Learn how to ask about food and flavors
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Mohammad: “Salam, man Mohammadam”. I’m Mohammad. |
| Brandon: Hi, I’m Brandon. Welcome back to PersianPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, season 1, lesson 11 - “What is This Delicious Persian Dish?” In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask about foods and flavors. |
| Mohammad: That’s by listening to the rest of the conversation between Ms. Kazemi and Mr. Mohseni, who visited her previously. |
| Brandon: This time they've moved to the table and are talking about their food. |
| Mohammad: And since they're colleagues, they’ll still be talking a little formally. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: Mohammad, what is this “ghormeh sabzi” that we had in the conversation? |
| Mohammad: It’s a very popular Iranian dish made of red beans, edible greens, and cooked rice. |
| Brandon: There was also another popular dish in Iran. What was it called…? |
| Mohammad: Was it “aabgoosht”? |
| Brandon: It had another name, something like…“dizi”? |
| Mohammad: Oh, “dizi” is the same as aabgoosht”. It’s made using the water cooked with the meat, and grains. |
| Brandon: So, is it as popular as “ghormeh sabzi”? |
| Mohammad: They're both very popular and well-known dishes in Iran, and many people love them. |
| Brandon: And where can you find them? |
| Mohammad: If not in every Iranian’s home, you can eat them in any restaurant, especially the traditional “sonnati” restaurants. |
| Brandon: Would you recommend them to our listeners? |
| Mohammad: Definitely! They say try it once to remember the taste forever! |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. This vocabulary that we’re looking at, is mostly phrases used around the table. The first one is… |
| Mohammad: “shaam aamaade ast” or “shaam haazer ast,” meaning “The dinner is ready!” |
| Brandon: My guess is “shaam” means “dinner”, and “aamaade ast” means “is ready”. |
| Mohammad: That’s right. And the infinitive form of “aamaade ast” is “aamaade boodan”. |
| Brandon: Is it only used for food? |
| Mohammad: No. It can be used for anything, like rooms, clothes, and people. |
| Brandon: For example, “I’m ready” is… |
| Mohammad: “man aamaade am.” |
| Brandon: And what are the other forms of this verb? |
| Mohammad: “To be ready” is “aamaade boodan”, “to get ready” is “aamaade shodan”, and “to prepare” is “aamaade kardan”. |
| Brandon: Err… which one was “is ready”? |
| Mohammad: “aamaade ast” (Pause) “aamaade ast”. |
| Brandon: Okay. Our next phrase is… |
| Mohammad: “nooshe jaan!,” meaning “Enjoy your meal!” |
| Brandon: Is it different from the French “Bon appetite”? |
| Mohammad: Just a little bit. Unlike “Bon appetite”, “nooshe jan” is used during or after eating. |
| Brandon: Do you mean after the guest has showed that they enjoyed the meal? |
| Mohammad: Yes. After the guest compliments the meal, the host says “nooshe jaan!” |
| Brandon: Can we break this down into the literal meaning of every word? |
| Mohammad: Of course. “noosh” means “joy”, and “jaan” means “body”. |
| Brandon: So it becomes something like “May your body enjoy it!”? |
| Mohammad: That’s exactly what it is! |
| Brandon: That’s interesting! Can you say the whole phrase once again? |
| Mohammad: “nooshe jaan!” (Pause) “nooshe jaan!” |
| Brandon: Now our last phrase is... |
| Mohammad: “ziaadi” meaning “Too much” or “Extra”. |
| Brandon: It’s an adverb that shows an excessive amount of a noun or an adjective, like the one that we had in the conversation. |
| Mohammad: It was “ziaadi shoor” which means “Too salty”. |
| Brandon: So it’s about something that exists more than is needed. What’s the level of its formality, Mohammad? |
| Mohammad: “Ziaadi” is a very informal expression, like another similar word “ezaafi,” which has the same meaning. |
| Brandon: Is there any other similar phrase with more formality? |
| Mohammad: Yes. That would be “bish az had”, meaning “more than the limit.” |
| Brandon: And the one that we had was … |
| Mohammad: “Ziaadi.” Listeners, please repeat. “ziaadi.” |
| Brandon: Alright. let’s move on to the grammar now. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn about a form of a verb that's used quite a lot in Persian. |
| Mohammad: It’s “ast”, it’s a form of the verb “boodan” or “to be” which means “is”. |
| Brandon: We’ve had “is” so many times in previous lessons, but it was a different word - “e” if I’m correct? |
| Mohammad: Right. “e” means “is,” but is often used in the spoken language. You’ll see “ast” more in written texts. |
| Brandon: Then it’s a very common word. Would you give us examples of “ast”? |
| Mohammad: For Example “aasemaan aabi ast” means “The sky is blue.” Just like other verbs, “ast” is also always at the end of sentences. |
| Brandon: So it describes how something is, by being added after adjectives. What would you say about the other similar verb that we had in the conversation? |
| Mohammad: “Shavad”, or the infinitive form “shodan,” is a similar verb meaning “to become.” The difference is that “shavad” is a conditional verb. |
| Brandon: What is a conditional verb? |
| Mohammad: It means that it has an “if” hidden in itself. “To become” means “to change from something to something else,” so it can’t be absolute like “ast”. |
| Brandon: So it actually means “if it becomes.” What about the negative form, “doesn’t become,” which we heard from the conversation? |
| Mohammad: It’s “nashavad,” made by adding the prefix “na” before the verb “shavad.” |
| Brandon: And does the “noun + adjective + verb” rule applies to “shavad” too? |
| Mohammad: Yes. For example “shoor nashavad” means “It doesn’t become salty.” By the way, the spoken and informal version of “shavad” is “beshe”. |
| Brandon: Oh, I’ve heard it before! We had it when we were talking about jobs. |
| Mohammad: Yes. We had “beshi” for “you become”, and “besham” for “I become.” |
| Brandon: Well remembered! Okay. Now can we talk a little bit about Persian flavors, since we’re talking about food? |
| Mohammad: Sure! We had “shoor” or “salty” in the conversation. And “tond” means “hot or spicy”, “torsh” means “sour”, and “shirin” means “sweet.” |
| Brandon: What about “bitter”? |
| Mohammad: It’s “talkh.” |
| Brandon: And what’s “delicious” in general? |
| Mohammad: That’s “khoshmazze.” Once more, khoshmazze. |
Outro |
| Brandon: Okay, listeners. Are you hungry yet? Please save some room, because we’re going to have more lessons about food later! |
| Mohammad: Yes. We had “ghormeh sabzi” in this lesson”, and I'm looking forward to dessert or drinks in another lesson! |
| Brandon: Ok, thanks for listening everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Mohammad: Hope to see you soon, “khodaahaafez!” |
| Brandon: Bye! |
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