Get ready for the greatest food experience in Shiraz!

We’ll gather in front of Hafez’s tomb and meet and greet one another before heading off on a morning feast in the streets of Shiraz! We’ll hop into a taxi and start our Shiraz food tour with a visit to two different traditional bakeries: one for breads, one for pastries.

There are more than 40 types of breads in Iran, from very dark to very light, from crisp to soft. The four most common breads in Iran are lavash, taftun, sangak, and barbari, and no Iranian meal is complete unless served with at least one type of flatbread.  You’ll learn all about these delicious carbs and we’ll stop at a bakery to see sangak, a fresh yeast bread, baked on hot stones — then eaten while still warm.

Next up, we’ll visit a pastry bakery for Shirazi Yukheh, a thin savoury pastry often flavoured with ground coconut and pistachios, before heading off to see how we make the local Shirazi noodle ice cream, faloodeh — a soothing refreshment on a hot day!

Filled up with Persian treats and snacks, you’ll finish off your Persian foodie adventure with a wander through the atmospheric Vakil Bazaar, where you’ll learn about the many different types of spices and herbs used in Persian cuisine.

Then, it’s time to turn all that knowledge into some hands-on experience! We’ll wander through the bazaar and do some shopping to prepare for the fabulous cooking experience you’re about to have!

You’ll shop among locals, buying from locals, and experience what it’s like to grocery shop as an Iranian. As you shop, you also have the option to pick up extra goods, so that we can prepare extra meals to donate to homeless people in the community after your class — a generous gift to those in need in Shiraz.

Iranian cuisine includes a wide variety of dishes, ranging from kebabs to stews, as well as soups, salads, pastries, and traditional beverages iconic to different parts of Iran. We’ll learn to cook two mains and a dessert, with our personal chef giving you step-by-step instructions on how to prepare local dishes. You’ll learn about the key ingredients, the spices that are needed, and local culinary customs, all to make our meals as authentic as possible!

Then, best of all, we’ll eat what we’ve made! You’ll dig in (in traditional Iranian style, meaning with your hands) and enjoy a delicious meal altogether, as new friends in Shiraz!

Finally, you’ll finish off your food tour with the opportunity to do some good. If you had chosen to make extra food, we’ll donate it to underprivileged locals on our way back from the cooking class. We may stop along the way, or your driver can take the dishes to a local charity centre.