IMBB is always fun because it challenges me to do things differently, or try things I wouldn't ordinarily. This month, Seattle Bon Vivant reminded me of one of my favorite things in the world, which is rather hard to come by (for good reason, as you'll see)
Oh, I could have come up with any number of recipes, but the truth is that eggs (unless they are the caviar kind) are not a particularly favorite food; I don't like cakes or breads that have too much of an "eggy" smell, and I don't really eat breakfast foods that contain egg, either.
Fortunately for me, there are plenty of ways to eat eggs, and my favorite happens to be a savory presentation -- Chelo Kabab.
Chelo Kabab is traditionally eaten at restaurants; as I've written before, Persians don't go to Persian restaurants to eat khoreshts -- we go for chelo kabab, that quintessential feast of mounds of fluffy rice, grilled or fried meats and big grilled tomatoes.
In Tehran, chelo kababis are restaurants that only serve this meal and traditionally, it's served with a single, perfect, raw egg yolk cracked atop the rice.
As you stir the egg into the rice, it enriches the whole thing, become oozy and creamy. The combination of creamy, eggy rice with the sweet but acidic tomatoes is luxuriously decadent.
As you can imagine, it's very hard (if not impossible) to fine a restaurant here in the States that will take the risk of serving you this potentially salmonella-laden dish. Your best bet is to get your rice started at home, then pick up an order of kabab at your favorite Persian restaurant (barg or koobideh, please. Joojeh just doesn't quite work as well) and race home before your rice gets overcooked.
Of course, the real renegades amongst us smuggle an egg into the restaurant, but I didn't tell you that.