apothecary Posted June 25, 2006 A recent post inquiring on the traditional usage of Peganum harmala inspired me to sit down and ask my mum about what she knows. Here are my notes: The primary use is as an incense, the burning of which is meant to negate evils and jinxes. The use of esphand is a very Zoroastrian tradition. The Iranian new year lies in the month of Espand (not a mispelling).Char-Shambe Soori (sorry, thats my phonetical Farsi -> English translation ) is a tradition most Iranians take part in, and the words translate to "the Wednesday before New Years day".Generally what happens is the community gathers and we do some traditional stuff relating to the idea of a new year.One of the traditions is jumping over the fire, a fire pit is built, and everyone jumps over it one by one. The idea generally symbolises rebirth through flame (much of Iranian tradition is based on Zoroastrian custom, and Zoroastrians were flame worshippers).Now I've been taking part in this tradition for as long as I can remember, but I can tell you honestly I had no idea about the month of Espand or the fact that generally the Char-Shambe Soori fire is meant to be laden with the seeds of Peganum harmala. Generally, for all important Iranian gatherings, there is a table of objects representing the importance of the event. For Eide (New Years) there are eggs, coins, alfalfa sprouts, a goldfish, etc (there are reasons for each of those items I don't have time to go into ), at weddings there is similar things but more related to duality unity like honey and stuff...Again, what I didn't know until today is that generally, no matter what the event, there should be a bowl of Esphand present (I guess depending on how religious you are decides if it's on fire or not ). Mother was not aware at all of the use of the seeds as a red dye. Traditionally, the seeds are thrown on smouldering coals (think BBQ charcoal), but mother says some of the more fanatical people who use Esphand are known to fry the seeds on their gas stoves at the first sign of a possible jinx.(e.g if someone says to my mother "apothecary has nice eyes!"and she was scared of my eyes being jinxed, then she'd immediately throw some on the stove...) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
planthelper Posted June 25, 2006 nice read, i like the culturral aspects. volkskunde, i don't know the right term in english. in austria we jump aswell over the fire and have the fish as new years good luck symbol. let me add some tratidional use of poppy in austria... every country garden had a small poppy batch and poppy was used to stopp infants from crying.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Francois le Danque Posted June 25, 2006 planthelper i didn't know you're austrian! do you watch inspector rex? it's my favourite show. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torsten Posted June 25, 2006 http://www.luckymojo.com/aspand.html lots of fire jumping going on for the summer solstice (yesterday) in south eastern europe too. It's a very widespread tradition adopted by many religions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlackDragon Posted June 25, 2006 Thanks for that Apoth, makes sense to me now. The old Iranian man I used to get bulk esphand from also gave me a bag of "other" seeds he said could be used in the same way...(im sooo sure he knew why I was getting the peg seed, and this spun me out that he offered). I have always wondered about what these seed are and if they have any ethno value. They look like tan/light yellow, flat 5cent coin size, andananthera like seed with a black rounded spherical seed center. God I hope you can picture out what Im talking about till i post some pics. From his expression he looked as if they were majical like the peg seed..... Any ideas?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlackDragon Posted June 25, 2006 (edited) Just found em.. they are a bit different than what i thought... Maybe they are used as an incense? any ideas what the seed is? Or a translation? Edited June 25, 2006 by BlackDragon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torsten Posted June 25, 2006 we discussed these seeds in another thread (maybe at EBA) about a year ago. I think I tracked them down to be in the Umbelliferae eg Ferula or something like that. They often come dyed in pink and green. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted June 25, 2006 (edited) At uni studying (last exam tomorrow woooooooo) right now, but when I get home I'll show mother the picture and try and get a common name and we can work from there... EDIT: Derrrr...just noticed the Farsi writing on the packaging, will have a translation before the night is out. Edited June 25, 2006 by apothecary Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
planthelper Posted June 25, 2006 yes, frank i watch rex often, the action takes place mostly in my home town vienna and i know most shooting locations very well. the ham roll thing is real! the few times i went back, people invite me to dinners and barbies and such, but often i deny and binge on the ham rolls instead, nothing compares to that in oz... oh, my god now i start thinking about all those culinary delights from back home... i think food memories and associations are stronger embbeded in us than anything else, in other words, you can forget a loved one, but one can never forget a ham roll. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted June 25, 2006 Hey Apothecary id love some Ferula asafoetida seed if theres any to be found im certain itd grow well here if only i could sorce seed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted June 25, 2006 BD, my mum got a bit of a shock when I showed her that word, it used to be her nickname! In Farsi it's pronounced 'Gol-Par' ...according to my parents its a single word with no translation...but between you and me, Gol means flower and Par is a word used to describe things like feathers or rosepetals... She said she just used the last of her herb (dunno if it's in seedform or what) in making Torsh'ee (again, poor phonetical translation there) which is like pickled vegetables...but different... Essentially the same use as cumin. Rev, I am going to see one of my aunts as soon after exams, and my mum said she still has some so I will find out if it's seed or herb or what and try and procure you some (my uncles garden also mostly consists of Iranian plants with the exception of some mapacho he got from me ). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted June 25, 2006 Uh...I did a bit of reading on Ferula myself...if you guys are looking to use the root resin as a stimulant you may also want to consider its laxative effects Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted June 25, 2006 nah i just want it for cooking to make that funky banishing incense C raatsch wrote of! asafoetida, peacock feathers and cat shit amongst other things great party trick see how fast i cleared this room of bad spirits! and people! and cos the idea of a 4 metre fennel patch is surreal. what a great spot for a cubby oh and cos Pleurotus eryngii and its relatives often parasitise the dead and dying roots of Ferula, eryngium and other umbelliferae Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted June 25, 2006 I'll do what I can, the cat shit you're gonna have to source yourself Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlackDragon Posted June 26, 2006 Great to hear you uncle has an Iranian garden. I was also given some "Superior iranian leek" seed by my supplier. The gentleman said it was far better than the 'crap here' as he put it....I lost the little amount of seed i had. I was wondering if you could track down some from your uncle or relatives... I point out It was def different than the normal leek, tastewize i mean. Sorry to digress... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wandjina Posted June 27, 2006 That was really interesting apo, thankyou....I'm sure I'm not the only one wou'd like to hear some more about Persian culture and traditions involving plants, got any more you'd be willing to share? I for one would love some recipes ...for Persian cuisine that is! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted August 13, 2006 I have procured a handful of the seeds pictured in BDs post, I can probably get more. Some of them look like crap, but a few look quite fat and viable. Dunno how old they are, or if they are actually viable. If you want some, PM me Still looking on sourcing superior iranian leek, sorry BD, sometimes things just don't translate Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
