Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies

Najmieh Batmanglij

Description

Completely redesigned for today’s generation of cooks and food enthusiasts, the 25th Anniversary Edition of Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies by Najmieh Batmanglij; provides a treasure trove of recipes, along with an immersive cultural experience for those seeking to understand this ancient and timeless cuisine. This edition is a more user-friendly edition of the award-winning and critically acclaimed cookbook series which began in 1986. Food of Life provides 330 classical and regional Iranian recipes as well as an introduction to Persian art, history and culture. The book’s hundreds of full color photographs are intertwined with descriptions of ancient and modern Persian ceremonies, poetry, folktales, travelogue excerpts and anecdotes. The 2011 Edition of Food of Life is a labor of love. The book began in exile after the Iranian Revolution of 1979 as a love letter to Batmanglij’s children. Today, as accomplished adults in their own fields, her two sons, Zal and Rostam, encouraged her to redesign the book for their generation.
 
Food of Life propels Persian cooking into the 21st Century, even as it honors venerable traditions and centuries of artistic expression. It is the result of 30 years of collecting, testing and adapting authentic and traditional Persian recipes for the American kitchen. Most of its ingredients are readily available throughout the U.S. enabling anyone from a master chef to a novice to reproduce the refined tastes, textures, and beauty of Persian cuisine. Food-related pieces from such classics as the 10th century Book of Kings, and 1,001 Nights to the miniatures of Mir Mosavvar and Aq Mirak, from the poetry of Omar Khayyam and Sohrab Sepehri to the humor of Mulla Nasruddin are all included. Each recipe is presented with steps that are logical and easy to follow. Readers learn how to simply yet deliciously cook rice, the jewel of Persian cooking, which, when combined with a little meat, fowl, or fish, vegetables, fruits, and herbs, provides the perfect balanced diet.
 
The full-color Food of Life 25th Anniversary Edition contains 50% more pages than its 2009 predecessor and special added features:
*New Recipes adapted from Sixteenth-Century Persian cookbooks
*Added vegetarian section for most recipes
*Comprehensive dictionary of all ingredients
*A glance at a few thousand years of the history of Persian Cooking
*Master recipes with photos illustrating the steps.
*Color photos of most recipes with tips on presentation
*Updated section on Persian stores and Internet suppliers
*Fahrenheit and Centigrade temperatures for all recipes
*Choices for cooking recipes such as “kuku” in oven or on stovetop.
*Encourages use of seasonal and local ingredients from farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) sources or one’s own backyard
 
Batmanglij’s cookbooks reflect the tradition and culture of her Persian background and the multi-tasking demands of a busy mother and professional. She views preparing a meal not only as a culinary experience, but also as a means to bring family and friends together. She encourages her readers to do as she was taught in Iran: to cook, to laugh, to tell jokes and stories, and to recite poetry. Over the past quarter century, Batmanglij’s books have acted as both a beacon and a bible to Iranian-American and mixed-ethnicity families in the English-speaking world. Food of Life is one of the few volumes whose breadth ranges from the exacting measures that go into cooking a perfect bowl of rice to the intricacies of a traditional ancient Persian marriage ceremony. Her life and her work meet at the vortex of feminism, tradition, ceremony, and the nourishment of body and mind, proving that none of these concepts need be foreign to one another.
 
ABOUT PERSIAN FOOD  You know more about Persian food than you might think. When you ask for oranges, pistachios, spinach, or saffron, you are using words derived from Persian that refer to foods either originating in the region or introduced from there, for Persia was a great entrepôt of the ancient and medieval worlds. The land was the first home of many common herbs, including basil cilantro, and spices such as fenugreek and cumin, as well as vegetables that include fava beans and chickpeas. Iran was also home to scores of familiar preparations, including sweet and sour sauces, kababs, noodles, marzipan, and baklava. Such preparations are most delicious in their original forms, which you will find in the recipes in this book.
 
ABOUT THE PERSIAN NEW YEAR The publication of this book coincides with the arrival of the Persian new year, Nowruz. Nowruz is the most important holiday for Iranians all over the world. Nowruz ceremonies consist of a series of symbolic rituals dating back to pre-Islamic ancient times. Nowruz is not a religious holiday but a celebration of the earth, which everyone can enjoy wherever they are and whatever their religion may be. The Nowruz celebrationalways begins on the first day of spring marked by the vernal equinox, or Tahvil, when the sun crosses the celestial equator. This year Nowruz falls on March 20 at 7:21 PM Eastern DST. To welcome the new year, Iranians thoroughly clean and rearrange their homes. They buy new clothes, bake pastries, germinate seeds, color eggs, and prepare a menu of green dishes as signs of renewal. Troubadours, called Haji Firuz or “heralds of rebirth,” disguised with makeup and wearing red outfits, sing and dance through the streets with tambourines, kettle drums, and trumpets to spread good cheer and the news of the coming new year. In every Iranian household a ceremonial setting called sofreh-ye haft sinn is spread to symbolize rebirth and renewal, and to welcome the arrival of the new year (see page 562).
 
ABOUT THE USE OF PERSIAN AND IRANIAN IN FOOD OF LIFE All the recipes come from the land Europeans have long called Persia. That name is the Hellenized form of Pars, the southwestern province that was the homeland of the rulers of the first Persian Empire. They, however, called themselves Iranians and their country Iran, the name of their ancestral tribes. Nowadays the words are used interchangeably, describing a people whose civilization and cuisine are ancient indeed. Cooking plays important roles in every culture, but Persian cuisine can claim a relationship to its native land that is uniquely deep and intricate. This book celebrates the central place of food in the life of Iran, a story extending back almost 4,000 years, when recipes were first recorded in a cuneiform script on clay tablets.
 
ABOUT THE BOOK’S TITLE Food of Life, the title of the book, comes from the Persian words nush-e jan, literally “food of life”—a traditional wish in Iran that a dish will be enjoyed. For the updated 1993 edition the title was changed to New Food of Life. Now, for the 25th anniversary edition the title returns to its original name, Food of Life.

Sujets

• Cuisine
• Cuisine du monde
• Cuisine d'Asie
• La cuisine et son histoire
• Cuisine d'Europe
• Cuisine d'Europe
• Iran
• National
• History
• General
• Cooking
• Middle East
• Turkish
• General officer
• Iranian cuisine
• Middle Eastern
• Regional cooking
• Ethnic Cooking

Informations

• Publié par: Mage Publishers Inc.
• Date de parution: 27 janvier 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781949445275
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 372 Mo

Extrait

food of life


2








MAGE PUBLISHERS



FOOD OF LIFE


ANCIENT PERSIAN AND MODERN IRANIAN COOKING AND CEREMONIES


NAJMIEH BATMANGLIJ





Copyright © 1986, 2021 Najmieh Batmanglij
Acknowledgments, Credits, and Permissions are on pages 622 and 623.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher.
mage publishers inc.
chevy chase, md, usa
www.mage.com • [e-mail]
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Batmanglij, Najmieh, author.
Food of life : ancient Persian and modern Iranian cooking and ceremonies / Najmieh Batmanglij. — Fourth edition.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-933823-47-8 (fourth hardcover edition : alk. paper)
1. Cooking, Iranian. 2. Food habits—Iran. 3. Persian literature. 4. Iran—Social life and customs. I. Title.
TX725.I7B3713 2011
641.5955—dc22
2010042123
ISBN: 978-1-933823-47-8 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1-949445-13-8 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-949445-27-5 (ePub)
Hardcover Book Printed in Korea




To the memories of my mother and father and my past in Iran and to the future of my sons, Zal and Rostam





To fast and lead a frugal life
Was all I ever wished.
But the Food of Life’s temptation
Is too much—do not ask!
— Bos’haq Ata’meh, circa 1400





7


Please browse. I am very excited about this new edition. After thirty years of cooking outside of Iran, and in response to the input of my readers and fellow cooks, I have refined the structure of the book in general and each recipe in particular. With this edition I have unified, streamlined, and turned some of the recipes that began as my mother’s into my own. Most recipes now have a photograph of the finished dish facing them, and for some of the classics, such as saffron rice with golden crust, jeweled rice, fillet kabab or baklava, I have included step-by-step photos to guide you. I have also included vegetarian cooking variations for many of the recipes. Here and there are some of my food memories from my childhood in Iran. Colorful spreads with information about some classic Persian ingredients such as saffron, bitter orange (narenj), and the rose are scattered through the book. There are also some street food scenes from contemporary Iran. The first edition of Food of Life appeared when my sons, Zal and Rostam, were toddlers. Now, as grown men, they have inspired me to redesign the book and make it accessible for a new generation of readers and a broader audience.
None of the recipes requires cooking techniques that are unusual or difficult to learn. To help in planning, I’ve listed preparation and cooking times for each dish, indicated whether it can be made in advance, and noted how many people it will serve.
These days, almost all of the ingredients in the recipes are available at your local super- market—not the case in the 1980s. Those that might not be or that require preliminary preparations are marked with an asterisk, which indicates that they are discussed in How To Make and Store Kitchen Ingredients on page 529 and also in A Glossary of Ingre- dients, Terms and Persian Cooking Techniques on page 599. Please do check—even read through—the glossary: The entries describe the history of each ingredient and its use in Iran, and explain how to shop for it and how to prepare it. I suggest you try to find the original ingredients since they are widely available in the U.S. The guide to Iranian Stores and Restaurants on page 616 offers a comprehensive list of shops around the country that sell specialized ingredients. Several of them have a good Internet presence and can ship you whatever you need, wherever you are.
I want you to use this book to get together, to cook, to laugh, to tell jokes and stories, and to recite poetry, just as Iranians do. Nush-e Jan! literally “food of life”—a traditional wish in Iran that a dish will be enjoyed.
ask najmieh
Follow me on Instagram: @najmieh; or visit najmieh.com for current information; if you have any questions, you are welcome to e-mail me: [e-mail] .


on using this book









9



9


on using this book . . . . . . . . 7
preface . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
a few tips before you start cooking . . . . 15
appetizers & side dishes . . . . . . . 17
soups, oshes & porridges . . . . . . 67
dolmehs & vegetables . . . . . . 115
kukus & egg dishes . . . . . . . 133
meat, chicken & fish . . . . . . . 159
rice dishes, chelows & polows . . . . 225
braises & khoreshes . . . . . . . 293
desserts, pastries & candies . . . . . 351
breads . . . . . . . . . . . 429
preserves & pickles . . . . . . . 453
hot & cold drinks . . . . . . . . 489
snacks & street food . . . . . . . 513
how to make & store kitchen ingredients . 529
ceremonies . . . . . . . . . 547
appendices & glossaries . . . . . . 591
A Few Thousand Years of Persian Cooking at a Glance . . . . 592
A Glossary of Ingredients & Techniques . 599
Useful Kitchen Ingredients . . . . . 608
Mother’s Classification of “Hot” & “Cold” . 609
Persian-English List of Ingredients . . . 610
English-Persian List of Ingredients . . . 612
Glossary of Iranian Trees & Plants . . . 614
Menu Suggestions . . . . . . . 615
Equivalent Measures . . . . . . 616
Iranian Stores and Restaurants . . . . 617
Pages for Notes . . . . . . . 618–20
acknowledgments & credits . . . 622–623
index . . . . . . . . . . . 624
stories
Old Clothes and New Clothes . . . . 22
The Story of Yogurt . . . . . . . 2 3
The Eggplant Story . . . . . . . 42
A Poetic Recipe for a Savory Sanbuseh . . . 53
Hot Soup in the Winter . . . . . . 72
Duck Soup . . . . . . . . . 77
The Chickpea Story . . . . . . . 88
Memories of Making Noodles . . . . 9 8
Eating Steam ; The Smell of a Thought . . 111
If a Pot Can Multiply . . . . . . . 127
H ow Iranians Became Meat Eaters . . . 17 2
Journeys in Persia & Kurdistan, 1891 . . . 17 7
Eating Matter & Reading Matter . . . . 184
The Story of Saffron . . . . . . . 222
Cat & Mouse . . . . . . . . . 2 28
The Travels of Jean Chardin, 1686 . . . 2 35
Grocery Shopping, 1001 Nights . . . . 2 52
T he Barber’s Sixth Brother, 1001 Nights . . 2 61
Fair Exchange . . . . . . . . . 291
Memories of Qormeh Sabzi . . . . . 29 9
A Sweet & Sour Story . . . . . . . 325
Verbal Contest between Date Palm & Goat . 328
The Story of the Rose . . . . . . . 379
An Uninvited Guest . . . . . . . 384
The Cure . . . . . . . . . . 434
Poetic Discourse about Bread . . . . 4 41
King Khosrow & His Knight . . . . . 45 0
Seven-Year-Old Pickle . . . . . . . 473
The Turquoise-Blue Dome . . . . . 479
Jamshid Shah & the Discovery of Wine . . 500
How the Persians Went from Wine to Sherbet 50 3
Wine Prohibition According to Rumi . . . 504
The Black Dome . . . . . . . . 553


CONTENTS






food of life


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Food of Life is the result of thirty years of collecting and testing recipes and creating new techniques for cooking Persian food in the West. Its intended audience are those new to Persian food and culture, those who enjoy having creative fun in the kitchen, and gourmet cooks.
I have revised and added many new recipes to the original book. I have also added more color photographs to show how Persian dishes are as colorful as our most beautiful carpets and textiles. For us, feasting our eyes is the first pleasure of a good meal. My objective in writing this book was not 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—a particular feeling for the “delicate touch,” letafat —govern the art of Persian cuisine. I have tried to demonstrate this by including not only photographs of the dishes but also textiles, copper ware and pottery, miniatures, poetry, calligraphy, travelogues, and pieces from classical Persian literature, all related to food. I have tucked in among the recipes many pearls of Persian wisdom. I have explored the rich garden of Persian literature and art through the ages and have made a selection that ranges from a fourth-century Pahlavi language text describing a refined cuisine to the new, naturalistic poetry of Sohrab Sepehri.
I have described an Iranian wedding and some of our joyful holiday traditions—ancient ceremonies and rituals still maintained in various parts of Iran and now also continued by many Iranians living outside the country.
Persian food is a very important and integral part of Persian life and culture—so important that fruit and nuts are frequently used as metaphors for describing beauty. Farzaneh Milani tells us in her book Veils and Words, for example, “Moon-faced beauties have almond-shaped eyes, peachy complexions, pistachio-like mouths, jujube colored lips, hazelnut-like noses, red apple cheeks, and lemon- or pomegranate-like breasts—a mobile green grocery, if you will.”
The cuisine of any country i