Awards

• Winner of Gourmand World Cookbook Awards (USA Only) (Wine History) 2007

Overview

Wine is seen as the natural partner of many great cuisines, but few people associate it with Persian food, one of the worlds most sophisticated culinary traditions. The ties, in fact, are age-old. This book weaves together history, poetry, a look at modern viniculture, and a wealth of recipes and wine pairings to celebrate the rightful relationship of wine and food on the Persian table. 'Whoever seeks the origins of wine must be crazy', a Persian poet once declared, implying that simple enjoyment of this greatest gift of the grape ought to be enough. Since he wrote those words, however, winemaking has been traced all the way back to the northern uplands of the Fertile Crescent some seven millennia ago, the start of a journey that would take it across the Near East and then into Europe in the dawning years of civilisation. Iran was one of the nurseries of the wine grape, and, as empires rose and fell there, princes, priests, poets and people in ordinary walks of life all embraced wine in various ways. After Islam came to Iran, wine drinking sometimes slipped from public view, but it never disappeared. In this lavishly illustrated book, Najmieh Batmanglij explores that long and eventful history, then shifts her story to Californias famed Napa Valley, half a world away. There, in a kind of up-to-the-minute homage to the past, an Iranian-American named Darioush Khaledi uses the latest vinicultural techniques to make superb wines at a winery reminiscent of Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the ancient Persian empire. The final section of the book offers 80 recipes, a guide to Persian hospitality, both old and new, and seasonal menus for various occasions. Grapes play a role in most of the recipes, whether in the form of the fruit, the leaf, the juice, the syrup, unripe grapes or their juice (verjuice), vinegar or wine. Although these recipes are presented for the modern table, they are traditional -- based on sources as various as a tenth-century Persian cookbook or the culinary archives of a sixteenth-century Persian court. The book has two special sections. One, written by Dick Davis, a leading authority on Persian literature, discusses the unique links between poetry and wine-drinking in Persian culture. The other, by wine-and-food expert Burke Owens, offers guidelines for pairing wine with the distinctive ingredients used in Persian cooking. He has also provided wine suggestions for each recipe.

Full Product Details

9781933823003

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Reviews

The definitive book on Persian cooking. Not just a recipe collection but a fond introduction to a culture and a fascinating cuisine. -- Los Angeles Times. Beautifully illustrated -- the recipes also pack a punch. I served Levantine Pilaf in pastry at a party and felt a genuine thrill as I cut into the golden dome... -- New York Times. A jewel of a book, rich in photography as well as in recipes. -- Washington Post.

Author Information

Najmieh Batmanglij was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. She received her Masters degree in the U.S., and has spent the last 25 years traveling through much of the ancient Silk Road region where she has worked with regional chefs and home cooks adapting authentic recipes to tastes and techniques in the West. She is the leading authority of Persian cuisine and the author of five cookbooks, including the best selling New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies described by the Los Angeles Times as the definitive Persian cookbook. She is a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier and has given lectures and taught cooking at a number of venues, including: The Culinary Institute of America, The International Association of Culinary Professionals, Harvard University, L'Academie de Cuisine, and The Smithsonian Institution. She lives in Washington, DC, where she teaches master classes in Persian and Silk Road cooking.

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