Faloodeh,
originally Paloodeh or Pālūde is an Iranian cold dessert consisting thin vermicelli noodles made from corn
starch mixed
in a semi-frozen syrup made from sugar and rosewater. It is
often served with lime juice and sometimes cherry juice. It is a
traditional dessert in Iran.
Paloodeh is originally from Shiraz and in Iran it is especially famous as
Shirazi Faloodeh.
Paludeh is one of the earliest
forms of cold desserts, existing as early as 400 BCE.The
name originally means smoothy (filtered). In Iran paludeh (faludeh) is sold in
ice cream stores (bastani) and in shops which specialize in preparing
this dessert.
The Sun Palace is located in Khorasan Razavi province
and is from the time of Nader Shah Afshar. It is believed to have been home to
the royal family although it seems unlikely anyone actually lived there prior
to Nader Shah’s death. In the center of this palace there is a tower enhanced
with fire architectural designs. The facade of this palace is cylindrical,
built of black marble. The palace stands 20 meters high and contains 12 rooms
decorated with paintings and ornamental works such as plaster moldings. This
palace was built in 1740 and sits on top of a tomb from the Ilkhanid period.
Its facade work was left unfinished due to Nader Shah’s sudden death. The main
area of the structure is founded on an octagonal ground floor 34 meters wide
and raised 4 steps high with a terrace constructed on each side.
The external facade is decorated with stones and images of vases, flowers,
leaves and fruits in 3D form and have been painted in non-native style. Judging
by the depictions of fruits such as bananas, pineapples and mangos on the
walls, the structure is possibly the work of Indian artists. These paintings
are left unfinished, because of the unclear state of affairs after the death of
Nader Shah. The internal area is adorned with attractive paintings on plaster
and a cornice on the dome, in gold, with the date of 1740 and a verse of Quran,
which reinforces the notion of it being a tomb.
The site consists of the cellar, the floor level and the cylindrical tower
supported by 66 columns. The cellar is the largest and contains 8 connecting
rooms. Some argue that these rooms were home to Nader Shah’s rare treasures
while others believe prisoners were kept there. The floor level consists of one
large central open area and small smaller side rooms. Regardless of its
original function, evidence suggests that during the early Qajar era it was
used as a residential headquarters. In fact it can be seen that some of the
Safavid artwork had been hastily plastered over with Qajar style art replacing
them. The surrounding garden stretches 168 meters long and 122 meters wide and
contains 8 pools with connecting streams and fountains.
