Each night of Ramadan, thousands of pilgrims come together to pray and break the fast at the holy shrine of Imam Reza, in Mashhad, Iran. It’s the world’s largest iftar, a meal eaten after sunset by Muslims observing Ramadan to break their daily fast. Cooking for such a crowd starts early and goes long. Over 400 volunteer chefs arrive at 5 a.m. to make culinary magic from 2 tons of fresh vegetables, 3 tons of meat and 4 tons of rice.

This Great Big Story was made possible by Wells Fargo: https://welcome.wf.com/renew/

SUBSCRIBE: https://goo.gl/vR6Acb

This story is a part of our Flavors series, where we do so much more than play with our food. Come with us as we dive into deliciously different and tastefully off-beat stories in the culinary world.

Got a story idea for us? Shoot us an email at hey [at] GreatBigStory [dot] com

Follow us behind the scenes on Instagram: http://goo.gl/2KABeX
Make our acquaintance on Facebook: http://goo.gl/Vn0XIZ
Give us a shout on Twitter: http://goo.gl/sY1GLY
Come hang with us on Vimeo: http://goo.gl/T0OzjV
Visit our world directly: http://www.greatbigstory.com