Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12935 in Books
• Published on: 1992-12-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 440 pages

About the Author
Introducing people to the pleasures of Persian cuisine has been a lifelong mission for Najmieh Batmanglij. Her New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies was called "The definitive book of Persian cooking" by the Los Angeles Times, and her Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey was selected as one of the Vegetarian Cookbooks of 2004 by the New York Times. Her latest book, FROM PERSIA TO NAPA: WINE AT THE PERSIAN TABLE will be published in September 2006. She has spent the past 26 years traveling, teaching cooking, and adapting authentic Persian recipes to tastes and techniques in the West. She is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and has taught and lectured throughout the United States. She currently lives in Washington, DC, where she is teaching master classes in Persian cooking and is working on a new book for children to cook with the family.

Customer Reviews

Stunningly beautiful cookbook
I have to admit, this may not be the most practical cookbook out there. It does feature some tough-to-find ingredients (such as "barberries," "Persian lime powder", etc.), and there are a lot of kebab type recipes that call for grilling - not the most practical for a busy weeknight cook. Some of the recipes here will require a commitment of time. However, that said, there are also many recipes here that are not too complicated, and a lot of very unique and exciting dishes: truly a culinary adventure. The "Khoresh" chapter is especially exciting to me - one pot meals that use exciting flavor combinations like dried or fresh fruits with meat and vegetables, reminiscent of the Moroccan tagine. If you're on a budget, there are also several ground-meat and egg dishes here, which are easy on the wallet. This book includes a huge number of recipes, all courses and with meat, poultry, fish, and protein-rich vegetarian options. The photographs are the most amazing I have ever seen in a cookbook. This is a very high quality book, and worth the bit more it may cost than other cookbooks. If you are interested in exotic flavor combinations and either willing to skip the ones with hard-to-find ingredients or track them down on the internet, this book will bring you much pleasure to both browse through and cook from.

Your own Persian restaurant at home
If you can get the ingredients--and these days there are Arab/Persian food stores in most cities--you will not go wrong with this book. It's totally authentic food, cooked the way they cook at home in Iran. Persian food, if you happen not to have tried it, is unusual--pomegranates, compotes of greens, meat and fruits in same dish, pistachios, saffron and rose water --but always delicious and kind to the stomach. Beautifully set out, clear instructions, mouth-watering photos. Highly recommended both as cookbook and as guide to a vital part of Persian culture (they take their cuisine very seriously, and rightly so!)

authentic
Original recipes in this book are not only colorful but very tasty. Iranians sure know how to cook a meal. It's nice to see someone take such pride and effort in compiling a book as varied, complete, and beautiful as this one.