What it means
فلفل (felfel) means “pepper.” Arabic loanword (فلفل) that came into Persian during the Islamic period and stuck. The same word covers two different things in Iranian kitchens: the ground spice (black or red) and the fresh vegetable (bell pepper, chili). Context tells you which one.
To distinguish: فلفل سیاه (felfel-e siyâh) is black pepper. فلفل قرمز (felfel-e qermez) is red pepper or red chili powder. فلفل دلمهای (felfel-e dolme’i) is bell pepper, named for the dish made from it.
How to use it
- یک کم فلفل بریز (yek kam felfel beriz) “add a little pepper”
- این غذا فلفلش زیاده (in ghazâ felfelesh ziyâde) “this food has too much pepper”
- فلفل دلمه قرمز بخر (felfel-e dolme qermez bekhar) “buy red bell peppers”
- فلفل سیاه تازه آسیاب شده (felfel-e siyâh-e tâze âsiyâb shode) “freshly ground black pepper”
In Iranian cuisine
فلفل دلمه (felfel-e dolme) is one of the country’s signature stuffed-vegetable dishes: bell peppers hollowed out and filled with a spiced rice-and-meat mixture, then simmered in a tomato-based sauce. It belongs to the same family as dolme-ye barg-e mo (stuffed grape leaves) and is a staple of weekend family lunches.
Iranian cooking is not, broadly speaking, hot food. Most dishes lean on the warmth of turmeric, saffron, and cinnamon rather than chili heat. Felfel-e qermez shows up as a finishing accent on kebab platters and in some southern dishes (Bandari cuisine uses it more aggressively, influenced by trade with India and the Arab Gulf), but a Tehrani lunch table is usually mild.
An idiom worth knowing
فلفل نبود کسورم باشه (felfel nabud kosur-am bâshe) literally means “if there’s no pepper, let it be my fault.” Iranians use it when someone takes blame for something small to keep the peace at the table or in the family. It is the language of taarof in compact form: accept a tiny fault you didn’t commit, so nobody else has to feel awkward. The phrase comes up at dinner when something tasted off, when an outing went sideways, when nobody knows whose mistake caused the problem and nobody wants to find out.
References
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