How can I replace my wife's fesenjan pot?

July 29, 2009 5:32 PM

Where can I find an authentic fesenjan stone pot?

My wife cooked fesenjan in her stone pot this weekend ... and now it has a hairline crack in the side, and is probably no longer good. As she brought it back from Iran in 1993, she's not sure how to replace it. So, where do I find one?

Brief description: stone pot, about 6 or 7" in diameter, flat on the bottom and the sides taper to a smaller opening as it gets taller. Any ideas? Google has failed me...

posted by kuperman to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

That is odd, I've never heard of such a thing! My mother uses the same super-cheap, thin, dented, craptastic aluminum pot she brought back from Iran in 1973. We've tried to replace it with fancy dutch ovens, annodized gormet cookwear, and basically anything else and we always catch her with the old beater back out once the dust settles.

Sounds like you are describing a Tajine.
posted by Pollomacho at 5:55 PM on July 29, 2009

Do any of these look anything like your wife's pot?
posted by Pollomacho at 6:06 PM on July 29, 2009

Response by poster: Not quite. Here's a picture:
posted by kuperman at 6:07 PM on July 29, 2009

Definitely sounds like a tajine, but none of the images on wikipedia show the top half. Is this the sort of thing you're after? If so, should be relatively easy to find through googling. Also try 'tagine' if 'tajine' is unhelpful.
posted by goo at 6:07 PM on July 29, 2009

Response by poster: Here.
posted by kuperman at 6:08 PM on July 29, 2009

Wow, looks industrial! What does she do tahdig in the thing?

Well, mom's coming over tomorrow night so I'll ask her what she thinks or if she's seen anything like that anywhere.
posted by Pollomacho at 6:14 PM on July 29, 2009

Ok, looks nothing like a tagine! Is it basic stoneware, and is it glazed or not? Barring a friend travelling to Iran in the near future or a Persian grocer nearby you could make friends with (and it looks like there is at least one in Baton Rouge), any similarly glazed, stoneware casserole would probably work in the same way - here's a Turkish one that should function similarly (also available in small and large), even without the same tapering.

The recipes I come across while googling just specify a casserole dish, but I totally understand being enamored of a specific type of pot, especially one picked up while travelling. Maybe it's time for another trip :)
posted by goo at 6:37 PM on July 29, 2009

Response by poster: The interior is glazed but the exterior is not. And unfortunately, Pita Boy doesn't have any cookware quite like this - usually cheaper aluminum stuff, kebab skewers, etc. (was there Saturday)
posted by kuperman at 6:46 PM on July 29, 2009

Response by poster: Hopefully my wife will see this in the morning and comment more :)
posted by kuperman at 6:51 PM on July 29, 2009

Thanks for making this post! So, my mom was the original owner of the pot and she doesn't remember what it was called, but she got it in Fuman, Iran many years ago. The pot is made of solid stone and did not come with any glazing on it. The interior was cured after it was purchased, and decades of cooking in it have given it a nice, deep interior glaze. The Turkish earthenware pot goo mentioned looks like it could work but I would much rather finding a pot made out of stone. The closest thing I can find online is a Korean stone pot which is not really that similar and the site does not give a very good idea of how big it is.
posted by lrkuperman at 7:22 AM on July 30, 2009

Soapstone cooking pot from Brazil.
posted by hortense at 10:39 PM on July 30, 2009