Earlier in the week I got corralled into going to a fast food place by one of my relatives. I’ve avoided fast food places like the plague for the last year and a half. Not my idea of good food but I had no choice in the matter. I didn’t want to be rude. So I ordered something that I used to order. The basic burger, french fries, and a drink.
I should have been rude.
The unsweetened ice tea was basically just muddy water with little to no resemblance to tea, yet it was the highlight of the meal. The fries tasted like oil soaked cardboard. Correction, salt covered and oil soaked cardboard.But the main impression was that of eating oil.
The burger merits its own paragraph. A sad, wilted green leaf masqueraded as lettuce. The pale red slice of vegetable may have been a tomato at one time. The meat if it could be called that gave only a cursory performance as something that might be edible. The only recognizable part of the meal were the hamburger buns. They were most definitely made from processed flour.
I couldn’t finish it. I put it back in the sack. It made me feel slightly ill afterwards. How was I able to stomach this for so many years? How did my taste buds get so jaded that they found this edible for all those years?
This Friday I decided to erase that taste from my lips. I went to one of my favorite restaurants. I’ve known about Kasra’s Persian grill for over ten years and it has maintained its high quality standards by preparing simple food using high quality ingredients and not trying to skimp on the cooking process.
As I sit down the busboy delivers a fresh and hot taftoon bread along with a plate of herbs, goat cheese, and radishes.
I started with a basic black tea brewed from tea leaves and served in glass cups with real sugar cubes.
Along with this a Persian salad. This is just diced cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion with some spice and a vinaigrette sauce. Everything is fresh. Probably just prepared within the last hour. The cucumbers and the tomatoes vie with each other trying to prove which one is sweeter. The onion adds a lovely kick. A little bit of lemon juice elevates the salad to nirvana.
I could end the meal right there and be happy. But the entree is just as divine in its own way. Chenjeh is basically just chunks of grilled sirloin. When you get a good steak then you really don’t need to spice it to make it taste good. Most people make the mistake of getting their steak well done. This robs the meat of its flavor and turns it into a hard burnt chewy mass. I understand the health reason for getting steaks done well done but hey, I eat sushi so I’m willing to take the gamble. Always get your steaks done medium, you will see what I mean.
Alongside this comes the grilled veggies. Zucchinis, squash, onions, and tomatoes. Just singed with grill marks on both sides. Crisp and crunchy and full of their own flavors. Basmati long grain rice with a crisp, clean, almost nutty aroma. I can taste each element of the meal. They complement each other perfectly.
Well prepared ingredients without a hint of preservatives and cooked in a healthy way. I realize that every meal can’t be this good but does everyday food have to be bad? Can’t we insist on good fresh food? Do we have to rely on salt to make things palatable?
Try it yourself. Get off the junk food wagon for a month and then try a fast food meal and you’ll see what I mean.
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