قسمت سوم) یک سرگرمی ملی ایرانی

Hello and welcome to the third episode of English Farsi Talk. Today, I am very excited to tell you all about one of the national hobbies of Iranian people, which is this: eating sunflower seeds!

Before we start, I must clarify one thing: this activity is not just about getting a snack. For us, it’s a very meaningful way to pass the time.

Now, let’s start with the basics. This is a sunflower seed. But I can’t eat it like this because there is a hard shell, there’s a hard cover around the kernel.

This hard cover is called a hull, H-U-L-L, and, of course, you can break it with your fingers …… but as you can see, that’s not very practical.

A much more efficient way is to crack and split the hull; crack and split. Here’s how: You take a sunflower seed between your thumb and index finger, like so, and you put the pointy side, between your upper and lower teeth and you gently press.

Now, of course, if you are new to this, you, you may completely crush the whole seed. Err, but don’t worry. You will learn if you practise a lot.

Once you manage to crack the hull, you can use your fingernails to… to split (voila!) to split the seed, to split the hull and get to the kernel.

This is a very good way, if you are new to this, but as you get more advanced, you will learn to rely on your teeth and tongue and not use both hands.

And, err, well, sunflower seeds are rich in fiber and protein so they are very good for you. But be careful, because we usually roast them with salt or dried lime to give them flavour. So don’t eat too much of them

And, eating sunflower seeds is especially popular with Iranians when we are watching sports or when we’re watching an exciting film.

So tell me if you have ever had sunflower seeds, if you have ever recommended it to anyone else and enjoy this wonderful pastime.