Cookbook review: 'Food of Life'
Persian cuisine has survived Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and the conquest of Islam. So I figured I couldn鈥檛 do too much damage by trying out a recipe or two myself.
Armed with Najmieh Batmanglij鈥檚 gorgeous cookbook, 鈥�,鈥� I marched into the supermarket to find pomegranate molasses, saffron, and barberries.
Alas, I was in Vermont. In the winter. Nary a pomegranate seed to be found. I did find saffron 鈥� in the Mexican aisle. The featherweight package cost almost as much as an upscale lunch in Boston.
Barberries? I didn鈥檛 even know what those were. (It wasn鈥檛 until later that I discovered the helpful appendices Batmanglij provides, which include a glossary and a list of Persian grocery suppliers around the US and Canada. There you can read that barberries are a small, tart red fruit.)
But I was undeterred 鈥� and hungry to know something about Iran besides its controversial nuclear program, which I deal with frequently as the Monitor鈥檚 Middle East editor.
With some creativity, and the lenience of my family and our guests 鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like you鈥檙e cooking for the shah,鈥� my husband reminded me 鈥� we pulled off a respectable version of Jeweled Rice and Pomegranate Khoresh with Chicken, a braised meat dish (see photo).
At a time when the US media seem to have forgotten that there are actual people living in Iran 鈥� , falling in love, nourishing their friends and families 鈥� it could be worthwhile for Americans to get a taste of daily life there.
That has been a key objective for Ms. Batmanglij. The author of five Persian cookbooks, she is from Tehran but has lived in exile since the 1979 Iranian revolution ushered in a theocratic regime. She retains a clear affection for her country, however.
As she says in her preface, her objective with 鈥淔ood of Life鈥� was 鈥渘ot just to compile a collection of recipes, however delicious they might be, but to share my view of the best of Persian culture. I believe that the same qualities that govern the Persian arts 鈥� a particular feeling for the 鈥榙elicate touch,鈥� letafat 鈥� govern the art of Persian cuisine.鈥�
She elaborated on that in a recent phone conversation with me from her kitchen in America鈥檚 capital, where many congressmen and think tank analysts are pushing for increasingly harsh measures against the Iranian regime.
鈥淎bove all, I wanted Iran associated with good things 鈥� pomegranates, saffron, pistachios,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 wanted to show the best of Iran.鈥�
She does that through gorgeous full-page photographs that include not only beautiful meals but everything from Persian pottery to Persian poetry, revered for centuries 鈥� not least of all as a way to express one鈥檚 feelings at times of political repression.
鈥淭raditionally people couldn鈥檛 express themselves directly so they would use poetry to speak in metaphor,鈥� says Batmanglij, adding that it is so engrained in Iranian society that her mother would even scold her with poetry.
鈥淎s soon as Iranians get together they cook, tell jokes, laugh, dance, tell poetry,鈥� she says 鈥� and that is what she hopes the owners of her cookbook will do.
The book started out as a love letter to her two sons when they were just babies and the family was living in exile. Now young men, one a filmmaker and the other a member of the indie rock band , they encouraged her to update it for their generation.
鈥淢om, welcome to the 21st century. Your book is old,鈥� she recalls them saying. They helped her restructure and redesign it, adding instructional photographs for some of the more complicated steps.
For those new to Persian cooking, she suggests Fresh Herb Kuku, a frittata, and an adapted 16th -century recipe for pistachio meatballs. She takes the opportunity to exult in the size and color of green California pistachios. 鈥淚 was so impressed,鈥� she says, noting that the seeds of California鈥檚 鈥�Kerman鈥� pistachios came from Iran. (Proof here in .) When you put it on the table, you can say, 鈥�nush-e jan鈥� 鈥� which means 鈥渇ood of life,鈥� and is roughly equivalent to 鈥渂on app茅tit.鈥�
If you want to try the real thing 鈥� and meet some real Iranians 鈥� consult the appendix on Persian restaurants in North America. (At Persian Lala Rokh restaurant in Boston, we were treated not only to sumptuous food but a 15-minute oral tour of the Azerbaijan region of Iran, beginning at the Caspian Sea where fresh fish is caught every afternoon and moving through rice fields, luscious citrus groves, and tea plantations.)
The pickings for Persian restaurants are fairly slim, however. Why is that? Who could resist slightly sweet saffron rice bejeweled with thinly sliced pistachios and slivers of carrot and orange rind?
A key reason is that Iran doesn鈥檛 share the same restaurant tradition as the US. Persian food is eaten at home, while restaurants carry foreign foods like pizza and hamburgers.
But it鈥檚 also political. After the revolution in 1979, during which Iran kept 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, it was 鈥減olitically incorrect鈥� to open an Iranian restaurant in the US, says Batmanglij, who says some outlets brand themselves simply as 鈥淢iddle Eastern鈥� even if their cuisine is purely Iranian.
鈥淗opefully things will change little by little,鈥� says Batmanglij.
Yes, barberry by barberry.
鈥� Christa Case Bryant is the Monitor's Middle East editor.
