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Let flavors from the Persian table warm you up this fall

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My mother was born in Tehran but her family came from Tbilisi.  From my grandmother’s years spent living in Iran, she picked up some dishes she then brought to Israel, passed them onto my mother and hence to me.  One is the very traditional rice dish, tadik, which features a bottom layer of crispy rice and often potatoes or even onions.

I thought I had an idea of what Persian food and flavors were like based on a few dishes my aunt and mother cook, but in the few days I’ve spent in the kitchen with my new friend Roshanak, we’ve only scratched the surface of the country’s rich and diverse cuisine.

Like Italy, Iran is comprised of many regions, all of which have their own specific dishes and ingredients, herbs and spices that typify the style of cooking in that area.

Roshanak Yousefian, personal chef and owner of Popilee Patisserie, invited me into her home to share some classic and lesser-known dishes.  From the north of Iran, Roshanak spent her childhood cooking and learning from the women in her family but recalls her aunt as the most influential in her culinary memories.

On day one, we made the widely known national dish Ghormeh Sabzi, a braised lamb stew where an abundance of freshly chopped herbs are the real feature of the dish. We also made a chopped shepherd salad and the aforementioned tadik.  

This time around, Roshanak shared her grandmother Tavous’ lentil and spinach soup, Naz Khatoun, a charred eggplant condiment seasoned with sour grape juice, herbs and angelica powder, a cucumber and pomegranate salad, and lastly a memorable tadik of basmati rice, fresh dill, fava beans and bottom layer of crisp romaine lettuce.  

Every time I cook with Roshanak, there’s a new discovery. For example, when she cleans a pomegranate, Roshanak fills a bowl with cold water and submerges the quartered fruit. Then, deftly and neatly, she pops the delicate seeds from their fibrous case with ease and without schpritzing the bright pink juice all over the kitchen and herself.

What's cooking, Danielle Rehfeld
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