Iranian (Persian) Cookbooks on Ashpazi-ye Irani (Persian Cuisine)

[Tan Can Cook]

I will start this topic with books on Ashpazi-ye Irani (Persian Cuisine) that are in my personal library. Then, in subsequent posts (where applicable), I'll mention the books that I've borrowed from my local library or returned purchases because the content(s) of the book(s) don't align with my cooking style, e.g. too "Americanized" or "overly simplified". Although those books might not fit for me—they might be what you're after and matches with your Persian cooking goals.

 

• Alikhani, Nasim, and Theresa Gambacorta. Sofreh: A Contemporary Approach to Classic Persian Cuisine. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2023.
• Batmanglij, Najmieh. Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies. 4th ed. Chevy Chase, MD: Mage Publishers, 2021.
• Batmanglij, Najmieh. Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes & Kitchen Secrets. 2nd Updated ed. Chevy Chase, MD: Mage Publishers, 2022.

 

Consider Najmieh Batmanglij to be the "Julia Child" of traditional Persian cooking. Her famous magnum opus Food of life debuted in 1986. From recent news, Najmieh Batmanglij opened restaurant alongside Michelin-starred chef Christopher Morgan called Joon based in Vienna, Virginia.

 

Nasim Alikhani is the chef and owner of the Persian restaurant of the same namesake—Sofreh—in Brooklyn, New York. In contrast to Najmieh's traditional Persian cooking, Chef Nasim's book is modernized and offers a contemporary interpretation of classic Persian foods.

[Smithy]

One of my best friends spent her teenaged years in Iran, and has been given this book recently:

 

Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

She hasn't cooked from it much, but so far we've liked what she's cooked from it. Have you tried its recipes?

[Tan Can Cook]

54 minutes ago, Smithy said:

One of my best friends spent her teenaged years in Iran, and has been given this book recently:

 

Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

She hasn't cooked from it much, but so far we've liked what she's cooked from it. Have you tried its recipes?

 

Hi Ms. Nancy. It's great to bump into you here.

 

I am aware of the book. I managed to check it out from my library about a year ago. For me, the recipes are more "Americanized fusion" and immensely friendly for beginners who started or wants to learn easy-to-cook Persian recipes. The author Naz Deravian communicates well with newcomers to Persian food.

 

Although I have not cooked any of Naz's recipes, what I did was compare the selective recipes from Bottom of the Pot to Food of Life. Naz's Joojeh Kabab recipe lacks further aromatic fragrances of rose water and lemon zest that appears in Food of Life. I am not trying to be too nitpicking—I prefer to smell perfumes. As it is what Iranian food is known for. The Iranians love saffron and put that spice into almost everything as well as rose water.

 

Even though Bottom of the Pot is not for me, it is a highly recommended book for beginners and budget friendly for ingredients wise. It's actually on my list to mention in a future post here in this thread. One time, months ago, I drove 76 miles round trip to another city, because the recipes in Food of Life and Cooking in Iran calls for: pomegranate molasses, grape molasses, and limoo amani (Persian dried limes), and golpar (a uniquely Persian spice).

Edited Saturday at 05:52 AM by Tan Can Cook
Edited to include another compulsory Persian ingredient called limoo amani (Persian dried lime). (log)

[Tan Can Cook]

These books are not part of my personal collection; however, I have had the opportunity to borrow them from my local library and review them briefly. I highly recommend conducting your own due diligence to ensure they align with your Persian cooking goals.

 

Highly Recommended: brand new copies are competitively priced and used, second-hand copies are easily available. Good balance of information on Persian culture and cuisine. Relatively budget-friendly on food ingredient(s). Contain recipes of popular menu items served at Persian restaurants.

 

• Heller, Leila Taghinia-Milani, Lila Charif, Laya Khadjavi, and Bahar Tavakolian. Persian Feasts: Recipes & Stories from a Family Table. London: Phaidon Press, 2024. 

• Deravian, Naz. Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories. United States: Flatiron Books, 2018.

 

Not Recommended: I personally find "memoir-style" cookbooks with excessive personal anecdotes—"too much talk"—abhorrent, unless the recipes and cooking techniques justify the cost. While these books may introduce you to Persian cooking, the previously recommended ones excel in writing, style, and balance. The recipes in the following books are overly simplified, often diluting flavors to cater to a broader audience unaccustomed to bold spice profiles, or recipes are mere templates or sparse versions.

 

In my opinion, these books are unnecessary when you have the works of Najmieh Batmanglij, a true culinary authority on Persian (Iranian) cuisine. Her Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies and Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes & Kitchen Secrets are invaluable and comprehensive resources, and many of these lesser books reference her works in their bibliographies.

 

• Bundy, Ariana. Pomegranates and Roses: My Persian Family Recipes. United Kingdom: Paisley Media Limited, 2018.

• Khan, Yasmin. The Saffron Tales: Recipes from the Persian Kitchen. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.

• Allahyari, Hamed, Dani Valent. Salamati: Hamed's Persian Kitchen—Recipes and Stories from Iran to the Other Side of the World. Australia: Allen & Unwin, 2022.

• Setareh, Saghar. Pomegranates & Artichokes: Recipes and Memories of a Journey from Iran to Italy. Australia: Murdoch Books Pty Limited, 2023.

• Shaida, Margaret. The Legendary Cuisine of Persia. United Kingdom: Grub Street Publishing, 2018.

• Shafia, Louisa. The New Persian Kitchen: [A Cookbook]. United States: Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed, 2013.

• Duguid, Naomi. Taste of Persia: A Cook's Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan. United States: Artisan, 2016.

Edited 1 hour ago by Tan Can Cook
Edited some typo to fit correct Chicago Manual of Style bibliographic entries. (log)

[Tan Can Cook]

Research Purposes Only: I also not recommend this book for cooking, but rather time travel reference book into the Safavid Era Persia (1501–1736). The translator is a Persian scholar and expert at University of Texas—Mohammad Reza Ghanoonparvar, PhD.

• Nurollah. Dining at the Safavid Court: Madatolhayat [The Substance of Life], 16th Century Royal Persian Recipes. Translated by Mohammad Reza Ghanoonparvar. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, Inc, 2017.

The author is Nurollah, chef to Shah Abbas I (1 October 1587 – 19 January 1629). The full original working title in Persian is Maddat ol-Hayat: Resaleh dar Elm-e Tabbakhi [The Substance of Life].

 

I took some pictures of excerpts from this book in case they intrigue someone to explore it further. The only reason this book didn’t make it into my personal collection is that I prefer to maintain a focused approach. I am already deeply immersed in learning and exploring regional Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi culinary traditions, including culinary arts from the Mughal-era Hindustan. Expanding beyond this scope would dilute the depth of my engagement with these cuisines.

 

The recipes highlighted in yellow text boxes are modernized versions. When I reached out to Dr. Ghanoonparvar, he responded via email on May 21, 2024:

 

Quote

Most pre-modern cookbooks do not provide precise measurements, and in the case of a book written by the chef of a royal place, when he provides measurements they are in very large amounts. The Persian measurement unit, “man,” for instance, which is the equivalent of 6 kilograms (in some Turkish provinces 3 kilograms) is occasionally mentioned. He was after all cooking for probably hundreds of courtiers. I have, as I state in the book, “modernized” the recipes and used my own knowledge to add measurements. By the way, before I learned how to write cookbooks, I never thought of measurements. I just poured ingredients in the pots and when my wife would ask how much, I just would tell her as much I just did. Even now, I still do not measure anything when I cook. I also don’t like to follow recipes in cookbooks. I hope all this makes sense to you.

 

Based on Dr. Ghanoonparvar's reply, I hope you can understand my hesitation in cooking the modernized recipes. Regardless, a fascinating read and culinary time travel to 16th century royal Persian court.

[Tan Can Cook]

• Baqdadi, Bavarchi. A Persian Cookbook: The Manual. Translated by Saman Hassibi and Amir Sayadabdi. London: Prospect Books, 2018.

 

The full original name in Persian is Karnameh dar Bab-e Tabbakhi va San'at-e An [Manual on Cooking and Its Craft] by Bavarchi Baqdadi. This is another fascinating "culinary time travel" cookbook, though I do not recommend cooking from it.

 

I wrote the following review on October 13, 2023:

 

This book is purely an academic and scholarly glimpse into the past. That's about it. I returned the book for a full refund. As a cook who is experienced with cooking Persian cuisine using Food of Life and Cooking in Iran by Najmieh Batmanglij, I am familiar and know my way around the Persian kitchen. As a cooking book, it is not "practical" in the sense that the instructions are written like prose. In other words, although you can clearly cook from the book, you will be doing the homework of restructuring and reformatting the prose into a modern-day recipe format.

 

This includes a full rewrite with a list of ingredients for the modern kitchen, along with minor unit conversions [conversions are in classical Persian units of measure]. If you enjoy that kind of process, by all means, you will probably enjoy this book. For me, I thought this book was translated and restructured and formatted into a modern-day recipe format. Nope! You've been warned. Purchase with caution. You'll more than likely have to flip back and forth to look up Farsi words used dispersed throughout the text.

Edited 1 hour ago by Tan Can Cook (log)