MY FIRST TIME

Against the mist of spring hinting cherry blossoms in the atmosphere; the scent of spices and sound of prayers from nearby mosques; the snow capped Alborz mountain majestically overlooking the metropolis of Tehran, you could hear a pin drop in the room. 

A Persian boy, called Parviz, tall Indo-Aryan, with fiercely penetrating eyes, pouring mint tea persuading me to bite into a Rose Rahat Lokum.   The Arabic version of Lokum comes from  “Halkum or Al-Halkum” meaning “Throat comfort”.  From Persia it is a ‘mouthful’ or ‘morsel’ An Iranian would say it is a  Persian Delight; a Turk would say it is a Turkish Delight;   so diplomacy rules, today with Parviz, it is definitely Persian Delight.

Centuries old, this sweet, served with mounds of powdered sugar is made with cornstarch, sugar & lemon but most delectable flavor of all is the Rose Water. 

Now my Thai mother of ancient traditions told me never to be fed by a man; it is unbecoming; but reverse this, to feed a man in the sanction of love, is to be cherished.

Parviz, love?  Absolutely not.   Penetrable eyes; hits right in the gut, by which time mother’s teaching flew into the Alborz range never to haunt my balancing act of classiness versus wantonness.

My adopted Iranian aunty warned me that any Persian concoction with a hint of Rose Water must be taken with caution for you lose all sense of control.  Aunty was right.

Rose Water – heady - most emphatically yes. But she never told me about Lokum, the soft chewy, sticky sweet, gooey to the tongue, requiring saliva to melt the cubes, opening up taste buds you never knew you had.

I am now in the land of hot chillies and spices, of curries and papaya salad; Mongolian extract not of the Arabic persuasion populate the land. So Lokum is from a distant past until a friend of half century old, on his way to yet another Mongolian populace, brought Fortnum & Mason’s  Rose Water flavored Lokum as a present.  

My eyes lit up, if only he knew, the Persian episode allowed me to choose the most sensible life path. Yet as I sit against the backdrop of memories,  my friend has been a part of my life and has watched me grow from a young girl, barely out of her teens bewitching his friend to a life long partnership. 

An ode to friendship via Rose scented Lokum -  your first time will never be the same.