Cooking in Iran:
Regional Recipes & Kitchen Secrets (2nd Edition)
Reviews From the Washington Post, 11/06/18: Najmieh Batmanglij is the grande dame of Iranian cooking. It’s time you knew her name “Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes & Kitchen Secrets,” out now from Mage Publishers, is the culmination of tens of thousands of miles of travel through Iran she conducted in three stints each year since 2015. She gathered 250 recipes, mostly from women, along the way.” ———- From the New York Times,10/02/2018: Best Cookbooks of Fall 2018 Najmieh Batmanglij has written eight cookbooks about the cooking of Iran (and its ancient predecessor, Persia), where she was born and lived until 1979. But “Cooking in Iran” (Mage, $65), her magisterial new book, is the first for which she was able to return and travel freely around the country with notebook and camera. The result is an engrossing visual feast of modern Iran, its food and its people, from fish markets in the north piled with fresh Caspian salmon; through farmlands planted with pomegranates, pistachios and crocuses for saffron; to the Indian spices of the Persian Gulf region. With 400 accessible recipes, plus culinary history, ethnography and deep dives on ingredients like smoked rice and barberries, “Cooking In Iran” is an essential new book. JULIA MOSKIN From American Library Association, Booklist, 10/04/2018: This immense volume, full of lush photographs of cities, restaurants, landscapes, and beautifully prepared food, offers a culinary tour of Iran. Divided into chapters according to region, the book’s sections offer not only recipes but also histories of cooking styles, ingredient preferences, and food cultures. Batmanglij was born in Iran but has lived much of her adult life in France and the U.S., and she writes a travel diary alongside her recipes, bringing to her subject deep familiarity as well as rekindled wonder. Many of the dishes (barley and tahini soup, sweet gingerbread crackers) may not be familiar to the average American reader, and some of the recipes include instructions (“Dig a round pit”) impossible for the average home cook. But this book is not about how to make unfussy and quick meals. Rather, it is a study of a nation’s food, a reference text preserving ingredients, techniques, and traditions for future generations. — Maggie Taft ———- From Publishers Weekly,10/01/2018: Batmanglij (Joon: Persian Cooking Made Simple), who grew up in Iran and has written extensively of the country’s cuisine, offers a massive and thorough guide to Persian cuisine.[read more>>]
