Cooking sholeh for the commemoration observance of the death of Zahra Fatemeh, daughter of Prophet Muhammad. Copyright Ali Torkzadeh, EscapefromTehran.com

stay in Iran partly because ALWAYS there’s something going on. Today it is helping make more than a ton of “nazri” food – food that is considered holy for both the people who make and those who eat it. For me, I just can’t pass up free food – which is plentiful during Iran’s numerous religious holidays.