Iran Goes for Record With Huge Ostrich Sandwich

It has been stereotyped in mythology for burying its head in the sand and cited in proverbs as a model of bad parenting. But now the ostrich is to be reinvented as a symbol of culinary enlightenment in an Iranian mass cooking venture that could set a world record.

A team of chefs and their assistants will gather in Mellat park in central Tehran tomorrow to prepare what is being billed as the world's biggest ostrich sandwich, consisting of 1,000kg (2,205lb) of meat and stretching to a length of 1,500 meters.

Observers from Guinness World Records will be present to watch them try to smash the existing record of 1,378 meters, the Iranian news agency ILNA reported.

More than 1,500 people will participate in the attempt, which will start before dawn and is scheduled to be completed - appropriately - by lunchtime.

The venture is being organized by Tehran city council along with industrial ostrich farms and food and catering groups to promote the bird's meat as a popular delicacy in a country whose carnivorous tastes are largely confined to beef, lamb and, occasionally, camel.

Organizers say they want to create a new healthy eating culture and extol ostrich meat as low in fat and high in protein and iron. Ostrich is said to possess half the fat content of chicken and around one-third that of beef.

The giant sandwich - which will be the centerpiece of Tehran's second international food and health festival - will also highlight Iran's increasing investment in ostrich farming.

The country is the world's third largest breeder, after South Africa and China. There are believed to be around 130 Iranian ostrich farms, with local experts insisting that the country possesses the world's best climatic conditions for breeding.