From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persian Table [Hardcover]

Najmieh Batmanglij; Dick Davis; Burke Owens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

Wine is seen as the natural partner of many great cuisines, but few people associate it with Persian food, one of the world's 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 California's 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A lavishly illustrated book which presents a history of wine-drinking in pre-Islamic and Islamic Persia....An excellent chapter on Wine and Persian Poetry ....An account of the Darioush winery....A selection of recipes chosen to go with particular wines. --The Times Literary Supplement, Jan 25, 2007

This is much more than just another coffee table decoration about wine and food, or both. A lavishly illustrated volume, it is the third book written by Najmieh Batmanglij in her passionate promotion of Persian cuisine and, in this case, the rich and - despite Tehran's strict Muslim regime - continuing Iranian love affair with wine. --WINESTATE, Nov/Dec 2006

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 Cerimonies 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. She has spent the past 25 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.

DICK DAVIS is a poet, scholar and professor. He is also the foremost translator of Persian poetry as well as a poet who has published numerous volumes of his own poetry to critical acclaim, including: Belonging: Poems (the Economist magazines's 2002 poetry book of the year). He is currently professor of Persian at Ohio State University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

BURKE OWENS is Associate Curator of Wine at Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts in Napa, California, where he is responsible for Copia's many and varied wine programs, including wine education.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Mage Publishers (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933823003
• ISBN-13: 978-1933823003
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #410,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Middle Eastern

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History, culture, food and wine... all in one book!, January 13, 2008

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A. Blackburn (Los Angeles, Ca) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persian Table (Hardcover)

I have been enjoying "New Food of Life" for the past several years, and when I saw "From Persia to Napa" for sale at a vineyard in Napa, I knew I had to have it. While "New Food of Life" is primarily a cookbook sprinkled with wonderful bits of history, culture, poems, fables and Persian art, "From Persia to Napa" is a love story about wine. In the first half of the book, Ms. Batmanglij covers the history of wine, the evolution of wine and culture in Iran, and includes a long discussion of the new Darioush Winery in Napa Valley, with many vivid photographs. The second half of the book are persian recipes that she has designed specifically to be paired with wine. The recipes are in general designed for high-end meals. Most are accompanied by photographs which make my mouth water! At the end of the book she includes suggested menus for persian meals at different times of the year. This is an aesthetically wonderful book as well as being fascinating reading, and she has elevated it to much more than a book of recipes matched with wine.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persian Table, November 5, 2006

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Theresa Kepic - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persian Table (Hardcover)

This author continues to bring us beautiful books, reliable recipes and now pairing this wonderful wine with the food. Couldn't get better.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful, unique book, July 13, 2007

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V. Moberg (Hidden Valley Lake, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persian Table (Hardcover)

A beautiful way to learn some Persian history and culture, and the role that wine has played.