Travel and Food: Touring Iran Day 2- Beheshteh Zarah; Tehran's largest cemetery

In my opinion if you want to see the unedited version of a new city, without the risk of getting mugged, throw on your sweats and go for a jog.

Tehran on a Friday is a lot like LA on a Sunday; booming with life, albeit with a sleepy undertone.

Most of the stores were closed and everyone was in relaxation mode. The buildings in the area of my aunt’s house are large and there are lots of stores everywhere. It’s almost as though the stores are built into the apartment buildings.

The gutters stuck out like a sore thumb to me as they are much different than gutters in the US. In Iran they are simply deep trenches dug into the side of the road and falling into one while running is something that must be avoided at all costs.

Another interesting thing I noticed is that the driving laws are much looser and it seems like chaos on the streets; so if you ever visit this fine city look out for cars, and if you hear a honk make sure to look around!

The air in the city is generally filthy (even more than LA if you can believe it) and breathing it in while running was a little tough; but I made it back in one piece and after finishing my workout.

It was then that I was ready to explore the city some more.

The first stop on my tour was the Behest-e Zarah Cemetery. We figured getting THIS experience out of the way early was the best way to go.

On the way, there are children and adults lining the road selling flowers and rose water to decorate and clean the graves. We bought some from this cute price gouging seven-year-old boy and laughed heartily at what a smart ass he was. When my aunt tried to haggle with him he told us to move along and stop blocking his other customers. To which she laughed and paid him his over priced amount and took the flowers. 

In the gigantic cemetery we had three stops: my grandma Maryam Aziz, my uncle Mansour, and my Uncle Nasser’s late wife. 

While placing flowers and washing the headstones children with boxes of sweets would walk up and offer cookies on behalf of their departed family members.

We would give our condolences and a small prayer and the kids would thank us and be on their sad little ways.

Now I’m not sure if it was the lump in my throat, the tears in my eyes or just the pure confectionary genius of professional Iranian bakers but the sweets hit the spot; crumbly and delicious.

The first cookie was given to me by a brother and sister about 6 and 8 years old. It was a raisin cookie which I normally hate. I took it out of respect and popped it into my mouth whole to get it over with.

I instantly regretted doing so; it was so delectable that I cursed myself for not savoring it. The dough was barely sweetened with rose water, spongy and thick; the raisins chewy small and sweet, a perfect co-mingling of texture and flavor.

The second sweet was given to me by a shy little boy who couldn’t have been older than 4. He constantly would look back to his family for reassurance that he was doing the right thing. His parents would smile back at him through their tears and say “Boro” (meaning “go on”).

The kid obviously had lost someone important but was too young to understand what was happening. As we gave our condolences the kid just blushed, giggled and ran off. It was so cute and so heart-wrenching all at once. And the sweet he had offered? Heavenly!

The pastry was of a thick hard dough and it was shaped like the ribbons you put on your lapel for red ribbon week or to “support the troops”. The round end was dipped in dark chocolate and the pastry itself tasted like a butter cookie with a hint of rose.

At this point in my journey I decide to definitely try some more sweets as soon as possible for I couldn’t wait to see what else was in store for my taste buds.

All I had to do was get rid of my lingering jet lag!