Khoresht mast

Khoresht mast, also spelled khoresh mas, is an Iranian specialty from Isfahan whose Persian name means yogurt stew. Despite the name it is served cold, as a side dish, a first course or a sweet finish to a meal, and it is said to have begun as a main course at the royal court. The cook simmers lamb neck with onion and turmeric until tender, removes the bones and mashes the meat, ideally in a copper pot, until it turns pale and stretchy. That meat is folded into warmed thick yogurt sweetened with sugar and colored with strongly brewed saffron, then perfumed with rose water and enriched with slivered almonds and walnuts. Egg yolks or cream can make it richer. It is garnished with barberries and pistachio slivers and rests in the refrigerator for about twelve hours so the flavors meld and the texture sets.