Save the Date: Fundraiser Iranian dinner on 3 April + a Recipe
I will be cooking for a big Iranian dinner to raise funds for the surgery of the protesters who have been shot in the eyes in the #WomanLifeFreedom revolution in Iran. Also a recipe for a pudding.
I am happy to invite you to a very special Iranian dinner that I will be cooking together with other Iranian women, in order to raise funds for the surgical operations of some of the protesters who have been shot in the eyes during these past months of #WomanLifeFreedom revolution.
Italiano 🇮🇹: questo post è un invito alla cena iraniana di beneficenza che facciamo il 3 aprile a Collettivo Gastronomico Testaccio a Città dell’Altra Economia a Roma, per raccogliere i fondi per le operazioni chirurgiche dei manifestanti che sono stati sparati agli occhi durante la rivoluzione di #DonnaVitaLibertà in Iran. (Hai visto il servizio delle Iene su una di questi manifestanti che è venuta in Italia per farsi operare?) La partecipazione è con l’offerta libera a partire da €40. Per prenotarti scrivi a info@labnoon.com. Si accettano donazioni di qualsiasi cifra anche da chi non può partecipare alla cena. Per vedere i dettagli e il menù vedi questo evento su facebook.
Why the fundraising Iranian dinner
After the murder of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police of the Islamic Republic regime, Iranians were set on fire with grief and rage. Something broke. I personally felt it, something was changed for ever. So Iranians, particularly the women and youth took to the streets. And although as a nation, we’re not novices at protesting and its consequences, this time the regime too went beyond the horror it had previously unleashed on us and tried to repress the revolution with unprecedented ferocity: They killed protesters on the streets, kidnapped them, imprisoned them, tortured them, raped them, put them on sham trials and then executed them. They also blinded the protesters, systematically and repeatedly, with rubber bullets.
While many of these protesters have lost their eye sight indefinitely, for some others there’s still the possibility to save the eye(s) with surgery. These operations are quite expensive naturally, and in the current turbulent economical and social situation of Iran, these people often have no means of ever paying for this surgery.
Here is where those of us in the diaspora who have often felt helpless and useless, come to the piste. The idea was first born a few months ago when a friend of mine asked us to not get her anything for her birthday, and instead donate some money to the family of some imprisoned and killed protesters. We did, and apparently it has paid for the gravestone of one the executed protesters, among I hope other things.
Then the urgent question of surgery of the blinded protesters came along and we thought why not expand the idea, cook together, offer a nice Iranian dinner and raise the money for the surgeries.
When, where and how to book
So the fundraising dinner is on April 3 (which funnily enough, is my birthday). It starts at 19.30 and is held at Collettivo Gastronomico Testaccio at Città dell’Altra Economia in Rome.
I will cook an Iranian meal from starter to dessert, together with the help of other Iranian girlfriends in the kitchen. Please come and bring friends and family. Donations start at €40 per person (wine not included), but more generous donations are also accepted with our appreciation. In order to book, please send an email to info@labnoon.com (please don’t answer to this substack email for booking).
If you’re not in Rome or can’t make it to the dinner, you can still make a donation via bank transfer or PayPal. Just send an email to info@labnoon.com and we’ll give you the details.
Last but definitely not least, please share this event.
It’s vitally important to reach as many people as possible, because as you can imagine these ocular surgeries are very expensive and we hope to raise enough money to pay for the operation of a few of these people.
Thank you for your support.
And now, something sweet
This sweet, aromatic and ridiculously easy pudding called Masghati is perhaps one of the easiest desserts I have ever made in my life. The principle is simple: water thickened with starch, sweetened and aromatised with rosewater and cardamom, occasionally with the addition of saffron.
Masghati can be considered a remote cousin in the large and overpopulated family of “white puddings” of the world, the one expanding from Firini in India to panna cotta and latte alla portoghese in Italy. Many scholars believe that all sort these white puddings are one way or another, a descendent of either Isfidbaj (the Arabized word for sepid-ba in Persian) in the east, or the blancmange in the west, who in turn were both white stews (not puddings, though containing sugar in many versions). And that’s what their names meant too, white stew.
There’s a debate whether isfidbaj and blancmange were actually related, whether one has given birth to the other, but as often with historical dishes, this doesn’t really matter. There are now many similar puddings in the world, and when we look at them closely we see that they have some ancient relatives back in history.
There’s one such recipe in my forthcoming cookbook. I have written at length about these white puddings (although not as long as I had originally wanted, which was some 8 pages. My poor editor wanted to murder me. Eventually we narrowed it down to 1 page). If you’re curious, consider pre-ordering Pomegranates & Artichokes. It really helps.
The recipe for Masghati
Masghati comes by different names in Iran, and it’s not a Nowruz pudding. My memories of Masghati are mostly of Ramadan, but I’m not sure whether it’s exclusively a Ramadan sweet either.
The basic idea is very simple: 1 part starch (potato or rice) for 6 parts water, and 2 parts sugar, 1/2 part rosewater (mixed with cardamom).
Remember that these measurements using a cup won’t yield the same ratio in weight. For example, in the measurements below I have used a 1/3 cup as my measurement. It yields 3-4 bowls.
Ingredients
40g (1/3 cup) starch
100g (2/3 cup) sugar
40 ml (1 1/2 tablespoon) rosewater [see note]
4-5 cardamom pods
1/2 tablespoon butter or neutral oil
a handful of almond slivers, or chopped almonds
some pistachio slivers or powder for garnish
dry rose petals for garnish (optional)
Method
In a small saucepan melt the starch in 480 ml (1 2/3 cup) water. Then put it on a low flame and stir with a whisk or wooden spoon so that it doesn’t catch at the bottom. In the meantime, bash the cardamom pods so that they break and pulverize the seeds as finely as you can, ideally in a mortar with a dash of sugar (keep the pods to add to tea). Add the cardamom powder to the rosewater.
Keep stirring until the mixture thickens slightly. For this amount it shouldn’t take more than 10 - 15 minutes. When your spoon or whisk leaves a mark in the mixture while stirring add the sugar and mix well. Then add the mixture of rosewater and cardamom, and the butter/oil.
Stir for a couple of more minutes then take off the heat and add the almonds. Divide into 3 or 4 bowls and garnish with pistachios and/or roses. Let cool completely before serving.
For a saffron variant, grind some good saffron pistils and add just a splash of hot (not boiling) water and 1/2 tablespoon of rosewater. Add this at the very end to masghati but remember, being a liquid it means you’ll need to cook the pudding a bit more so that it gets the right consistency back.
NOTE: The quality of rosewater is the most important thing in this recipe. Believe me, without a decent rosewater it will taste like a cheap soap that you need to throw away (been there, done that, in a cooking class no less.) Get a good Iranian or Lebanese rosewater. If it’s old (but good) you may need to add more.
Please let me know in the comments if you make masghati.
Bianco mangiare in Sicily. I love it
Such an interesting history -- these white puddings, all related ultimately. The world is very small, at least from the kitchen.