History of Most Famous and Most Popular Iranian Dish,
Chelo-Kebab
Do Donya , monthly magazine
Nov. - Dec. 1998, No. 6 Page: 40- 47
Summary: Iranian chelo-kebab was, for the first time, prepared according
to a Caucasian recipe at the time and by the order of Naser-e-Din Shah
Qajar (1821-1900's). The first chelo-kebab restaurant, Nayeb, was inaugurated
in Tehran in the traditional bazaar 121 years ago. Haj Hassan Shamshiri
chelo-kebab restaurant, one of the most famous, was opened at the eastern
wing of Sabzeh-meydan square, in downtown Tehran, when Reza Shah was in
power (1925-1941).
Text: In 1352 (1973-74) a meal of chelo-kebab barg (made of mutton fillet
and grilled on skewer) served together with butter, grilled tomato, raw
onion, and sumac would have cost IR 60 for those who were at work and could
not go home for lunch. Sometimes when a number of colleagues were on leave,
others had the chance to order jujeh-kebab (roast chicken) which would
have cost IR 120.
Tenfold in Thirty Two Years
Thirty two years earlier in 1320 (1941-42), the Iranian daily Ettela'at
wrote that Tehran restaurants would charge IR 5 for a meal of chelo-kebab
including an extra large kebab barg, butter, 330 grams of rice, onion and
bread as much as demanded. At the same time a meal of chelo-kebab kubideh
(made of minced meat) cost IR 4.
Fifty Years Earlier
E'etemado-saltaneh, Naser-e-Din Shah's minister of publications and
head of translation office, used to order a highly qualitative take-out
chelo-kebab in Nayeb restaurant, which had just opened in the Tehran bazaar
and furnished with dining tables and chairs as in European restaurants,
for IR 3 to 5. Also in 1295 (1916-17), Abdullah Bahrami, the deputy general
of the Tehran police used to pay maximum IR 4 to 5 for each meal of chelo-kebab
that he ordered for his respected and unrespected (the criminals who confessed
to their crimes but promised to cooperate with the police) guests.
Twenty five years have passed since the time when a meal of chelo-kebab
cost IR 60. Now it would cost something between IR 7,000 and 40,000 while
the 25-rial kebab kubideh would now cost IR 4,500 to 15,000. Considering
the fact that the average income of the veterans in Iran is within a range
of IR 250,000 to 600,000, and that chelo-kebab used to be a very popular
and the most common national dish, now one can say that it has turned into
a luxurious one.
A Dish Loved by All
During his tour of Russia, Caucasus and European countries, Naser-e-Din
Shah enjoyed three things: the elegant clothing of the Russian Kazak, the
Saint Petersburg's and Muscovite ballerinas' pants, and finally Caucasian
chelo-kebab which was different from Iranian kebab mainly prepared from
chops of veal, mutton and hunted birds and grilled on skewers. The Caucasian
chelo-kebab is what is now known as kebab barg, sultani and luleh or kubideh.
Not Before Qajar Era
In their writings about Iran, the European explorers who visited Iran
during Safavi era (1500-1736), though mentioned a lot about different kinds
of chelos (cooked and drained rice) and polos (cooked rice), stews, pickles,
and jams, but wrote nothing about chelo-kebab in the sense that we talk
about it today. Most probably the recipe of chelo-kebab has been given
to the Iranian people either by the Caucasian people or by the Iranians
visiting the region, or as written by Mirza Mohammad Reza Mo'tamed-ul-Ketab
Shams Larijani, an author of Qajar era, has been demanded by Naser-e-Din
Shah himself from the Caucasians and soon learned by Iranians all over
the country.
Being an Asian dish, chelo-kebab was well received in Iran and now has
turned into the most delicious Iranian dish.
Feeding a Battalion or a Regiment Naser-e-Din Shah had 87 wives, four
of whom in permanent and the rest in temporary marital conditions, as well
as 300 slave girls who together with the female and male servants formed
a battalion or, better to say, a 1000-strong regiment. Writing about Naser-e-Din
Shah, Doust-Ali Khan Mo'ayer-ul-Mamalek, a descendent of the Shah, narrates
that on Fridays whenever he wished to pilgrim the holy shrine of Hazrat
Abdul-Azim in Shar-e Rey, then a village in the south of Tehran, his servants
used to rush to the village one day earlier and order 1,000 to 2,000 kebab
kubideh. Kebab was a dish not in the court menu but loved by his wives.
Thus, whenever they planned to go there, they did not want to lose the
chance to have kebab served with basil, onion, and spring onion on copper
platters.
Political Chelo-Kebab, First Punishment, Then Reception In 1324 (1945-46),
the price of the imported sugar cubes from Russia went up due to the breakout
of the war between that country and Japan and also the slump in imports
to Iran. The tyrant governor of Tehran, Ala'e-doleh, considered the merchants
and brokers such as Seyyed Hashem Qandi and Esmaeil Khan who had deals
with Russia, as the ones responsible for the price hikes. Summoning them,
Ala'e-doleh asked them to lower the price of sugar cubes. However, they
did not accept and consequently were lashed extensively. While being lashed,
the son of the merchant Hashem Qandi arrived and asked the governor to
lash him instead of his father. He accepted and ordered his subjects to
whip the son who received more than 500 lashes before a servant arrived
and announced that chelo-kebab was ready to be served. Ala'e-doleh left
the area while invited the three punished men to join him. He said that
at the time of lashing they had to receive lashes and at the time of lunch
they had to have lunch. "Now the time is for chelo-kebab. Help yourselves
and enjoy it."
Oldest Chelo-Kebab Restaurant in Tehran
Nayeb Chelo-Kebab Restaurant was the oldest one established in the Tehran
bazaar 120 years ago. Since its establishment till some 15 years ago when
it was closed down, to please the customers, Nayeb waiters used to serve
the extra-filled plate of pyramid-shaped hot rice crowned with the melting
butter while kebabs on skewers were served by a waiter who used to go from
one table to another and provide customers with extra kebabs as soon as
they ran out of them and as long as rice was still left in their plates.
First, the customers used to sit on bunches but later they were served
at tables. The restaurant did not mind how many kebabs a customer would
eat and used to charge everybody the same, a generous manner that was characteristic
of Iranians at that time, because of which it managed to run a brisk business.
Talking about the generosity and kindness of Mr. Nayeb, a gentleman
who was the boss boy of a stingy merchant when a young boy, said that he
used to go to the Nayeb restaurant in the bazaar every day to buy chelo-kebab
for his boss who never thought that he was hungry too and that he wished
to have lunch too. But Mr. Nayeb, realizing that the boy was hungry, used
to treat him with bread and kebab before he prepared the chelo-kebab for
the merchant and kept mentioning to his workers that he was only a child
and that the smell of kebab made his mouth watery.
E'temad-ul-Saltaneh, in his notes, mentions of a shop in the bazaar
which like Europeans served food at tables in 1292 lunar Hijra (some 121
years ago), a reference most probably to the Nayeb restaurant as the first
chelo-kebab restaurant in Tehran. However, chelo-kebab restaurants were
most likely first established in the northwestern city of Tabriz which
borders with Caucasia. Nowadays, chelo-kebab is a national Iranian food
in Tehran and other cities.
The reputation of the Nayeb restaurant was passed on from one generation
to another and now there are tens of chelo-kebab restaurants in Tehran
and other cities that are named after the original one. But the most famous
of them in Tehran are the ones located in downtown near Shamsul-Amareh,
and in Sa'adat-abad , Aban, and Vali-e-Asr streets, the owners of whom
are most probably the descendent of the founder of the original one in
the bazaar.
The reputation of the Nayeb chelo-kebab restaurants has crossed the
borders and now tens of them have been founded in other countries. In the
downtown of Los Angeles, for example, there is a Nayeb chelo-kebab restaurant,
which according to an Iranian who has recently been there, offers pseudo-chelo-kebab.
When asked what he meant by pseudo-chelo-kebab, he said that chelo-kebab
is a dish prepared with aromatic Iranian rice and fresh mutton fillet.
When prepared with beef, it would be better to name it steak and rice rather
than chelo-kebab, something similar to but not real chelo-kebab.
Kebab Shops
Till 1330-35 (1951-57), one kebab kubideh would have cost IR 3.5 in
Tehran and other cities while two of them together with bread and grilled
tomato would make a full meal costing about IR 8 and you could buy a lemonade
or water milk for 2-4 rials. Thus you could have a perfect lunch for IR
10-12.
At that time when stocks still used to feed on natural pasture, meat
seemed to be more delicious and aromatic and the aroma of kebab could be
smelled from a far distance and make passerby feel hungry. Kebabs used
to be wrapped in different kinds of Iranian breads such as taftoon, sangak
and lavash (the dough of all of which are spread out in the shape of an
almost 23-inch-diameter circle or a 12 x 30-inch rectangle) topped with
basil in summer and with a big-size onion in winter.
People used to say that if a young boy under the age of puberty smells
kebab, he must immediately be provided with some or otherwise he would
lose his state of manhood for ever.
Nowadays, after so many years that kebab shops have served people with
kebabs in the traditional way, and after the opening of so many modern
restaurants and deli, hamburger, pizza, and fried chicken shops, the business
of the kebab shops is not brilliant and no longer elegant people go to
their shops to sit amidst the smell and smoke of kebab to have kebab.
However, the kebab shops in Hazrat-e Abdul-Azim bazaar managed to enjoy
their reputation for few more decades. Also the kebab shops in Sarband
and Darband villages of Shemiran, north of Tehran as well as certain shops
in smaller cities such as the ones in and around the northeastern city
of Mashad and the one in Shiraz opposite the historic site of Hafezieh
where it serves a lot of people who consider going to the restaurant as
a national and traditional obligation, were famous and could attract a
lot of customers.
Most of the kebab and chelo-kebab restaurants had interesting names
such as Salamat (health), Keramat (dignity), or Nezafat (cleanliness) entailed
with the name of the city of Tabriz, with the aim to attract more customers.
A short period of time after the victory of the Islamic Revolution of
Iran in 1979 and after a period of bankruptcy, a number of big and modern
kebab shops were opened in the uptown and renewed the tradition of serving
kebab and bread grilled right on the spot. These shops which named themselves
as kebab-khaneh (kebab houses), were quite different from those in the
old time filled with smoke and smell of kebab. Soon their business flourished
so that they are now among the most crowded restaurants in the city. Many
of them have also special ovens for baking Iranian bread and presenting
fresh bread to their customers. Famous Chelo-Kebab Restaurants in Tehran
Presently, there are hundreds of chelo-kebab restaurants in Tehran the
most famous of which are Nayeb in Sa'adat-abad district (there are several
Nayeb restaurants in other parts of the city including the ones in Aban,
Vali-Asr and Vozara streets), Shater-Abbas, Madayen, Alborz, Yas (two of
them belonging to Naseri Bros.), Royal Vanak, Lux-e Talaei, Apadana, Orkideh,
Javan, and Tabriz. Sahra restaurant (in Sahra Hotel in Ayatollah Taleghani
St., opposite the former American embassy) has also the reputation for
presenting delicious chelo-kebab.
However, it is unfortunate that chelo-kebab has not been registered
as an international food although it is definitely much better and more
delicious than many other dishes belonging to other nations.
In Abroad
Javad Farifteh, Ahmad Shah's (the last king of Qajar dynasty deposed
in 1925) special chef immigrated to Paris some 70 years ago and established
the well-known Farifteh chelo-kebab restaurant there. Also, Ahmad Khan,
an Iranian resident of Germany, set up a restaurant when Nazis were in
power and once, it is said, Hitler, the Nazi leader, accompanied by his
two aides went to the restaurant and tried the Iranian chelo-kebab. In
recent years, you simply find tens of chelo-kebab restaurants in every
European and American city and there are so many of them here and there
that it is not simply possible to give an exact statistic of them.
Nayeb Restaurant
Nayeb restaurant is owned and managed by Dr. Hossein Yazdan-Manesh,
a Ph.D. graduate in sociology from France. He administers his restaurant
in the best way possible and with an excellent taste.
Dr. Yazdan-Manesh believes that administering a well-known and honorable
restaurant is nothing less than having the title of a doctorate in sociology
and that many educated people may run such businesses successfully.
Nayeb is known as one of the best restaurants in Tehran and the way
its personnel treat their customers would certainly please them. Dr. Yazdan-Manesh
is surely successful in his business.
Chelo-Kebab Pahlavani (Extra Large)
In recent years, preparing extra large barg and kubideh kebabs which
are sometimes three times bigger than ordinary ones, have become common
but they are usually too big to be eaten by one person.
It is said that at the time of the Constitution Movement in Iran (1900's)
the owner of a chelo-kebab restaurant in Tabriz listening to a speech in
favor of the movement asked the speaker what constitutionalism meant and
what would happen if Iran enjoyed a constitutional government. The speaker
who himself was not very much aware of the details said that constitutionalism
meant cheap chelo-kebab available for all. If Iran adopted constitutionalism,
then you would get a kebab this large (at this moment the speaker showed
the length of his fingertip to elbow) and with this diameter (then he pointed
to his muscular and athletic arm). The man became very happy and said that
he sincerely would accept constitutionalism and that he would tell others
about it too.
Hajj Hassan Shamshiri
The owner of the most famous Iranian chelo-kebab Restaurant was Hajj
Hassan Shamshiri whose restaurant was located in the eastern wing of Sabzeh-Meydan
square in downtown at the time of Reza Shah. Later, he moved to a four-storey
building, the first floor of which was the kitchen. The second floor was
for the reception of local shopkeepers and single men while the third floor
was for the families and high-level customers and in each floor there were
lots of full-length mirrors. Mr. Shamshiri used to supervise the third
and fourth floors of the restaurant.
As of 11.00 a.m., the aroma of kebab and the high-quality cooked rice
as well as fresh butter used to fill the air in and around the restaurant
and make every passerby hesitant about not going inside. Shamshiri used
to offer double-deck chelo-kebab, that is, he used to crown a pyramid-shaped
pile of cooked rice with two kebabs in a plate.
Mr. Shamshiri was a staunch advocate of the oil industry nationalization
movement and a sincere follower of Dr. Mosadegh (the then prime minister
who nationalized oil industry) and in the winter of 1330 (winter of 1951-52)
paid the very large sum of IR 1,000,000 to buy national bonds as an effort
to support the nationalization plan. Several months after the 1953 coup
against Dr. Mosadeqh, he was arrested on charges of struggling against
the coup government of Zahedi and was exiled to the Kharg island in the
Persian Gulf. His co-prisoner in Kharg, the late Karim Keshavarz wrote
in his diary that Mr. shamshiri had promised to treat his co-prisoners
with high-quality Shamshiri kebab barg and kubideh but that unfortunately
no such chance became available.
Shamshiri's reputation of his chelo-kebab was such that an Iranian author
wrote a novel about it in which he described it as the most pleasant dish
adored by both Iranians and Westerners.
Even now, some chelo-kebab restaurants carry the name in an effort to
convince the customers that their chelo-kebab is of high-quality, while
some others claim that they have hired the Shamshiri's chef. However, the
fact is that he died almost 30 years ago and that his chefs are either
too old to work or have passed away already. The only probability is that
his chefs' trainees may be now engaged in some of the restaurants.
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