- All right, check it out, guys.
It's Trevor James.
We are with Mr. Taster in Mashhad, Iran.
Okay, we're going for a
full-on street food adventure.
- We're gonna have shish kabab.
We're gonna have the best lamb shank.
We're gonna have ghormeh.
We're gonna have dizi, everything, really.
- [Trevor] It's a full-on
Persian food adventure.
- Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop.
- [Trevor] Let's go check it out.
(upbeat music)
Get ready for the ultimate
Persian street food
adventure of Mashhad, Iran,
'cause today Mr. Taster is
bringing us in extremely deep,
for six incredible Iranian street foods
that you're gonna love.
So, make sure to watch
all the way until the end,
'cause you're gonna love the
saffron ice cream factory,
all of the rare kitchen
access, and all of the meats.
Let's eat.
- We're gonna have ghormeh,
which is really famous in this area.
We're gonna have dizi, as well.
(speaking foreign language)
- Oh, and it's right in here.
- [Mr. Taster] Oh, these are dizi.
- [Trevor] And this is supposed to be
some of the best in the world.
- [Mr. Taster] It is
the best in the world.
Look at the fat.
- Look at the fat.
- [Mr. Taster] We've got potato in there,
we've got onions, we've got
chickpeas, we've got beans.
We've got everything.
- Oh, and here's the ghormeh.
- Put them together.
Put them together.
- [Trevor] Lamb shank.
- Yes.
- Wow.
And I've heard that the lamb here
is some of the best in the world.
- [Mr. Taster] Yeah,
(speaking foreign language)
- [Trevor] It's all
about the Mushhadi lamb.
- Because of the shapes.
- Natural.
That's meat in the raw.
Ah, merci.
- Well, we'll just try it out.
Mmm, mmmm. (laughs)
- I'm breathing it in.
(Mr. Taster laughs)
And here's the bread.
We're gonna be eating
the meat with this bread.
- [Mr. Taster] Look at that.
- [Trevor] Oh, look at
the fat on that bone.
- [Mr. Taster] (laughs) That's one bone.
- Mushhad dizi.
Oh.
And that's it there, the ghormeh.
That's the purest lamb
fat you'll ever smell.
- So juicy looking.
And there they are.
The ghormeh and the dizi.
- Dizi, yeah.
- Famous Persian foods.
- It is famous.
- Upgraded in Mushhad.
- Yeah.
- Right?
- Yeah.
(speaking foreign language)
- Try it out.
Oh, and here it comes.
- All yours again.
(Trevor laughs)
- It's such an important
part of the routine,
you're right.
- It is, yeah.
- The onion.
- Onion three pages.
- The herbs.
- Yeah.
- Merci.
- Let's try this lamb.
Is hubbly-bubbly.
- Hubbly-bubbly. (laughs)
The iconic dizi.
Wow.
- Oh, my god.
- Mmmm.
And then, we've got these herbs.
Sweet basil, we've got
the lemon, pickled garlic,
what about this, here?
- [Mr. Taster] Pickles, as well.
- [Trevor] Pickles.
And this is the-
- [Mr. Taster] Olive with brown lumps.
Oh.
- And he's gonna mash up the meat for us.
- Yes.
- Meat and bread, two of the
best things in the world.
- Yeah.
- Oh, and the juice, the oil.
- Yeah.
(speaking foreign language)
- Look at that.
Look at that.
- I love how he just drizzled
it with the lamb fat.
Merci.
- This is big stuff for me.
(laughs)
- Wow.
- Wow.
- And there they are.
Mmm!
- Oh, good, good, good,
good, good, good, good.
We're gonna have slice of bread,
and you can see they make it a bit-
- Ooh, boiled it.
- Yeah, juicy.
Piece of lamb in there, and
just take a little lamb,
and have some sweet basil
in it, and let's go for it.
- We're going for it.
(lively music)
Oh, yeah.
That, right there is all you need.
The lamb fat, and the bread.
Having a little piece of
meat on there is so good.
Onion is the real soul of being here.
You eat it with everything.
- Exactly.
- Raw onion.
Meat, bread, onion, right?
- Onion, yeah, and some lemon.
- Take it down.
Oh.
So we, got the tomato, we go the fat.
So you just mash it up.
The fat just moves
right into the tomatoes,
and here it comes.
Look at that.
That's pure lamb fat.
Oh, so the bread goes in,
and it soaks up the fat
and the tomatoes.
- And the tomato and the juice.
- Let's try it out.
- One, two, three.
- Mmm.
Oh.
That is so satisfying.
It's like a lamb-tomato stew.
It's all about the fat, though.
- It is.
- So flavorful.
- Yeah.
- Mmm.
(Mr. Taster laughs)
You can't stop eating.
And next up is the iconic step.
- Yeah.
Look at that. (laughs)
It's the best part of
the meat, and it's yours.
- Oh, really?
Oh.
- (laughs) Bubbly-wubbly.
- I know it's very bubbly.
Oh.
And you can see the meat fibers just
going in.
- Exact.
- 90% meat.
- Yeah.
- 10% potato.
(laughing)
- He's adding the juice to it.
- Oh, the juice.
And I'm in love with the flavor,
how there's not that many spices,
so you get the natural,
pure, meat satisfaction.
Oh, and it's stringy.
Just like that right there.
So we've got green chile dip as well.
You can just dip it in.
Let's try it out.
Mmm!
Oh.
- Mmm.
- So good.
- Come on.
- That was delicious.
- Yeah, it was, yeah.
- What an awesome place.
(speaking foreign language)
- He is not getting money, again.
- [Trevor] Really.
(Mr. Taster laughs)
(speaking foreign language)
- [Trevor] Thank you.
(speaking foreign language)
We're gonna keep going for more.
Beautiful.
- Keep with us.
- Next up, our trusty driver, Mr. Medhi,
is bringing us to the most
famous shrine in Mushhad.
And here we are, we're
just approaching the
golden shrine of this
beautiful city, Imam Reza.
(upbeat music)
(passers-by chatter)
And here we are, just pulling up,
and after a quick walk
through one of the most
beautiful shrines you'll
ever lay your eyes on,
the Imam Reza shrine, covered
in classic Persian style art,
we made our way for the other
five remaining Iranian foods.
And Mr. Taster is bringing
us for more all day.
- Mr. Taster.
- Awesome, awesome.
- [Trevor] And next up,
we are just driving up
to a ice cream factory.
- Yeah, the name of the ice
cream in Mushhad is Tolab.
- [Trevor] Tolab?
- Yeah, Tolab is a really nice one.
I'm sure you're gonna be surprised.
- [Trevor] Yeah, that's a...
(lips smacking)
- And here we are, ice cream factory.
- Ice cream factory, yeah.
(speaking foreign language)
- And here we are.
- Yeah.
- We're going in to the
Irani ice cream factory.
- [Mr.Taster] Ice cream, oh, ho.
- So, what have we got here?
- [Mr. Taster] It's Tolab,
which is three colors,
yellow, white and brown.
And there's cream in it.
- [Trevor] Oh, and it's
starting right here.
We're gonna make this
ice cream from scratch.
We're gonna mix it with rose water
and saffron.
- Saffron, yeah.
- [Trevor] Oh, and there's the sugar.
Oh, wow.
- [Mr. Taster] There's that smell.
Vanilla.
- Oh and vanilla powder.
This is amazing.
Oh, and here it comes, look at this.
That milk is starting to slowly get
pulled up into the pump,
and it's gonna turn into
ice cream over here.
And me and Mr. Taster and
Ali, Persian tour guide,
and I, we're just watching this all unfold
before our eyes.
They're making the ice cream for us.
- For us exclusively.
- For us. (laughs)
- Just all for you.
- [Trevor] And this is
where it all happens.
I can see this giant factory, here.
We've got a our friends
and our crew with us,
all of these are full
of Persian ice cream.
Wow!
Oh, and there it is.
We're just adding in that
cold milk and the solid cream.
Look at this.
He's making a wall out of this ice cream.
Super cool.
- [Mr. Taster] Ice cream mountain.
- Yeah. (laughs)
You can see, this is where it starts.
This cold milk is coming out,
and then, over here, we add
cream to make it even thicker,
and rub it against the wall, here,
and it's gonna make triple
layer ice cream sandwich.
That's the magical saffron,
going right in the bucket.
Look at this.
- Yellow.
- [Trevor] Ooh, wow.
That is gorgeous
- Look at that.
- [Trevor] There it is.
We're making that second layer, now.
The saffron wall.
Isn't that beautiful?
- [Mr. Taster] It is beautiful.
- That saffron.
And rose water, and I
didn't think it would
be made like this, by hand, in a freezer.
- Even the Mr. Taster, he don't know,
they were making in my town.
- This way.
- Yeah.
Oh, it's like a sculpture.
- The first ice cream of Trevor James.
- Yeah, look at this.
He's kind of sweeping it.
- Made by Food Ranger.
In Mushhad.
- In Mushhad. (laughs)
Amazing.
- [Trevor] And the next
layer is the chocolate.
- [Mr. Taster] Yeah, it is, yeah.
- [Trevor] And he's gonna add that on.
Let's go try it out, 'cause we got a lot
of food to eat.
- We are late, yeah.
Let's go.
- Let's go try it out.
Look at the layers.
We got the chocolate, saffron and vanilla.
All infused with rose water.
- [Mr. Taster] Exactly.
- And cardamom.
- Cream in there.
- And cream.
The Mushhadi saffron ice cream.
- From Tolab did that.
- And he's gonna chop it
into little bricks,
- Exactly.
- And make a sandwich for us.
- Exactly.
- Wow.
Oh, so satisfying.
Pistachio, saffron, chocolate,
vanilla ice cream sandwich.
Can try it.
- Yeah, you can, it's for you.
- Oh, ho, ho.
Wow, we just got our ice cream sandwich,
and he's pulling out another layer.
That's a brick of ice cream.
So, we've got the pistachio,
and then we've got the
plain chocolate here.
Oh, and we've got the cream.
(Mr. Taster laughs)
We've got two.
Let's try the pistachio.
- Okay.
- Mmm.
Oh, that is really delicious.
The saffron flavor is quite strong.
- [Mr.Taster] It is.
- Wow.
- Mmm.
- Try this one.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Cream one.
- Yeah, the cream one.
Mmm.
- Mmm.
- [Mr. Taster] So, which
one do you like more?
- [Trevor] I love that pistachio.
And the saffron flavor is a lot stronger
than I though it would be.
- Mmm.
(speaking foreign language)
- So, because this is such
a strong saffron flavor,
is this expensive ice cream?
- It's not.
- It's not?
- No.
- So, this right here is only 1.5 dollar.
- Exactly.
- For all that saffron infused ice cream.
I wanna export this.
- Yeah. (laughs)
- I would bring it on the airplane
if it didn't melt.
That was delicious, and
we're gonna keep going.
(speaking foreign language)
- Thank you.
- Thank you very much.
That was delicious.
Thank you.
Bye bye.
Thank you.
- [Mr.Taster] It's super cold.
- And we're exploring
the streets of Mushhad.
And right up here.
- [Mr.Taster] We've got broad beans there,
and also sugar beets.
- Look at that.
(speaking foreign language)
- Oh, wow.
Sugar beets?
- [Mr. Taster] Yeah, sugar beets.
- [Trevor] And broad beans.
And how are these cooked,
these broad beans?
In a vinegar?
- [Mr. Taster] No, boiling water.
- [Trevor] Oh, wow, and he served it.
- [Mr. Taster] Pepper, pepper.
- [Trevor] Pepper?
- [Mr. Taster] And golpar.
- [Trevor] And golpar.
That's the Persian hogweed, right?
- [Mr. Taster] It is, yeah.
Persian hogweed.
- [Trevor] Wow.
- [Mr. Taster] And it
can really good on top.
- [Trevor] With it on, really good?
- Yeah.
- Oh, yeah that'd be good.
(mumbles)
- Oh, vinegar on top.
Merci.
- Look at that.
- [Trevor] Looks good.
How is that?
Right on the streets of Mushhad.
And let's get a container of this, too.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Trevor] Are these just boiled
plain, in their own juices?
- Nothing, just plain juices, yeah.
- Just plain.
Whoa, the sugar beets.
Looks delicious.
Oh, ho, there we go.
So, we got the sugar
beets and broad beans.
Merci.
- Merci.
(speaking foreign language)
Oh, man.
- Look at that.
- They're steaming.
- Oh, wow.
- Yeah, that's good, yeah.
- It's really good.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Mr.Taster] Should I take another one?
- That's delicious.
Those are naturally super sweet beets.
That's why they're called sugar beets.
- Yeah, sugar beets.
- Mmm.
- Mmm.
Merci, Chef Maharat.
- He Chef me.
- [Trevor] No you're Chef
(speaking foreign language)
Merci, chef.
Bye bye, bye bye, merci.
- Bye bye.
- [Trevor] And next up,
we're going for lamb shank.
- Yeah.
We're going to see the
king of shish kabab.
- [Trevor] The king of shish kabab.
- And king of lamb shank.
- [Trevor] Number one shish kabab.
- Yeah.
- [Trevor] In the world.
- In the world, yes.
- [Trevor] There it is.
We're going in.
- We are in Shandiz, and we're gonna go to
Shayan Shandiz, which is
one of the most famous
shish kabab in the world,
and also the lamb shank.
(speaking foreign language)
- And mom.
- And mom.
- Fire.
Look at that face, ah.
- [Trevor] And we're
going into the kitchen.
- Yeah.
- Ooh.
- It's a big kitchen.
(speaking foreign language)
Wow.
- [Mr.Taster] Over there.
- [Trevor] Look at these tomatoes.
They're gonna go right on the grill, here.
Oh, and here's the meat.
That's the lamb shank.
- [Mr.Taster] Yeah, and shish kabab, yeah.
- [Trevor] The shish kabab.
Oh, and they're going right on the grill.
- Yeah.
- Oh.
This is so beautiful.
What I love about Iran,
is not only the meat,
but the tomatoes, too.
So, this is the shish kabab.
Juicy, and you can see they've actually
sort of punctured it a bit,
to it's got some softness to it.
It's a bit aerated.
- So, we've got chicken,
we've got filet, and
we've got shish kabab.
Look at that.
- It's big, in a chunk.
- It's wadded.
- And how are we gonna eat this?
With Persian rice?
- With Persian rice, or
either with hands without it.
But normally, it's go with rice.
- Saffron rice.
- And local butter.
- Local butter.
Oh, butter!
- A special one.
- Liver butter.
- Yes.
- Oh, I can't wait.
- You can't find it anywhere else.
- And this is Mr.
- Ectarpur.
- Ectarpur.
- Yeah.
- [Trevor] We got the
lime, tomato and meat.
- And some vegetables on there.
- And some veg.
Ooh, and this is the saffron.
Butter, saffron.
And here it is.
This is just the beginning of the meat.
We're gonna go see more meat down here.
Merci, merci.
Oh, it's a big chopping board.
Oh, wow, look at that.
Beautiful.
- Every hundred kilo meats, we give you
40 kilos shish kabab.
- [Trevor] Oh, wow.
- [Mr.Taster] He hasn't done it for ages.
But he is doing it for you.
- [Trevor] He's showing us.
He's removing the fat
and really just getting the best out.
There they are.
- [Mr. Taster] And now, it's shish kabab.
- [Trevor] That's the shish kabab.
- [Mr.Taster] Yeah, look at that.
- [Trevor] That's meat.
That's only the best piece right there.
Merci.
- Merci.
- [Trevor] And those are gonna be
(hands clapping)
Merci.
This is how they're made.
- [Mr Taster] Yeah, and
I'm show you the secrets.
- [Trevor] Wow.
That's the secret, right here.
That's what gets it tender.
Oh, wow.
And this is the lamb shank.
Full of that lamb.
(Mr.Taster laughs)
And you can really smell that onion.
- Oh, and there's the onion.
That's the onion, right there.
- [Mr.Taster] Hero onion.
- Merci, Merci.
- Merci.
(speaking foreign language)
(both laughing)
- [Trevor] Oh, and what's this here?
- Tah dig.
- Tah dig.
- It's saffron tah dig.
- Saffron rice.
- Yeah.
- Oh, wow.
Oh, I know, this is the real makit, right?
- [Mr. Taster] Look at
that, look at that, yeah.
- [Trevor] The crunchy bottom layer.
Ooh, it's like a rice cake.
(Mr.Taster laughs)
Oh, and then this, here,
that's the barberry.
- [Mr.Taster] Yeah barberry with
saffron rice
- Saffron rice, right?
Oh, merci.
(speaking foreign language)
- I'm gonna eat this here.
- Look at that.
- Oh, an extra saffron
- And it's saffron.
- Rice cake.
Those are sword-sized kababs.
- Yeah. (laughs)
- [Mr. Taster] Mix the rice with butter.
- [Trevor] So, mix the
rice with the butter.
- [Mr. Taster] Yes, please.
- [Trevor] Okay.
Barberry, butter.
We're just gonna get it all melted in.
And that's what it's
all about right there.
The tah dig.
- Yeah, the tah dig.
Saffron, rice, yogurt and egg.
- All on the bottom of the pot.
The crispy goodness.
- First one, second one.
- Oh, they just slide right off.
It's a sword.
The kabab's a sword.
- Have another one.
- They just go right down.
So, we got our kababs.
- Yeah.
- And then?
- Take the kabab.
- Oh and go right in.
(upbeat music)
- Oh, my.
- And have some rice.
That is insane.
Wow.
I love how it's lean,
but it's still so juicy.
- Try the fat only.
- Try the fat only.
It's just right on the edge.
- Yeah, you can see.
It's really juicy.
(upbeat music)
- Oh, mmm.
Purest, juiciest lamb meat.
- It is. (laughs)
Sorry, so much.
- Yeah, and then some orange.
Just put the tomato
and mix it together with rice,
and that's it.
- That's the meal of champions.
- Welcome to land of meat.
- This is it.
This is as good as it gets.
- And now's the time
for the one and only lamb shank.
Look at that.
That's cave-man style.
It's just the bone.
- [Mr. Taster] Yeah, look at the fat here.
And this the doogh for you.
- The doogh.
- Yeah.
- [Trevor] The Iranian yogurt drink.
- [Mr.Taster] Yeah.
- Mmm.
- It's good.
- [Trevor] It just falls off.
You don't even need teeth for that.
Look at that.
- [Mr. Taster] Put it on, have some.
- [Trevor] That's the magic right there,
the onion.
- [Mr. Taster] Onions.
(speaking foreign language)
- It's so delicious.
- Merci.
- Merci.
- And there it is, the lamb shank.
- [Mr. Taster] It's the bomb moment.
- Onion, fried in its own fat.
It's the moment, right?
(upbeat music)
Ooh.
Oh, yeah.
The meat just keeps
getting softer and softer
the more we travel in Iran.
(Mr. Taster laughs)
It's so perfect.
Mmm.
(speaking foreign language)
- Thank you, thank you.
- He is not getting money.
- No money.
- No money.
- Really.
- Yeah. (laughs)
- [Trevor] Bye bye.
That was an awesome meal.
And to finish up the night,
when we were walking down the street,
we stumbled on one of the nicest desserts
you can try in Iran.
- So, let's see, Sohan.
Sohan is mainly from Qom,
which is one hour from Tehran.
- Oh, local dessert.
- Yeah, it is, yeah.
(speaking foreign language)
Look at this.
And we're gonna go in
to see how it's made.
Local dessert.
- [Mr. Taster] It is, yeah.
- [Trevor] And what's it made of?
- [Mr. Taster] Made of flour,
cardomom with rose water,
pistachios sometimes and saffron.
- [Trevor] Saffron, oh.
That's what you smell.
- Yeah.
- Saffron.
- It's really good.
- Wow.
So, we were just walking down the street,
and we saw this joint, and we thought,
"We have to try this."
- I think you are lucky.
- Really?
- Yeah, really lucky.
- To see this.
- I was thinking we should
travel to Qom only to see that,
but you found it.
- But it's right here.
So, this is gonna be made into a dough?
- Yeah.
- And filled with cream.
- Exactly.
- Let's watch how it's made.
(Mr. Taster laughs)
So, he's taking this sweet here.
- [Mr. Taster] Yeah, this is from Isfahan.
We call it gaz.
- Gaz.
- Yeah, it's really
famous sweet in Isfahan.
What they do, they take the gaz,
and then around it is going
to be covered by Sohan.
Which is really famous sweet from Qom,
which is the city next to Tehran.
- [Trevor] Beautiful.
- [Mr.Taster] You can have
it with tea, Persian chai.
- [Trevor] Persian chai.
Look at that, oh.
Beautiful.
That smells so delicious.
And you just take one down.
- We call it gaz.
It's got egg in it.
It's got flour in it, and sugar.
- And sugar.
- And it's really famous.
And in Isfahan, they put
pistachio in as well.
- Mmm, let's try it out.
Mmm, oh.
- It's good.
- That is delicious.
Sweet, creamy.
Saffrony.
- I should have it with Persian tea.
- Mmm, that is so delicious.
You can taste the
cardamom and the saffron,
and, of course, lots of butter,
and I love how they just
make it in the back.
Merci, merci.
- Merci.
Wow.
(speaking foreign language)
Gotta give a big thanks to Mr. Taster,
and of course, Ali, Persian tour guide,
from (speaking foreign language)
You guys can check out come2persia.com
if you're thinking of coming to Iran.
They've put together this
amazing itinerary for us.
It's been a life-changing experience.
Gotta give a big thanks.
- Thank you.
Thank you so much.
- Thanks a lot guys.
Leave us a commment down below.
