Cultural Spotlight: Caspian Sea Regional Foods with Special Guest The Caspian Chef

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Episode #31, co-hosts Bita and Beata have an informative conversation with Omid Roustaei, known as the Caspian Chef.  Omid is an author, food blogger, recipe developer, chef and cooking instructor, among other things.  In this episode Omid shares about the vibrant, fresh, vegetable and herb-forward dishes of northern Iran in the Caspian Sea region.  The foods of this region are also known as “Shomali” in Farsi.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Omid’s background - Omid’s parents are from Babol (in the Mazandaran Province).  He grew up eating primarily traditional Persian foods and specifically some foods of the Caspian Sea region.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Omid has been blogging for almost 3 years in this space.  His background transitioned from cancer research towards prevention which led him to study health through food.  Omid went to a plant-based, vegetable focussed cooking school in Boulder Colorado.  He then gained experience as a private chef and with teaching cooking classes.  His passion is in bridging the cultural gap between Western culture and Iranian culture through food.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Foods of the Caspian Sea region as described by Omid</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Plant-forward with most of the dishes starting with and based on vegetables and herbs</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Herbs local to the region in Farsi:  Cho-chag, khalvash, ooji (also known as fersem or soosan ambor)</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Herbs treated as vegetables and used in abundance (bunches and bunches of herbs vs used as a garnish)</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Using herbs for flavor instead of relying on spices for flavor (most dishes have only salt, pepper, turmer