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| Shiraz cocktail at Schandis. |
-Brian Mendonca
Scouring the number of possible restaurants for dinner we came upon Schandis, Miramar. The ambience seemed eclectic with a couple of hookahs in the far end but we sank in our seats near the entrance itself, hoping to make the best of it.
We like frequenting new places to eat, to savour new experiences - whether culinary or cultural. When I noticed Queenie had chosen an Iranian restaurant I recalled how the Jews were grateful to the Persian King Cyrus (590 - 529 BCE) for liberating them from Babylon where they were taken into captivity in 586 BCE. For more of his fascinating life view Cyrus the Great: The King of Kings.
The menu, when I seized upon it, also had Shiraz as one of the cocktails. Shiraz in Iran is where the mausoleum of Darius stands. It is also the tavern where Zakir congregates with his friends in Intizar Hussain's partition novel Basti (1979).
As I sipped the cocktail I knew this was the right place to be. It was also Eid. The quest for a worthy biryani was widened with a palette of flavours from Persia. The soulful Persian music of Mojasame of Nasir Zeynali, and Che Hesieh by Sohrab Pakzad set the soundscape. Dwayne taught me to use Google search on my phone to identify the song as it was being played. (Incidently, when I was searching for Che Hesieh, Google kept redirecting me to Che Guevara.)
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