The Iranian meal unfolds on the "sofreh," a cloth spread on the floor or on the table where all dishes arrive together: fragrant rice, stews (khoresht), fresh herbs (sabzi), yogurt, bread, and drinks coexist. You take a little of everything, share, and the meal lingers over tea. There is no starter-main-dessert order: sweet and savory sit side by side, and hospitality ("mehmān-navāzi") demands that there always be more than enough.

Iran's red gold: a few pistils steeped in a little hot water color and perfume rice, desserts, and even drinks. The saffron from Khorasan, the region of Mashhad where Anousheh Ansari was born, is reputed to be the best in the world — a discreet thread of her homeland that she symbolically carried to the stars.