Rojina Samifanni, 2018

When people think of Persian cuisine, vodka and kebabs are not generally the first things that come to mind. Banu offers Torontonians a unique experience of Iran before the Revolution of 1979.

Banu: Iranian Street Food on West Queen

Rojina Samifanni, University of Toronto Scarborough

Street food has become enormously popular in recent years, in part because it seems to provide old-fashioned cooking unsullied by new-fangled modernity. But many of these street food traditions are in fact the product of modern economic development. As men leave home to work in new industries, they are often willing and able to pay others to cook for them. For example, with the massive growth of the petroleum industry in the Middle East in the 1970s, truck stops began to appear on roads throughout the region, providing food and other services to drivers carrying machinery from Europe. Border crossings were particularly lucrative spots for roadside restaurateurs because it could take as long as ten days for a driver to clear Iranian customs.[1]At times these truck stops were simple coffee shops, like the setting of Abolfazl Jalili’s movie Delbaran (2002), but others could be quite elaborate. Marita O’Connell recalled visiting a truck stop in Isfahan, Iran: “it was a large room, brightly lit with naked light bulbs, old blue tables and chairs, and a refrigerated counter, where they displayed sheep hearts, livers, vodka, whiskey, Skol, goat cheese and yogurt.”[2]

Rojina Samifanni, 2018

It was a scene like this, of grilled variety meats and plentiful vodka, that Samira Mohyeddin and her two siblings sought to recreate in their West Queen Street restaurant, Banu Iranian Kebab and Vodka Bar. As she explained to me in a recent interview, “we wanted to sort of have that truck stop feel … they would eat a couple of pieces and would take a shot of vodka.” Needless to say, it was quite different from the usual Persian restaurant you will find in North York and Thornhill. She explained: “We were looking to do a vodka and kebab, and the kebabs were really rustic. It was heart, liver, testicles, koobideh which is the ground sirloin, and then we had barg, which was veal tenderloin flattened out and shaped like a leaf and that was it.”

Banu caused an uproar when it opened in downtown Toronto in the early 2000s, because “we didn’t serve rice at the beginning at all, we served different types of bread … and we had no stews at all.” Many customers, expecting the stereotypical Persian restaurant portion of rice with meat, became angry, and some even left after seeing the menu. It was not until four years later that, with some reluctance, Samira and her siblings added rice to their menu.

Rojina Samifanni, 2018

However, there were still many customers who appreciated the authenticity that Banu had created. It gave them a sense of home, a feeling of nostalgia. When Samira and her family first moved to Canada at the time of the 1979 revolution, “everything was hard … when somebody would go to Iran, it really was one luggage was just spices … when we first came they didn’t even have plain yogurt here, it was just weird.” Even though, at the time Samira didn’t have Banu, home cooking still required these ingredients and the extra luggage was necessary for Toronto’s Iranian families. Personally, when I was little my grandmother would still bring spices and certain syrups from back home because it just tasted better than the commercialized products that could be bought here.

From her experience, Samira noticed that Persian restaurants were very stereotypical and not representative of all aspects of Persian culture. What I find interesting is the way that the three siblings advertised their restaurant. She explained, “on Facebook we are listed as an educational service” because “it was mostly us educating people about the cuisine and how to eat it even.”

“Before the Revolution, vodka was the main drink.”

One common misunderstanding, resulting from the Iranian revolution of 1979, is that “a lot of people when they think of Iran they don’t think of drinking, music, having a good time. We were trying to show people that this hasn’t been us all the time, that we have a long history way before this government came to power.” Alcohol was not always prohibited in Iran, in fact, the Persian new year table consisted of a glass of wine. During the Yalda festival or what Canadians know as the winter solstice, Persians drink wine with their families. “Before the revolution, vodka was the main drink.”

Being an immigrant to Canada is never easy: it takes time to adapt and feel comfortable. Born in Ontario, I can’t really understand both the struggle and enlightenment that came with immigrating to a new country. However, it is refreshing to know that people moved here from Iran and were able to integrate our culture and food into Toronto’s society. Restaurants in Toronto represent both the pre-revolutionary and post-revolutionary food culture.

Rojina Samifanni, 2018

 

[1]Nicholas Gage, “Istanbul: Truck Stop to the Middle East,” New York Times, May 10, 1978, pA2; Nazila Fathi, “Iran Finds 7,000-year-old Liquor Habit is Tough to Break,” New York Times, April 3, 2006.;  P. Banker, “Iran Caviar, Vodka, Frightfully Costly,’” The Sun, June 25, 1961. “Iran: Police Report Major Alcoholic Drinks Haul in Kordestan,” BBC: Monitoring Middle East (London), July 16, 2002.

[2]Marita O’Connell, Galloping Green: From Dear Distant Damp Dublin(Philadelphia: Xlibris, 2004), 335