Kookoo (also spelled KuKu) refers to a genre of egg-based Persian food. Think: love child of a quiche and a soufflé. Kookoo also bears a semblance of resemblance to a frittata, fritter, omelette or even a pancake. Let’s cut to the chase and call kookoo the Zelig of egg-based dishes. <br /> <br />There are many different types of kookoo - each region of Iran in particular has its own specialty - and it is one of those dishes that is whipped out when guests arrive unexpectedly and you have to present them with something delicious with whatever meagre ingredients you might have at hand. <br /> <br />The potato kookoo's recipe is how my mother make hers, which I revised just a little by modifying the measurements ever so slightly. I also added walnuts because I like to have a bit of crunchy texture to contrast with the overall fluffy density of the standard-issue potato kookoo. <br /> <br />In Iran, kookoo - typically a lunch fare - may be served in a number of ways. Either with a platter of fresh herbs and bread and feta cheese; or with bread and yogurt; or, with torshi (pickles.) Some types of kookoo, such as the potato kookoo, can also be paired with something sweet. Thus the candied turnips: they have a very mellow yet distinctly sweet taste that brightens up the comforting but one-note taste of the potato kookoo and the soft yet chewy texture of the candied turnips is wonderful with the fluffy kookoo. Add some bread and you have a humble yet veritable feast. <br /> <br />I calculate that the cost of all ingredients, including the turnips and honey, but excluding saffron to be below the $7 mark. Saffron may sound extravagant for what is billed as a "cheap feast" but the recipe literally calls for the tiniest amount of it (like the tip of a teaspoon) so that the amount of saffron actually used in the recipe does not cost very much at all. <br />

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