Maggie: Mediterranean tasting of Greek and Iranian foods

Photo credits:  Maggie

The Mediterranean tasting at the épicerie Sur la route du Safran, 6 rue Clos René in Montpellier, turned out to be far more than the simple "dégustation" that had been announced.  

The starter was four Greek mezes, including eggplant salad, red peppers, a stuffed vine-leaf rice and lemon dolmadaki, and a tapenade made with figs and sun-dried tomatoes, all served with pita bread.  

 
 The main dishes were Iranian, a stew made with split peas and a stew made with leeks, fenugreek, and kidney beans, served with saffron rice.  M. Karimi showed us how to prepare a small amount of saffron to 
decorate the plate of white rice.

Anne, Serge, Sue Rich and Peggy

The desserts were halva, blackberry jam, and candied groundnuts.  Cardamom tea was served after the food courses.  It was a private tasting session, just for AWG and FOAL friends there were 11 of us), but M. Karimi said it will be a regular event on Thursday evenings from now on.  The shop is also full of wonderful items that cannot easily be found elsewhere, some of which we had to ask Lydia A-Y to identify for us.

Martine, Lydia, Anne, Peggy, Sue Rich, Maggie, Sue Rey, Wendy, Helene, Serge, Tony

I purchased the two stews that were served, as well as another with prunes, walnuts, and pomegranate paste, to share with the rest of the family.  My girls can hardly wait for me to go back and buy more.  

Lydia, Sue Rey and Anne

The stews are meatless, but one can add meat or poultry (duck is recommended for the one with prunes) when reheating them.

If you like to eat and like to cook, Sur la route du Safran is the place to go.

     -m