Saffron

This rice dish is based on one of the most famous Persian polos (pilaf), known as sabzi polo.

This brittle recipe is a riff on an Iranian candy known as sohan. Its snappy texture and fragrant flavor pair well with bitter tea.

This seafood paella recipe requires organization and slicing and dicing in advance. But once the paella gets going, the process is pretty seamless—and the rewards are huge.

Anchor these in short vases filled with granulated sugar and win sweetest decor award.

For this cod recipe, you want to cook it at a lazy simmer; it will make all the difference between buttery, flaky fish and rubbery, tough fillets.

In this rack of lamb recipe, the lamb needs to marinate overnight, so be sure to start 1 day ahead. But trust us: It's worth it.

Yes, making this rice is a time commitment and a labor of love. But the ingredients aren't difficult to find, and the finished dish is stunning.

This baked eggplant and saffron rice recipe is blanketed in layers of mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses—never a bad thing, in our opinion.

I have to confess that I had never cooked striped bass before—in fact, I don't think I had ever eaten it prior to this recipe.