What it means
زودپز (zudpaz) is the pressure cooker. It is a modern native Persian compound formed from زود (zud, fast or quick) and پز (paz, cooker), from the verb پختن (pokhtan, to cook). The compound literally means fast-cooker. It was coined in Iranian Persian to describe the appliance without resorting to a loanword, and the term is universally understood and used. No competing borrowed term exists in everyday speech. The word follows the same productive pattern as other appliance names: برنجپز (berenj-paz, rice cooker) and قهوهساز (qahve-sâz, coffee maker).
How to use it
- لوبیا رو با زودپز درست کردم. (lubiâ ro bâ zudpaz dorost kardam.) “I cooked the beans in the pressure cooker.”
- زودپز رو باز کن. (zudpaz ro bâz kon.) “Open the pressure cooker.”
- خورش توی زودپز زودتر حاضر میشه. (khoresh tuye zudpaz zudtar hâzer mishe.) “The stew gets ready faster in the pressure cooker.”
- بچهها، از زودپز فاصله بگیرین. (bachehâ, az zudpaz fâsele begirin.) “Kids, keep your distance from the pressure cooker.”
Cultural note
The zudpaz became popular in Iranian homes because it dramatically reduces the long cooking times required by traditional stews and legume dishes. Dishes like gheymeh or ghormeh sabzi that might simmer for two or three hours on the stovetop can be ready in under an hour in a pressure cooker. The appliance is particularly valued in busy urban households and among the Iranian diaspora, where time is limited but the desire for home-cooked Persian food remains strong.