Layla K

So my adventures with familiarity continue.

It’s the third week
of spring in California already, yet the temperature outside is 48
degrees.  It is freezing cold out there and all I crave right now is a
hot cup of tea by my side.  And this time my sweet tooth is also acting
out so I look for something, anything sweet I can find in the kitchen:
look in the fridge, the freezer, inside each and every cabinet and
drawer.  Almost when I have lost all hope, I see the white square box
with red writing on it, behind stacked cans of red beans and tuna, in
the corner of the last cabinet—hiding from all eyes in this world, there
sits a small box of Koloocheh from Shomal, this one with a taste of coconut.

I sigh with relief.

[For those of you who have not had the privilege of tasting it, Koloocheh
is a type of cookie made in the Northern part of Iran.  Some argue that
the origins of it may be Russia. But I am not getting too historical
here in my blog.  In my world, the origins of Koloocheh was Darya Kenaar, Mazandaran where I had my first one.]

This
precious tiny box which has been travelling from Shomal to Tehran and
then around the world in my suitcase and has been patiently waiting in
my cabinet for months now is the best remedy for a random and unexpected
cold spring night in Los Angeles.  I must have bought it myself on one
of my last trips recently.  In fact, I must have bought at least a few
of them knowing that friends and family would love to have it as soghati
from Iran.   It is a unique soghati indeed because it requires actually
travelling to Shomal and purchasing it, rather than your usual nabat or pesteh
from the store down the street.  I am not really sure what happened to
all the boxes that I bought, some we probably ate on our way back to
Tehran on the road; others we must have given out to family living in
Tehran.  Out of the few that actually made it to America safe and sound,
passing the immigration officer at LAX without any trouble, only this
one is left in my cabinet.

And I would have even given this last
one out to someone dear to me, but for the sudden emergence of such a
freezing night in Los Angeles and my cravings for something familiar and
sweet…I seriously would have.  You see in today’s world filled with
global warming (i.e. 48 degrees in April), massive earthquakes and
tsunamis, imminent government shut-downs domestically and numerous
uprisings against dictators abroad… in this unstable world of ours,
sometimes all I need to make me feel good is a taste of familiarity—a
fleeting sensation, however short-lived, that some things in my life as I
know them are still exactly the way they were twenty five years ago:
intact, unbroken and strong, continuing to serve their purpose.

Koloocheh is one of those rare things.

Today’s Healthy Living Tip: Eat some Koloocheh
next time you encounter a sign of global warming or hear of a disaster
in the world. You’d feel so much better, I promise. (Ok…fine… if you
can’t find it readily available send me an e-mail and I will call my
people and we will figure something out.)

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