When Ernika Rabiei and Sean Nguyen first met in college at UC Davis three years ago, they became fast friends.
“I think after the second time we met, we started hanging out,” Nguyen tells TODAY.com over Zoom. “We went to the same club meetings.”
“Sean is one of my favorite people,” Rabiei tells TODAY.com. “He’s one of the most kind, smart and just fun people to be around.”
On Oct. 15, the pair’s friendship made hearts swell across the internet when Nguyen posted a video of the surprise he made for Rabiei: homemade pastries from Iran, her childhood home until she moved to the U.S. in 2012.
“A while back, my friend said she missed this pastry from her homeland, so I thought it would be a nice surprise if I made some for her,” Nguyen, who goes by @seann_cooks on social media, says in the now-viral video. “It took a few tries and I had to search for recipes in Farsi, but I was finally able to pull it off.”
He makes shirini danmarki, which Rabiei says means “sweets” or “dessert” from Denmark.
“Oh, my God!” she exclaims, close to tears, adding that the last time she had the sweet was in 2022. “These are pastries only found in Iran and like I have been craving them since the last time I had it.”
“I think you mentioned it once, like a year ago,” Nguyen replies. Then, Rabiei takes a bite.
“99.7% accuracy,” she says with a giggle.
Rabiei is so impressed she immediately FaceTimes her parents, and you don’t need to know Farsi to figure out how thrilled they are on the other end of the phone.
“They were really impressed,” she says, smiling.
The emotional moment garnered millions of views on Instagram and TikTok. In the comments, most people are applauding the sweet gift.
“Another day crying for strangers on the internet,” wrote one Instagram user.
“oh to be loved like this. platonically or romantically, idc,” wrote another.
“Perfect example of being a friend who listens and cares,” wrote someone else, this time on TikTok.
“Ok but can you imagine being this woman’s family?” wrote another TikTok user. “Knowing your daughter/sister/niece is so far from home and worrying constantly about her. And then one day, she calls and tells you this? The relief they must feel knowing someone is taking care of their baby, that someone cares enough to do this for her?”
Describing the pastry, Rabiei says it is “the perfect combination of saffron, rose water and light sweet cream,” and was a staple treat for her as a kid. “The filling is not creamy, but it’s not gelatinous. It’s like the perfect in-between, like jam. And then the sesame on top just gives it an earthy taste. … Not too sweet, but it’s not bland either.”
Nguyen later posted a recipe for the many folks asking how to make the pastry for themselves, using rose water, saffron, vanilla and more to create the dessert.
Rabiei says she thought it was “really impressive” how, even though Nguyen has never been to Iran to try the real thing, he was able to achieve something so accurate.
“Looking at the comments, people were saying, ‘Oh, my God, you’re such a good friend,’ but to be honest, I don’t think I did that much,” Nguyen says. “I think anyone can do things like this, so I really hope more people do things for friends to make sure they know that you love them.”
Nguyen says that he’s “not great” at expressing how he feels vocally, so he was happy he was able to express his love for his friend through baking. “Maybe the only way I know how,” he jokes.
But his message of love was heard loud and clear by Rabiei.
“I did only mention it to him once, and it was a time where I was feeling really down, and the only things that were comforting were food from home,” she says. “The fact that he could even find the recipe and make it … I felt like a little girl in Iran eating shirini danmarki again. I felt incredibly at home.”
