TEHRAN - Hundreds of Iranian sweets, cakes, and desserts were brought under the same roof in a one-day festival, which was held in Tabriz on Sunday. 

The festival was organized with the motto of health and improvement and in a bid to help create more jobs in the fields of cakes, sweets, and desserts in East Azarbaijan province, the deputy provincial tourism chief said. 

Artists and confectioners from South Khorasan, Ardebil, West Azarbaijan, and East Azarbaijan were amongst the people who participated in the festival, Alireza Bairamzadeh added. 

In full compliance with health protocols, the exhibition halls of the festival were visited in the fields of cakes, modern sweets, and cake decoration, and new desserts, the official noted. 

Throughout the centuries, Iranians have discovered Persian dessert recipes, developed them, and passed them down to the next generation. Some of these recipes date back as far as ancient Persia.

The availability of certain ingredients, for example, defines some Persian sweets such as those made with rose water, dates, rice flour, and wheat germ. There are also sugar-free sweets and vegan desserts.

Tabriz embraces several historical and religious sites, including the Jameh Mosque of Tabriz and Arg of Tabriz, and UNESCO-registered Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex to name a few. The city became the capital of the Mongol Il-Khan Mahmud Gazan (1295–1304) and his successor. Timur (Tamerlane), a Turkic conqueror, took it in 1392. Some decades later the Kara Koyunlu Turkmen made it their capital, it was when the famous Blue Mosque was built in Tabriz.

Tabriz retained its administrative status under the Safavid dynasty until 1548 when Shah Tahmasp I relocated his capital westward to Qazvin. During the next two centuries, Tabriz changed hands several times between Persia and the Ottoman Empire. During World War I, the city was temporarily occupied by Turkish and then Soviet troops.

ABU/AFM