of pasta themselves are held to represent all the different strands of one’s life coming together. Oh and also – it tastes simply marvellous.

The main course will be reshteh pulao: fragrant rice studded with noodles (symbolising the gathering of friends) and garnished with fried raisins. This is served with a citrusy chicken dish, pickles and yoghurt. For vegetarians there will be a mung bean and spinach hotpot.

Afters will comprise a dessert meze: sweet houmous, pudding tsatsiki, cheese-stuffed dates and more. Because food is getting a little too serious these days, and we don’t do serious.

The lovely Lisa will provide tea or coffee to wash it all down. And (pending the imminent granting of her liquor licence) you can bring your own wine.

The price will be £37.50 per head, and you can book by calling Andersons on 020 7469 7078.

The second event is on Thursday April 4th at No. 67, the delightful cafe/restaurant attached to the South London Gallery. This is a new venue, and so a bit scary for us: we will need you to come along and hold our hands.

This particular event takes you on a voyage around Veggiestan, that fictitious confederation of states which is perhaps more commonly known as the Middle East.

We will start with warm bread, cheese and herbs, which is the basis of any Iranian spread. This will be accompanied by a trio of dips: white bean and olive, red pepper houmous, and yoghurt with spiced aubergine.

Next up comes: hand-rolled vine leaves, our signature pumpkin kibbeh, spinach fatayer and halloumi stacks.

The ‘main’ course will be a mushroom khoresht (stew to you), Yemeni style spiced red lentils, Lebanese artichoke bake and fragrant saffron rice.

Afters will comprise a mixture of Iranian pastries, Moroccan style orange salad and paklava.

There will be tea or coffee to wash it all down, and No. 67 is fully licensed. The price is £35.00 per head, and you can book by calling No 67 direct on 020 7252 7649.

And then on 17th May we are returning to Bambuni for the evening. We’ll fill you in on the details presently, but reserve the date at the very least…

OK. On a serious note (pun intended). The man serenading us in this unusually chilly recital is Jake Wilson. Some of you will have met him at the Peckham Literary Festival this year, wherein he spoke and sang about Scott’s voyage to the Antarctic. Thing is, Jake has written a wonderful, lyrical, moving album celebrating the lives and letters of the five fated explorers. And in just under a month’s time, he is due to join an Antarctic expedition to go and sing in Scott’s hut, whence the 1912 attempt on the pole set off. The mini concert will be recorded for a future podcast.

Jake has bought a graphite guitar, invested in some very warm long-johns, and is learning how to do things in sub-zero temperatures. In fact, playing in our fridge was just a warm up (cool down?) gig: he is currently looking for someone with a big walk in freezer so he can go and practise at seriously cold temperatures. The Scott Society and various other august bodies support him: it is, after all, such an eccentrically British thing to do. But he does not yet enough sponsorship. And he is too modest to push the enterprise/appeal for help himself.

So if you are reading this, there are several things you can do to help. If you work for a big company, simple financial sponsorship would be great. If you own an airline, he still needs help with his fares. If you manufacture cold-weather gear, send it his way. If you own a big freezer and fancy an intimate gig, let him know. Spread the word about this wonderfully improbable adventure. Because the world so needs more improbable adventures.

You can contact Jake here.

But we were really excited about the latest photo to come to life (above). Seems number 30, Peckham High Street was a record shop in 1932, when the above image was shot, thus proving that we’ve also always been Rock and Roll. What were they listening to then? Well, the chap advertised was one Jack Hylton, who wrote ‘You’re the Cream in My Coffee’ and this jolly little ditty.

To celebrate a bit of Peckham history, a lot of music history, and the wonderful potential that is a shop window, artist Joyce Treasure has replicated some modern Persian album covers and is spinning a few discs here on Saturday 15th December. You are invited to bring along your favourite music on vinyl, sip a cup of fragrant tea from our samovar, and chill while you shop. This is all part of I Art Peckham Shops, a collaboration between Peckham’s shopkeepers and its artists. The art installations can be seen between now and 6th January (just in case you needed any further encouragement to visit Peckham).

• 2 small tins (around 360g drained weight altogether) mushy or marrowfat peas
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahina
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried mint
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
• salt to taste
• sumac (to garnish)

If using marrowfat peas, drain most-but-not-all of the liquid away. Put all the ingredients bar the oil and salt in the goblet of your blender (or a big bowl if you are going to blend it all manually). Mix for a couple of minutes: you are aiming for a dip with texture rather than a homogenised green paste. Trickle the olive oil in and season to taste. Chill for half and hour or so (anything with tahina up it will thicken considerably in the fridge). Sprinkle with sumac before serving.
Arrange your cooled pitta ‘chips’ and hot goujons (plus a few lemon wedges) on a platter with a bowl of pea houmous in the middle. Wrap some tinsel around your head. There: you’re all festive alreay.
*Arabists amongst you will be quick to point out that houmous is actually the Arabic word for chick peas, and that a dish devoid of them shouldn’t really be given the same name. Well, call it culinary licence, but we did it anyway.
If you really don’t have time to cater for your party/birthday/office bash, come and talk to us. We’ve been known to ‘do a bit of food’ from time to time…