Middle East

Persian Hogweed / Golpar

Heracleum persicum.

Seed (from the dried seedpods).

Part Used

Dried seed, ground (golpar koobideh).

Form

Golpar (Persian, literally 'flower-wing/feather').

Iran (grows wild in humid mountainous regions).

Pungent, sharply savory, with a bitter-aromatic edge distinct from most other seed spices.

Flavoring for soups, stews, and fava bean dishes; a defining ingredient in advieh.

Ash-e reshteh; baghali (fava beans dipped in vinegar and golpar); various khoresh.

Vinegar, fava beans, other advieh spices (cumin, cinnamon, rose petal).

Add during cooking for stews; sprinkle directly for the fava bean/vinegar preparation.

Ground golpar loses potency within months; whole seed keeps a year or more sealed.

No close substitute for its distinctive pungency; sometimes omitted where unavailable.

Little known outside Iran, making it one of the more genuinely distinctive and less globally substitutable ingredients in the region.

Advieh (a hallmark ingredient in many formulations).