Happy Nowruz: Cooking with Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year [Spiral-bound]

Najmieh Batmanglij (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 4, 2008

Nowruz--the Persian New Year--is one of the world's great festivals, a full month of activities celebrating the earth, the arrival of spring, and the rebirth of nature. Most of all, it is a festival for families. Children and adults alike can share in preparing special meals, decorating the house, and performing the many ceremonies that welcome the New Year. This book is a guide to customs thousands of years old yet as vital as ever--enjoyable for families no matter where they live or what their beliefs.

Happy Nowruz offers twenty-five fun, easy, and innovative Nowruz recipes, with lots of photos to show you what to do. This is an ideal guide for parents, teachers, and kids--age six and older--to know more about the origins of Nowruz and to get everyone involved in preparing for the arrival of spring by:
baking Haji Firuz cookies
germinating seeds in eggshells
coloring eggs
making a Nowruz garland
jumping over fires
setting the Haft-sinn (seven-s) holiday table
planting narcissus and hyacinth bulbs
selecting and buying goldfish
banging spoons for trick-or-treating
cooking the Nowruz dinner
enjoying the Outdoor Thirteen picnic

Each book is shrinkwrapped with a stainless steel cookie cutter in the shape of the herald of the New Year--Haji Firuz--for making and decorating Haji Firuz Gingerbread Cookies.

THE NOWRUZ TRADITION
Preface 9
An Ancient Tradition 11
Celebrate Spring 13
The Arrival of Haji Firuz 14
Preparing for Nowruz 17
Activities to Welcome Nowruz 19
Preparing Sprouts 21
Eggshell Sprouts 23
Egg Decorating 25
Coloring Eggs 27
A Nowruz Garland 28
Wild Fire Eve 31
The Banging of Spoons 33
Feasting and Fun 35
Nowruz Holiday Table 36
Seven Items 39
Other Elements of the Nowruz Table 41
Gathering to Welcome Nowruz 43
Old Signs of Spring 45
The Transit of Years 47

My Nowruz Menu 48
Nowruz Sweets 49
A Round of New Year's Visits 51
The Outdoor Thirteen Picnic 53

NOWRUZ RECIPES
When Children Cook 55
Flabread 57
Flatbread Pizza 59
Cheese, Fresh Herb, Fruit, and Nut Sandwich 61
Fresh Herb Kuku with Barberries 63
Noodle Soup 65
Yogurt and Cucumber Dip 67
Red Rice with Green Beans 69
Green Rice 71
Fish Strips 73
Haji Firuz Gingerbread Cookies 75
Nowruz Cupcakes 77
Cream Puff 79
Cinnamon Date Bun 81
Chewy Raisin Cookies 83
Walnut Kiss Cookies 85
Almond Candy Cookies 87
Rice Cookies 89
Sweet Almond Berries 91
Four-Leaf Clover Cookies 93
Honey Almond Candy Crunch 95
Baklava 97
Puff Pastry Tongues 99
Pomegranate Popsicles 101
Crunch Cream Ice Cream Sandwich 103
Sour Cherry Cooler 105

THE CALENDAR APPENDIX
A New Year Is Born 108
The Iranian Year - Counting the Days 109
Naming the Months 111
A Legacy of the Chinese Zodiac 113
The Animal Cycle of Years 114
Useful Kitchen Tools 116
Haji Firuz Cookie Cutter Template 117
Credits & Acknowledgments 119

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Combining a cookbook format with straightforward, informational text, this amply illustrated title offers a detailed introduction to the history and customs surrounding Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Beginning spreads cover the holiday’s historical roots and traditional preparations, outlined in clear explanations and activities broken down into highlighted steps. Later pages focus on recipes, starting with safety cautions for both adults and children. From flatbreads to fish strips to Popsicle desserts, the featured dishes adhere to international kid tastes. The covered spiral binding allows pages to remain open while cooking, and the uncluttered, attractive format, featuring color photos of kids in the kitchen and whimsical illustrations, will attract interested browsers. Much more than just a recipe collection, this compendium of customs and cookery about a holiday rarely covered in books for youth will be of great value. Grades 4-8. --Gillian Engberg

Review

"Combining a cookbook format with straightforward, informational text, this amply illustrated title offers a detailed introduction to the history and customs surrounding Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Beginning spreads cover the holiday's historical roots and traditional preparations, outlined in clear explanations and activities broken down into highlighted steps. Later pages focus on recipes, starting with safety cautions for both adults and children. From flatbreads to fish strips to Popsicle desserts, the featured dishes adhere to international kid tastes. The covered spiral binding allows pages to remain open while cooking, and the uncluttered, attractive format, featuring color photos of kids in the kitchen and whimsical illustrations, will attract interested browsers. Much more than just a recipe collection, this compendium of customs and cookery about a holiday rarely covered in books for youth will be of great value." --Booklist, Gillian Engberg

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 120 pages
• Publisher: Mage Publishers; 1st edition (February 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193382316X
• ISBN-13: 978-1933823164
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #345,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Middle Eastern

More 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 book FROM PERSIA TO NAPA: WINE AT THE PERSIAN TABLE was 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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, April 29, 2008

By 

R. K (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Happy Nowruz: Cooking with Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year (Spiral-bound)

I love that this cookbook has traditional recipes and information about the Persian New Year. The photos and descriptions are terrific. My only complaint is that some of the recipes have ingredients that are not easy to come by, and no substitutions are noted (nor is there info on whether some of the minor, hard to find ingredients could be omitted, if necessary).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book !!, April 3, 2008

By 

Jnazar (South Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Happy Nowruz: Cooking with Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year (Spiral-bound)

I have been celebrating NooRooz with my Persian family for 27 years. This children's book is beautifully written with the meanings and symbols of the holiday explained. The recipes are authentic and the illustrations of the children cooking make this a wonderful family book. My children are grown now, but I bought this book for my daughter, who is expecting her first child and set up her first Haft Sein in her own home this year. I know she will enjoy using it with her family in years to come.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book for children!!!...., March 18, 2008

By 

B. Marling (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Happy Nowruz: Cooking with Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year (Spiral-bound)

... and for adults like me who want to have fun in the kitchen!

A beautiful book to share with the whole family. "Happy Nowruz" gives you everything you need to celebrate the arrival of spring and the Persian New Year -- kid-friendly recipes for pomegranate popsicles and cinnamon date buns, the history and traditions of the celebration in Iran, the laying of the Nowruz Table with decorated eggs and goldfish (a symbol for the beginning of creation).

A bounty of refreshing ideas for drawing the family together. A perfect blend of cooking, art, poetry, mythology and all the stuff of life worth celebrating with the people you love.

I followed the Lubia Polow (a red rice and chicken dish) recipe with my roommates to great success. Everyone loved it! (and thought I was a culinary genius)

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to have a good time making delicious food!