Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-r6qrq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T04:10:49.932Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

From Quasi-Vegetarians to Quasi-Carnivores: The Changing Diet of Iranians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Abstract

Until the twentieth century there was little change in the diet of Iranians. Bread was the major staple, accompanied by vegetables, fruits, yoghurt, and nuts. Meat and rice were a luxury food for most consumers. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries new food items were adopted by Persian consumers. After 1970, the modern Iranian diet—large amounts of white rice, meats, sugar-sweetened beverages and sweet/deserts, with few vegetables, herbs, nuts or fruits—has grown increasingly similar to the US diet, with the same health problems.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aitchison, J.E.T.Notes on the Products of Western Afghanistan and of North-Eastern Persia.” Transactions of the Botanical Society. XVIII. Edinburgh: Neill and Company, 1890.Google Scholar
Abdi, Fateme, Atarodi, Zahrad, Mirmiran, Parvin, and Esteki, Taraneh. “Surveying Global and Iranian Food Consumption Patterns: A Review of the Literature.” Journal of Fasa University of Medical Sciences 5, no. 2 (2015): 159–67.Google Scholar
Abdollahi, Morteza, Mohammadi-Nasrabadi, Fatemeh, Houshiarrad, Anahita, Masumeh Ghaffarpur Delaram Ghodsi, and Naser Kalantar. “Socio-economic Differences in Dietary Intakes: The Comprehensive Study on Household Food Consumption Patterns and Nutritional Status of I.R. Iran.” Nutrition and Food Sciences Research 1, no. 1 (July–Sept. 2014): 1926.Google Scholar
Adamec, Ludwig. Historical Gazetteer of Persia. 4 vols. Graz: Akademie Verlag, 1976.Google Scholar
Adams, Isaac. Persia by a Persian. n.p., 1900.Google Scholar
Afzal al-Molk, Gholam Hoseyn. Safarnameh-ye Mazandaran va Vaqayeʿ-ye Mashruteh. Ed. Samadi, Hoseyn. Tehran: Jaras, 1373/1994.Google Scholar
Alberts, Robert Charles. “Social Structure and Culture Change in an Iranian Village.” 2 vols. PhD diss., University of Wisconsin, 1963.Google Scholar
Aʿlam, Hūšang. “Caviar.” Encyclopedia Iranica. Vol. V, Fasc. 1: 99101.Google Scholar
Al-e Ahmad, Jalal. Owrazan. Tehran: Danesh, 1333/1954.Google Scholar
Amuzgar, Zhala. “Cooking in Pahlavi Literature.” Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. VI, Fasc. 3: 246–52.Google Scholar
Atʿameh, Abu Eshaq Boshaq Hallaj Shirazi. Divan-e Atʿameh. Ed. Kahel, . Shiraz: Maʿrefat, 1360/1981.Google Scholar
Back, Michael. Die sassanidischen Staatsinschriften, Acta Iranica 18. Leiden: Brill, 1978.Google Scholar
Bazin, Marcel. Le Talech: Un region ethnique au nord de l’Iran. 2 vols. Paris: IFRI, 1980.Google Scholar
Bellew, H.W. From Indus to the Tigris. Lahore: Sang-e Meel, 1999.Google Scholar
Benn, Edith Fraser. An Overland Trek from India. London: Longmans & Co., 1909.Google Scholar
Binder, Henry. Au Kurdistan. Paris: Quantin, 1887.Google Scholar
Binning, R.B.M. A Journal of Two Years’ Travel in Persia, Ceylon, etc. 2 vols. London: Wm. H. Allen & Co., 1857.Google Scholar
Borhanian, Khosro. “Die Gemeinde Hamidieh in Khuzistan.” PhD diss., Cologne University, 1960.Google Scholar
Boyce, Mary. “Middle Persian Literature.” In Handbuch der Orientalistik 4.2.1. Iranistik, Literatur, ed. Spuler, B.. Leiden: Brill, 1968: 55.Google Scholar
Bromberger, Christian. “Eating Habits and Culinary Boundaries in Northern Iran.” In A Taste of Thyme. Culinary Practices of the Middle East, ed. Zubaida, Sami and Tapper, Richard, 185201. London: I.B. Tauris, 2006.Google Scholar
Brydges-Jones, Hardford. An Account of the Transactions of His Majesty's Mission to the Court of Persia in the Years 1807–11. Tehran: Imperial Organization for Social Services, 1976.Google Scholar
CENTO, Conference on Combating Malnutrition in Prescchool children. [Ankara], [Office of United States Economic Coordinator for CENTO Affairs], 1968.Google Scholar
Chardin, Jean. Travels in Persia. Ed. Sykes, Sir Percy. London: Argonaut Press, 1927.Google Scholar
Chehabi, H.E.The Westernization of Iranian Culinary Culture.” Iranian Studies 36, no. 1 (2003): 4362. doi: 10.1080/021086032000062875CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DCR or Diplomatic and Consular Reports, Government of Great Britain: DCR 3189 (Kermanshah 1903–04). London: HMSO, 1904.Google Scholar
De Morgan, Jacques. Mission Scientifique en Perse. 5 vols. Paris: Ministere de l'Instruction Publique, des Beaux-Arts et des Cultes, 1894.Google Scholar
Desmet-Grégoire, H.Bread.” Encyclopedia Iranica, Vol. IV, Fasc. 4, 444447.Google Scholar
De Thevenot, J. The Travels of M. de Thevenot into the Levant. 3 vols. in one. Westmead: Gregg Int., 1971.Google Scholar
Dowlat, Manizheh, Saʿedi, Gholam Hoseyn, and Hazarkhani, Manuchehr. Hashiyeh-neshinan-e Tehran. Taghdhiyeh va Behdasht. Tehran: Daneshgah (Mo’assesseh-ye Motaleʿat va Tahqiqat-e Ejtemaʿi), 1352/1973. (mimeograph).Google Scholar
Dzajazery, A., and Siyasi, Nahid Kholdi Fereydoun. “Food Behavior and Consumption Patterns in Rural Areas of Sirjan, Iran.” Ecology of Food and Nutrition 28, no. 1–2 (July 1992): 105–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Iran.” London: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2009.Google Scholar
Eʿtemad al-Saltaneh, Mohammad Hasan Khan. Ketab al-Ma’ather va’l-Athar. Tehran, 1307/1889–90 (lithograph).Google Scholar
Eyn al-Saltaneh, Qahraman Mirza Salur. Ruznameh-ye Khaterat. 10 vols. Ed. Salur, Masʿud and Afshar, Iraj. Tehran: Asatir, 1376/1997.Google Scholar
Faramarzi, Ahmad. “Banader va jazayer-e khalij-e Fars.” in Pazhuheshha-ye Iranshenasi. Namvareh-ye doctor Mahmud Afshar. Vol. 12, ed. Afshar, Iraj and Esfahaniyan, Karim, 576696. Tehran: Bonyad-e Mahmud Afshar, 1379/2000.Google Scholar
Floor, Willem. “Tea Consumption and Importation in Qajar Iran.” Studia Iranica 33 (2004): 47111. doi: 10.2143/SI.33.1.563194CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Floor, Willem. History of Bread in Iran. Washington, DC: Mage, 2015.Google Scholar
Forbes-Leith, F.A.C. Checkmate, Fighting Tradition in Central Persia. New York: Robert M. McBride & Company, 1927.Google Scholar
Fragner, Bert. “From the Caucasus to the Roof of the World: A Culinary Adventure.” In A Taste of Thyme. Culinary Practices of the Middle East, ed. Zubaida, Sami and Tapper, Richard, 4962. London: I.B. Tauris, 2006.Google Scholar
Fraser, J.B. Travels and Adventures in the Persian Provinces and the Southern Banks of the Caspian Sea. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Browne and Greene, 1826.Google Scholar
Fraser, J.B. Travels in Koordistan, Mesopotamia. 2 vols. London: Richard Bentley, 1840.Google Scholar
Ghanoonparvar, M.R. Dining at the Safavid Court. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda, 2017.Google Scholar
Gmelin, Samuel Gottlieb. Travels through Northern Persia 1770–1774. Trans. and annotated Floor, Willem. Washington, DC: MAGE, 2007.Google Scholar
Hamilton, Alexander. A New Account of the East Indies. Amsterdam: Argonaut Press, 1970.Google Scholar
Hanway, Jonas. An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea. London, 1753.Google Scholar
Harrison, J.V.Coastal Makran.” The Geographical Journal XCVII, no. 1 (1941): 117. doi: 10.2307/1787107CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Höltzer, Ernst. Persien vor 113 Jahren. Ed. Assemi, Mohammad. Tehran: Vezarat-e Farhang va Honar, 2535/1976.Google Scholar
Ibn Batuttah. The Travels of Ibn Battutta. Trans. Gibb, H.A.R. and Beckingham, C.F.. 5 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1958.Google Scholar
ILO. “Récentes enquêtes en Iran.” Revue Internationale du Travail 36 (1937): 881–4.Google Scholar
Jaubert, P.A. Voyage en Armenie et la Perse. Paris: Pélicier-Nepveu, 1821.Google Scholar
Javadi, Hasan. “The Life and Work of Boshaq: A Fifteenth Century Poet of the Culinary Art.” In Persian Pleasures. How Iranians Relaxed Through the Centuries. Food, Drink & Drugs, ed. Floor, Willem and Javadi, Hasan, 120. Washington, DC: Mage, 2019.Google Scholar
Katouzian, Homa. The Political Economy of Modern Iran 1926–1979. New York: New York University Press, 1981.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kempthorne, L.G.B.Notes Made on a Survey along the Eastern Shores of the Persian Gulf in 1828.” Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 5 (1835): 263–85. doi: 10.2307/1797877CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kimiagar, S.M., Ghaffarpour, M., Houshiar Rad, A., Hormozdyari, H., and Zellipiur, L.. “Food Consumption Pattern in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Its Relation to Coronary Heart Disease.” Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal 4, no. 3 (1998): 539–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khosrokhavar, Farhad. “La pratique alimentaire.” In Entre l’Iran et l’Occident: Adaptation et assimilation des idées et techniques occidentales en Iran, ed. Richard, Yann, 146–54. Paris: Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, 1989.Google Scholar
Knanishu, Joseph. About Persia and Its People. Rock Island, IL: Lutheran Agustana Book Concern, 1899.Google Scholar
Le Strange, Guy. The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate. London: Frank Cass, 1966.Google Scholar
Loeb, Lawrence. Outcaste—Jewish Life in Southern Iran. New York: Gordon and Breach, 1977.Google Scholar
Mahmoodian, Saeed. Encyclopedia Larestanica. Fishersville, VA, 2007.Google Scholar
Mahmudi, Farajollah. Joghrafiya-ye Nahiyeh-ye Qorveh, Bijar, Divandareh. Tehran: Daneshgah (Mo’assesseh-ye joghrafiya), 1352/1973.Google Scholar
Matthee, Rudi. “From Coffee to Tea: Shifting Patterns of Consumption in Qajar Iran.” Journal of World History 7, no. 2 (1996): 199230. doi: 10.1353/jwh.2005.0041CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehrbani, Hoseyn. “Hazinehha-ye ghadha’i dar Tehran.” In Sokhananiha va gozareshha dar nakhostin seminar-e bar-rasi-ye masa’el-e ejtemài-ye shahr-e Tehran, ed. Anonymous, 357–68. Tehran: Daneshgah, 1343/1964.Google Scholar
Merritt-Hawkes, O.A. Persia— Romance and Reality. London: Nicholson & Watson, 1935.Google Scholar
Montazerifar, Farzaneh, Mansour, Karajibani, and Ali Reza, Dashipour. “Evaluation of dietary Intake and Food Patterns of Adolescent Girls in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, Iran.” Functional Foods in Health and Disease 2, no. 3 (2012): 6267. doi: 10.31989/ffhd.v2i3.98CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mortensen, Inge Demant. Nomads of Luristan. London: Thames and Hudson, 1993.Google Scholar
Mostowfi, Abdollah. Sharh-e Zendegani-ye Man 3 vols. Tehran: Zavvar, 1324/1945.Google Scholar
Najm ol-Molk, Abdol-Ghaffar. Safarnameh-ye Khuzestan. ed. Dabir-Siyaqi, Mohammad. Tehran: Elmi, 1342/1963.Google Scholar
Nirumand, Mostafa and Ahsan, Majid. Hashiyeh-neshinan-e Bandar ʿAbbas. Tehran: Daneshgah (Mo’assesseh-ye Motaleʿat va Tahqiqat-e Ejtemaʿi), 1351/1972.Google Scholar
al-Mulk, Nizam. The Book of Government or Rules for Kings. Trans. Darke, Herbert. London: Routledge, 1960.Google Scholar
Ouseley, William. Travels in Various Countries of the East; More Particularly Persia. 3 vols. London: Rodwell and Martin, 1819–23.Google Scholar
O’Donovan, Edmond. The Merv Oasis. 2 vols. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1882.Google Scholar
Perkins, J. A Residence of Eight Years in Persia. Andover: Allen, Morrill & Wardwell, 1843.Google Scholar
Planck, Ulrich. Die sozialen und ökonomischen Verhältnisse in einem iranischen Dorf. Cologne: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polak, J.E.Beitrag zu den agrarischen Verhältnissen in Persien.” Mittheilungen der K.-K. Geographischen Gesellschaft VI (1862): 107–43.Google Scholar
Polak, J.E.Persien.” In Das Land und seine Bewohner. 2 vols. Lepzig: Brockhaus, 1865.Google Scholar
Preedy, Victor R., Watson, Ronald Ross, and Patel, Vinood. Flour and Breads and Their Fortification in Health and Disease Prevention. Amsterdam, Boston: Elsevier/Academic Press, 2011.Google Scholar
Rice, Clara Colliver. Persian Women and Their Ways. London: Seeley, Service & Co., 1923.Google Scholar
Rowghani, Sayyed Da’ud. Nan-e Sangak. Ed. and intro. Safi-nezhad, Javad. Tehran: Akhtaran, 1385/2006.Google Scholar
Salzman, Philip Carl. Black Tents of Baluchistan. Washington, DC: Smithsonian, 1994.Google Scholar
Safinezhad, Javad. Talebabad. Tehran: Daneshgah, 1345/1966.Google Scholar
Schindler, A. Houtum. Eastern Persian Irak. London: Murray, 1898.Google Scholar
Schlimmer, Johan L. Terminologie Medico-Pharmaceutique. Tehran: Daneshgah, 1970.Google Scholar
Schmitt, Rudiger. “Cooking in Ancient Iran.” Encyclopeadia Iranica. Vol. VI, Fasc. 3: 246–52.Google Scholar
Sepehr, Abdol-Hoseyn. “Mokhtasar-e Joghrafiya-ye Kashan,” ed. Afshar, Iraj. Farhang-e Iran Zamin 22 (2536/1977): 430–58.Google Scholar
Smith, Sydney. “Report by Major Smith, Assistant Resident at Bushire on the Condition of the Working Classes in Bushire [sic; Lingah].” in Accounts and Papers 32 (1871): 400–8.Google Scholar
Stocqueler, J.H. Fifteen Months’ Pilgrimage through Untrodden Tracts of Khuzistan and Persia. London: Saunders and Otley, 1832.Google Scholar
Sundermann, Werner. “Ein weiteres Fragment aus Manis Gigantenbuch.” in Orientalia Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin Emerito Oblata, 491505. Acta Iranica 23. Leiden: Brill, 1984.Google Scholar
Sykes, Percy M. The History of Persia. 2 vols. London: Macmillan, 1969.Google Scholar
Sykes, Ella. Persia and Its People. London: Macmillan, 1910.Google Scholar
Tahbaz, Sirus. Yush. Tehran: Mo’assesseh-ye Motaleʿat va Tahqiqat-e Ejtemaʿi, 1342/1963.Google Scholar
Tafażżolī, Aḥmad. “DRAXT Ī ĀSŪRĪG.” Encyclopedia Iranica, VII/5, 547549.Google Scholar
Tavernier, Jean-Baptiste. Voyages en Perse. Ed. Pia, Pascal. Paris: Editions du Carrefour, 1930.Google Scholar
US Army. Area Handbook for Iran. Washington, DC: US Army, 1963.Google Scholar
US Department of Agriculture. Foreign Agricultural Service . Washington, DC: GPO, 1961.Google Scholar
US Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service, Issues 64-118. Washington, DC: GPO, 1961.Google Scholar
US Government. Area Handbook for Iran. Washington, DC: GPO, 1971.Google Scholar
Vaziri, Ahmad Ali Khan. Joghrafiya-ye Kerman. Ed. Parizi, Bastani. Tehran: Farhang Iran Zamin, 1346/1967.Google Scholar
Wills, C.J. In the Land of the Lion and the Sun. London: Ward, Lock & Bowden, 1886.Google Scholar
Zarrabi, Abdol-Rahim. Tarikh-e Kashan. Tehran: Entesharat-e Farhang-e Iran-Zamin 1342/1973.Google Scholar
Zavosh, H.M. Tehran dar Gozargah-e Tarikh-e Iran. Tehran: Eshareh, 1370/1991.Google Scholar