Mirza Qasemi is one of the delicious Iranian foods which is recognized as the local dish and cuisine of the north of Iran, Gilan province. The first thing which draws attention is its special naming which needs explanation; basically, those foods with a proper name do not have a long history and they are more likely to be related to Qajar or Pahlavi periods. Mirza Qasemi is also not an exception. However, in contrast to its age, it is highly popular among a lot of Iranians in all cities and provinces.
The story backs to Qajar era in 1861, when a person named Mirza Qasem Khan the ruler had recently returned home from his travel to Russia. He was then appointed as the ruler of Gilan province and Rasht city by Naser al-Din Shah. As it is written in his biography, although he was a politician, he was highly bel esprit and witted so that one of his interests was combining different foodstuffs in order to fabricate new kinds of dishes. One day when he was trying roasted eggplant mixed with tomato, garlic and egg, the result turned out to be the awesome flavor of Mirza Qasemi. As he was extremely cheerful, he decided to promote the recipe in the whole province with the name of Mirza Qasemi. And some year later, when he was appointed as the governor of Fars, he introduced the food to the people of his new territory. In short, Mirza Qasemi was invented in Qajar period and got popular in the whole country as a Gilani cuisine during Pahlavi reign.
With regard to its recipe, we should first refer to the distinctive flavor of charred eggplant and its difference with other methods of cooking eggplant. In many foods including eggplant, it is often fried inside deep oil and sometimes it is boiled. However, the main distinct feature of this one is that eggplant is baked over the flame of oven or even over the fire. It makes the skin to be completely burnt and so it is hard to peel the skin. The simple solution is putting the eggplant inside cold water to discard the skin. The next step is mashing the roasted eggplant and adding some mashed garlic. Then, the mixture is placed over the flame while adding some minced tomato, additives, salt, pepper, turmeric, and Mentha powder. When the tomato water completely evaporates, add egg to the mixture.
Mirza Qasem Khan the ruler passed finally away when he was the governor of Fars and buried next to the mausoleum of Hafiz in Shiraz. Mirza Qasemi is usually served with local breads or Sangak bread along with many different side dishes like Sabzi khordan, and also Doogh. In addition to homes, this cuisine is today prepared and served in traditional restaurants in Iran. it also should be said that not only is Mirza Qasemi very tasty and colorful, but it also has high nutritional value. Eggplant is rich in fiber and therefore, very useful in digestive disorders. Garlic has long been emphasized on its properties by traditional medicine and Iranian people believe that garlic can cure seventy diseases. Eggs are also rich in protein playing the same role in the dish as meat does.