Persian Picnic

Iranian salads, bread and yogurt make an unusual meal. You can buy these and other Iranian foods at the Old Fashioned Deli in Glendale. The deli’s potato salad that contains lots of pickles, shreds of chicken breast so tiny they’re hardly visible and equally small bits of hard-boiled egg. An eggplant salad is deep red from tomatoes and red bell peppers, and a bit spicy. (It’s meant to be eaten cold but might make a good pasta sauce). To go with these, try barbari bread--long, thin, light loaves ridged lengthwise and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Iranian-style yogurt, mixed with minced shallots, is thick and mellow. You’ll find lots of uses for it, so don’t hesitate to buy the large carton.

Potato salad, $3.49 a pound; eggplant salad, $3.99 a pound; barbari bread, $1; yogurt with shallots, $3.29 for a 15-ounce carton at Old Fashioned Deli, 1225 N. Pacific Ave., Glendale. (818) 244-9300.