Sohan or Sowhan is a traditional Iranian saffron brittle toffee. It is primarily produced in the cities of Qom and Esfahan. Its ingredients consist of wheat sprout, flour, egg yolks, rose water, sugar, butter or vegetable oil, saffron, cardamom and slivers of almond and pistachio. In Esfahan, honey is added to Sohan to substitute sugar producing a more brittle toffee which also has a shinier finish to that of the Sohan of Qom.
Pilgrims and travelers to the holy city of Qom purchase it and take it to their cities as a gift it is known as the Gift of Qom.
Sohan has been commercially produced by traditional confectioners for decades. It is brittle and caramel in color. It is usually made into thin disks of 5-6mm thickness, or as square bite-size pieces. It is usually packaged in intricately designed tin cylinders. In recent years other packages have also been common.
Source: Ramazani, Nesta (1997) Persian Cooking: A Table Of Exotic Delights Ibex Publishers, Inc. pp. 296 ISBN 9780936347776 http://books.google.com/books?id=GOidnQOUco0C&pg=PA232&dq=sohan+qum#PPA232,M1:232