Flavours at this Hobart cafe will transport you down the Silk Road

Persian food doesn’t have a high profile in Hobart, but a visit to this hidden gem of an eatery for a casual lunch or dinner is highly recommended, writes Alix Davis

ALIX DAVIS

3 min read

November 15, 2024 - 12:00PM

Shemroon Cafe in Elizabeth St, in central Hobart, is a great spot for a casual lunch or dinner. Picture SUPPLIED

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There’s a bag of dark, dusty and shrivelled golf ball-sized spheres in my pantry. No, this is not an ingredient that expired in 1993 and has been lurking behind a packet of old custard powder ever since. These are Persian dried limes – small limes that have been boiled in salt brine and left to dry until they’re rock hard. Used whole or powdered, they’re a staple of Persian cooking and lend a vibrant citrusy note – similar to sumac – wherever they’re used.

One dish for which they’re essential is ghormeh sabzi – a Persian herb stew loaded with dried limes, fresh herbs, and spinach, simmered in a pot with chunks of tender beef or lamb and red kidney beans.

This is widely considered Iran’s (formerly Persia) national dish and is served with fluffy basmati rice, often coloured bright yellow with saffron powder. The bowl of ghormeh sabzi ($30) I ordered recently at Shemroon, a Persian restaurant in midtown is pleasingly dark – studded with burgundy-hued kidney beans, chunks of tender lamb and dried limes that have softened completely after hours of slow cooking, releasing their sharp citrus notes.

This comforting stew is just one of the classic Persian dishes served at Shemroon, named for a high-end suburb of Iran’s capital Tehran.

Shemroon Cafe's tasty Persian rolled lamb kebab features a combination of beef and lamb mince that’s been spiced, skewered and cooked over charcoal before being tightly wrapped in a thin flatbread with lettuce, sauce and tomato. Picture SUPPLIED

Opened about a year ago by friends Behnam Sepehr and Ebi Seifd, Shemroon proudly uses traditional ingredients and techniques to create dishes that taste like home

Spices such as saffron, turmeric and cardamom abound as do the fresh herbs that Persian dishes are famous for.

To accompany our meal, Ebi offers a pot of Iranian tea – a brew of black tea flavoured with saffron, rosewater, cardamom and cinnamon, all of which are recognisable but not overpowering.

The tea is served with a piece of saffron rock candy you can use to sweeten it and a soft Iranian date. It summons up a mood of desert nights that is further enhanced by Iranian DJ Fere on the TV, who combines traditional instruments with modern beats in, quite frankly, stunning settings around Iran.

Shemroon Cafe's Akbar Jojen, which includes chicken with saffron rice is a popular traditional Persian dish. Picture SUPPLIED

In addition to the lamb stew, we order a rolled kebab ($18) – a combination of beef and lamb mince that’s been spiced, skewered and cooked over charcoal before being tightly wrapped in a thin flatbread with lettuce, sauce and tomato. It’s packed with flavour and the thin pita means more filling, less wrapping.

Behnam tells me this kebab is popular when served with rice, rather than wrapped, and topped with a cooling yoghurt dip and a chopped salad of cucumber and onion.

We also have a Persian lamb sandwich ($15) – shredded spiced lamb tightly wrapped in a baguette-style bun with some of the tangy pickled vegetables for which the Middle East
is known.

Shemroon Cafe's Ghormeh sabzi which is a comforting stew which consists of burgundy-hued kidney beans, chunks of tender lamb and dried limes that have softened completely after hours of slow cooking, releasing their sharp citrus notes served with saffron rice. Picture SUPPLIED

Board games are popular in Iran – backgammon has been played there for millennia. Believed to date back 5000 years, archaeological discoveries in ancient Mesopotamia – modern-day Iraq – in the 1920s gave the world a tantalising glimpse of the game’s potential origin. While the exact birthplace of backgammon continues to be hotly debated, there is evidence that the Egyptians, Sumerians and Persians all played something resembling backgammon as we know it.

A backgammon set decorated with the crown of the former Shah’s wife decorates the cafe and they host regular games nights, including a Mafia night (a hugely popular game in Iran), currently held in Farsi only.

Sweets are a staple of Middle Eastern hospitality and that’s certainly in evidence here, with a wide variety on display. A Yazdi cupcake ($4) is delicately flavoured with pistachios, saffron, rosewater and almonds and instantly transports you to a souk.

Shemroon Cafe has a wide variety of delectable sweet treats. Picture SUPPLIED

A traditional maamoul biscuit ($4.50) is made of short, sweet pastry stuffed with a date paste – not dissimilar to the (sadly discontinued) Arnott’s Spicy Fruit Roll biscuit.

The gluten-free walnut cookie ($4.50) is a large stuffed biscuit of not-too-sweet pastry, stuffed with crushed and spiced walnuts. They are all delicious and pair well with the pot of tea.

Persian food doesn’t have a high profile in Hobart, but a visit to Shemroon for a casual lunch or dinner is highly recommended to experience flavours that will transport you to the ancient routes of the Silk Road.