Mezze and pomegranate juice

If you find yourself in an Iranian restaurant (or a Persian one as they often still describe themselves) you’ll be lucky to find much in the way of wine options and in many ways the food is better suited to the cordials or sharbats they would generally drink.

So when I visited Kuch in Bristol the other day I ordered a pomegranate juice which went really well with my plate of mezze which included felafel, kibbeh, sambosak and beetroot borani (a yoghurty beetroot dip)

Like most cordials it was slightly too sweet so if you’re making it at home I’d recommend adding some fresh pomegranate juice or maybe even a dash of lime juice but it’s much better suited to Persian food than the more common English options of apple and orange juice.

It works in Lebanese and other middle-eastern restaurants too.