I’ve been thinking quite a bit about nabe (hot pot) recently, but I didn’t expect my search for new flavors to lead me to the Iranian city of Tabriz.
Located in northwestern Iran and nestling near the southern end of the Caucasus mountain range in the Quru River valley, Tabriz isn’t far from the borders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey. Rich with history, the markets of the Tabriz Bazaar are some of the oldest in the world, offering a smorgasbord of just about everything, from famed Persian rugs to local delicacies you can eat to your heart’s content, especially if you like meatballs.
Tabriz meatballs, known as kofta tabrizi, are larger than life, often slightly bigger than a tennis ball (although smaller, still substantial, individual sizes are common, too). They contain a proportion of rice and can be stuffed with anything from commonplace nuts and dried fruit to outlandish fillings, such as whole chickens.
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