Persian cuisine is healthy yet colorful like a Persian miniature, exotic yet simple like a poem by Omar Khayyam. It combines rice, the jewel and foundation of Persian cooking, with a little meat, fowl or fish; plenty of vegetables, fruit, nuts, herbs, and a delicate mix of spices such as rose petals, angelica seeds, dried limes, candied orange peels, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin and saffron to achieve a balanced diet that is uniquely Persian. Najmieh Batmanglij presents 95 exquisite recipes that are low in fat yet high in flavor. From her years in the South of France and the United States, the author has brought about a marriage of ancient Persian cooking, modern French Provencal food presentation, and contemporary American eating styles. The result is a feast for both the eyes and the taste buds. The recipes have been kitchen tested by both American and Persian chefs. They are intelligently written and easy to follow, one per page, each facing a magnificent photograph.
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.
