
From Candy to Juleps, Persians Left Imprint on Many Edible Delights - Thevet
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/01/19/463583428/from-candy-to-juleps-persians-left-imprint-on-many-edible-delights
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npalli
With cuisine you have to be careful in ascribing a unique origin to a word.
For example, just glancing at the article I found two words that have a much
more nuanced origin.

The article mentions that Candy comes from the Persian Qand, but Qand itself
came from Khanda (Sanskrit for cubes of Sugar). Similarly Sugar ultimately
derives from Shakkara Sanskrit for sugar. Given Sugar from Sugarcane was first
crystallized in India and spread from there, it is more appropriate to go with
Khanda.

The Persian Beryani is nothing like the Indian/Pakistani Biryani. The Persian
one is basically a fried meat patty with no rice at all!. The Indian one is
aromatic rice and spiced meats which in itself derived from rice Pulao the
version called pollo in Persian. Rice was cultivated thousands of years in
India before it was introduced to Persia (likely via China around 1 century
AD) so a version of Pulao finds mentioned in ancient Indian texts.

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pm90
Another interesting tidbit: the word 'farangi', which is commonly used for
foreigners ('firangi' in Hindi/Urdu) literally referred to the French (i.e.
'Frenchie'), but was later applied to anything foreign.

[0]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firangi_%28sword%29#cite_note-...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firangi_%28sword%29#cite_note-1)

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zhemao
It means "Frank" not "French". It was originally used to describe western
Europeans in general.

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jdminhbg
"Frank" and "French" are essentially the same word:
[http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=French](http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=French)

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jhbadger
Yes, but that was because French as a language/culture didn't exist. The
historical Franks (including Charlemagne) despite living where France is now,
actually spoke Frankish, a language related to German.

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jdminhbg
GP is talking about the people, not the language. "Frank" and "French" are two
English words that refer to the same-ish people living in the same-ish part of
Western Europe. Saying that a particular Hindi word means "Frank" not "French"
is a distinction that doesn't really make sense in context.

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zhemao
Same-ish is not the same. That's like saying Anglo-Saxon and English mean the
same thing. The distinction is important because the Persians never used that
word to specifically refer to Frenchmen but rather to all western Europeans.

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jdminhbg
Anglo and English do in fact mean the same thing. They're the same word,
pulled into and out of different languages at different times.

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tokenadult
A very interesting article. It is always good for world cuisine when a culture
participates in international trade. But the article gets a few details wrong,
in forgetting the occasions when the Persian language took in loanwords from
other languages, for example "tamarind," which comes from Arabic and means
"Indian date."

[https://www.google.com/search?q=etymology+of+tamarind&oq=ety...](https://www.google.com/search?q=etymology+of+tamarind&oq=etymology+of+tamarind)

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Mikeb85
Many dishes we think of as "Indian" also trace a Persian origin, for example
Biryani, Korma, Naan, Jalebi, Gulab Jamun, and so on (pretty much most Mughal-
era Cuisine).

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npalli
Indian/Pakistani Biryani is derived from Indian Pulao and not the Persian
Beryani which is a meat patty with no rice.

Korma/Naan are turkish or central asian in origin.

Jalebi is semitic possibly arabic in origin.

Gulab Jamun in Persian and it spread both to India and the Arab world.

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Mikeb85
> Indian/Pakistani Biryani is derived from Indian Pulao and not the Persian
> Beryani which is a meat patty with no rice.

Pulao and Biryani aren't really the same (well, sometimes they are). Most
Biryanis I've had have a lot more saffron and rose-water than any other Indian
food I've come across, and many of the places 'famous' for Biryani were
important Mughal cities.

Another explanation I've come across is that as "Beryan" means to fry, Biryani
got its name because it's basically fried meat + rice. Of course it evolved
into more of a curried meat + rice sort of thing, but the spices are
definitely Persion-derived.

> Korma/Naan are turkish or central asian in origin.

Possibly, cooking flatbread in an oven is as old as time. Probably dates back
to someone 8000 years ago laying down flattened dough on a pile of hot coals
or rocks.

Also keep in mind Persia has been Persia for longer than there's been Turks in
Turkey, and most central asian cultures have definite Persian influence.

The current form definitely came into India from Persia.

> Jalebi is semitic possibly arabic in origin.

Possibly, definitely came to India from Persia though.

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npalli
This is what Persian Biryani looks like, pretty sure it is nothing like Indian
Biryanis. I was pretty surprised when I saw it on a cooking travel show.

[http://www.kosherdelight.com/Iran_Recipes_Beryani.gif](http://www.kosherdelight.com/Iran_Recipes_Beryani.gif)

[http://www.iliveinafryingpan.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/10/...](http://www.iliveinafryingpan.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/10/cover.jpg)

How are the spices 'definitely' Persian derived. I remember the spices used
for Indian biryanis and they run the entire gamut definitely not common in
Persia even today.

Well Turkic people have been around long before Turkey. Mughalai cuisine is
strongly influenced by central asian cuisine not Persian. Regarding Turks and
Central Asia, they have a culture and history independent of Persia or Middle
east or China. Most of the Muslims came to India directly via central asia and
had their own culture. They did not detour via Persia. Korma for example
cooking meats in yogurt/cream after braising most definitely a central asian
cultural byproduct.

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Mikeb85
Central Asia was Iranian before it was Turkic.

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geff82
Persian is a beautiful language. Especially when spoken by females, it sounds
so soft and precious (ok, in my mind there are "man"-languages and
"female"-languages, depending on which sex sounds nicer when using them)

