Ghooreh (sour grape) and its many modes

If you think all cooks and foodies in all cultures are looking forwards for grapes to ripe, think twice! We Iranians have many uses for ghooreh, “unripe, sour grape”, for the lack of a better translation, in our cuisine.

That’s right, next time you stroll through an Iranian grocery store in North America and come across ghooreh beware this is not a fruit to nibble at casually; the eye-watering and lip- sewing sour green grape is used in cooking, mainly as spice or seasoning whether it is in whole (fresh or frozen), pressed, dried and grounded, or processed and made into paste or torshi (a type of pickle). Here is a taste of the variety in forms and usages of ghooreh: Read the rest of this entry »