Tabrizi Lovuez

There is no baking at all: the syrup is beaten until it loses its gloss and then almond is worked in.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 500 g ground almonds
• 400 g caster sugar
• 150 ml water
• 1 teaspoon saffron threads, ground and steeped in 2 tablespoons hot water
• 40 g pistachios, slivered

Method

1. THERE IS NO BAKING AT ALL: THE SYRUP IS BEATEN UNTIL IT LOSES ITS GLOSS AND THEN ALMOND IS WORKED IN. Its article describes exactly this and the beating is the whole technique. Sugar and water are boiled, the saffron goes in, the heat comes off, and then the syrup is stirred until it loses its glass-like appearance -- which is sugar beginning to crystallise, the same thing that happens when you make fudge. That turn from clear and glossy to cloudy and matt is the moment the sweet becomes possible, because a clear syrup would set hard as glass while a crystallising one sets soft and crumbly. The almond is then added little by little until it forms a paste.
2. THE SIGN TO STOP ADDING ALMOND IS THE PASTE'S OWN BEHAVIOUR. Its article gives the test: stop once the mixture forms a paste like a viscous pulp that does not stick. That is the measurement, more reliable than a weight, because how much almond the syrup will take depends on how far you took the crystallisation.
3. IT IS ADDED LITTLE BY LITTLE WHILE MIXING, NOT ALL AT ONCE. Five hundred grams tipped in at once seizes into lumps with dry powder between them.
4. THE SAFFRON GOES IN AS THE HEAT COMES OFF. Its article's order: add saffron, then stop heating. Boiled in the syrup for several minutes it would lose its aroma.
5. IT IS PRESSED INTO A PAPER-LINED TRAY AND LEVELLED. Waxed paper or parchment, the paste poured in and spread evenly to about a centimetre and a half.
6. THE NUTS ARE SCATTERED ON AND PUSHED DOWN. Its article says to sprinkle nuts on the surface and press them in. Pressed, they stay put when it is cut; scattered loose they fall off every piece.
7. IT SETS IN THE FRIDGE FOR THREE OR FOUR HOURS. Its article's timing. It has to be cold and firm all the way through before it is cut, or the diamonds slump.
8. IT IS CUT IN DIAMONDS, WHICH IS HOW IT IS RECOGNISED. Its article names the diamond shape twice -- in the description and again in the cutting. Long parallel cuts one way, then diagonals across them. Its article places it in Tabriz.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Iran · All recipes