Description
Sholeh zard-a rice pudding brilliantly yellow and so peppery you'll find yourself gasping after eating it-is but one of the side dishes at Assal Pastry, a chic bakery in Irvine's Little Tehran enclave. The primary attraction here is cookies: dozens of just-baked trays that rely on different types of flour and infinite pistachio presentations rather than sugar for their sweetness. Purchase a pound of any cookie (cheap at $8), and Assal packages your order inside an emerald-green box that gives Tiffany's jewelry container a run for its color.
