Iran’s food, much like its arts, language and culture, is quite subtle. No exploding flavours here. Just a sublime hint of what lies beneath and the rest is left to the gastronome to savour. Matter of fact, many Pakistanis tend to describe it as pheeka (too plain). Perhaps this is a grave injustice, for if the chillou kebab served up at one of Karachi’s famed Iranian cafes is anything to go by, Iranian cuisine is anything but bland.

Located near Saddar’s Lucky Star Chowk, off Daud Pota Road, New Café Subhani is surrounded by traffic, smog and mostly bolted up, ramshackle structures, while the parking situation is, frankly, abysmal. But just as a book must not be judged by its cover, a restaurant should not be judged by its surrounding environment, however uninviting.

For the most part, the café serves up the regular fare – varieties of daal, meat and vegetable curries, biryani, etc – that other mid-range establishments offer. But what sets it apart is the fact that in a small, secluded corner of the menu, under the heading ‘dishes for foreigners,’ lie a small range of chillou dishes.

Chillou, according to Abass Subhani, the chap behind the counter this writer talked to, is a Farsi term for a method of cooking rice, similar to the Urdu word pulao. Hence just as in the cuisine of the subcontinent where we have variations such as mutter pulao, murgh pulao, chana pulao, our Iranian friends have come up with such dishes as chillou kebab, chillou murgh, chillou mahi, etc.

According to good old Wikipedia, chillou is “rice that is carefully prepared through soaking and parboiling, at which point the water is drained and the rice is steamed.”

But what good are definitions if one doesn’t try the real deal? So off we went.

It was well past lunchtime and it was quite difficult to find seats for our small band of gastronomic adventurers. The place was abuzz with the chatter of numerous diners from all walks of life, wolfing down piping hot fare with great relish. The alluring scent of chicken tikka being barbequed outside wafted into the premises, whetting our appetites. A colleague opted for chillou mahi (fish), while I opted for chillou makhsoos (a combination of chillou kebab and chillou murgh, or chicken … why not have the best of both worlds?), while a third friend went for anda ghotala (a heavenly dish of curried fried eggs).

This was the moment of truth, for even though I have been a dedicated votary of chillou kebabs since time immemorial, my colleagues weren’t convinced. However, when the waiter brought out our orders, I stood vindicated. In the middle of the platter was a mound of fragrant, fluffy rice – the notorious chillou – crowned with a cube of butter, surrounded on one side by a long, barbequed seekh kebab and boneless barbequed chicken pieces on the other. On the side was a steamed tomato, along with three or four sickly looking French fried potatoes.

The meal was delightful. The fragrant kebab had a lovely flavour, the type which only comes from being barbequed on charcoal, while the chicken pieces were lightly marinated, unlike in some other establishments, where the chicken tikka is so spicy one needs the fire brigade to keep things under control.

The only letdown was the fries, as they were a bit slimy and quite yellowish-orange. As a friend commented, they seemed to be dipped in haldi (turmeric). And the rice? It was simply in a league of its own. A colleague protested about the amount of calories the cube of butter would add. Bah! Humbug! I feel something would be lacking in the totality of chillou kebab without the butter. Excess calories are a small price to pay for good food!

The chillou mahi was quite a treat as well, with fresh fried pomfret sitting comfortably on a bed of rice. This writer also tried the Afghani pulao, thinking it might be a version of the famed Kabuli pulao. Alas, there was not a raisin or silvered carrot in sight, as what I got instead was beef biryani (delicious, though with beef spelt as ‘beaf’). A small oversight perhaps, but the meat was remarkably well-cooked and the biryani was better than most of the over-spiced chicken concoctions available in the market.

Mr Subhani, himself an Iranian, told me that his uncle bought the place in 1961 from a Sindhi gent. It was earlier known as Bismillah Hotel and it wasn’t until his father took charge in the late seventies that Iranian cuisine was introduced. He said the chillou dishes served up at the café aren’t 100 per cent authentic and have been adjusted to please the Pakistani palate.

One only wished there was an Iranian chai khana nearby where one could wash down the meal with strong tea and preferably lie down for a bit to help digest the feast.

It’s going to be a stormy spring for the 27-nation European Union. And French President Nicolas Sarkozy will probably be responsible for much of the turbulence.

Until autumn last year, Sarkozy was the undisputed new star of the EU firmament, overshadowing other European leaders as he jet-setted across the Atlantic to mend fences with US President George W Bush, vowed tough reforms to modernise the French economy and courted a glamorous Italian model-turned-singer after divorcing an equally glamorous second wife.

At the EU summit in Brussels on March 13-14, however, it was clear Europe’s fascination with the French leader has started to wane.

Crucially, Sarkozy appears to have made the near-fatal error of crossing swords with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the 27-nation bloc’s uncrowned and much-respected queen.

Reports have it that Merkel is uncomfortable with Sarkozy’s hyperactive and publicity-seeking behaviour and his over-familiar personal style. The French say their boss finds Merkel too cautious and too ponderous.

To count in Europe, it is essential to be on good terms with Germany, the EU’s largest, richest and most powerful country. Without close cooperation between France and Germany, progress within the EU on important issues comes to a grinding halt.

The French president and the German chancellor worked hand in hand at the EU summit last summer to forge a compromise on the EU’s reform treaty. But Merkel was irritated when Sarkozy took sole credit for the deal.

More recently, Sarkozy appears to have given an almost-deadly blow to the mythical Franco-German “locomotive” by keeping Berlin out of the loop as he paraded a plan for a so-called “Mediterranean Union” grouping the EU’s southern nations with their poorer neighbours on the other side of the Mediterranean.

Merkel and her aides were initially unperturbed by the blueprint, believing it would never see the light of the day. But as the French drive gathered momentum over the last few weeks, German and French diplomats have squabbled openly — and fiercely — over the aims and parameters of the new Mediterranean alliance.

At the EU summit in Brussels, Merkel firmly watered down the French proposal by insisting it should include all EU states, not just the southern countries. The move reflected German fears that France wanted the project as a counter to Berlin’s growing influence in central Europe. Merkel also objected to a regional body which was limited to the EU’s southern states.

The German chancellor therefore made sure the Mediterranean Union plan approved at the EU summit in Brussels included no references to funds or aid projects.

Sarkozy raised the plan during last year’s French election campaign to try and reassert French influence in North Africa while also seeking to keep Turkey out of the EU. The French leader said the proposed Mediterranean Union would be the best place for Turkey.

The new version of the plan adopted by EU leaders provides little more than a new political umbrella over the existing Euro-Mediterranean partnership, launched in 1995 in Barcelona.

The French president was also firmly put in his place by the Germans — and others — over his suggestions that EU leaders should express support for the currently over-strong euro and reduce value added taxes on environmentally-friendly green products.

Most importantly Sarkozy’s support for appointing former British prime minister Tony Blair as the bloc’s first-ever “president” — a post created under the new EU reform treaty set to implemented next year — has raised eyebrows across most of Europe.

Blair is not viewed as “European” enough to take on such a high-profile role. Instead, many would prefer Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, an old-fashioned Euro “federalist”, to get the job.

Others suggest that Merkel would be right for the task — and probably needs a respite after years spent as head of her fractious right-left coalition government.

Sarkozy’s European troubles come hot on the heels of declining popularity at home where his centre-right party has been trounced in local polls by the rival socialists.

His approval rating dipped to 33% at the beginning of the year and has only recently edged up to 42%.

The conventional wisdom in Paris is that the French leader has been politically damaged by his very public divorce in October last year and remarriage less than four months later. His “nouveau riche” style has also upset a population obsessed with the rising cost of living.

Given his erratic conduct and penchant for unilateral initiatives, EU policymakers now expect the worst when France takes charge of the bloc’s rotating presidency for six months, starting on July 1.

With Sarkozy in charge, many in Brussels fear the next half-year may be full of unexpected — and unpleasant — surprises. But, others contend the recent summit may have finally taught the French leader the importance of consulting his EU colleagues — especially the iron lady in Berlin.