Persian Cooking Review Cookbook

Persian Cooking is a collection of 322 authentic recipes from one of the world's oldest culinary traditions. Clear and concise instructions make the dishes turn out exactly as they are supposed to.

Persian cooking is based on vegetables, fruits, grains and meat used in subtle and varied combinations. The food is neither highly spiced nor hot but seasoned with herbs. It is very nutritious. Many of the dishes are suitable for vegetarians and in many others, meat may be easily omitted.

The dishes can be made from ingredients found in almost any store. A guide to specialty stores is also included.

As has often been observed, rice preparation defines the quality of the Persian chef. It is covered here in detail.

Half Persian and half English, Nesta Ramazani has lived in both countries, making her uniquely qualified to offer these recipes. During a one year return visit to Iran, she picked the brains of both professional chef and housewife. She also consulted Rosa Montazemi’s Classical Persian language cookbook, Honar-e Ashpazi. Back in America, she tested and tried out hundreds of the dishes and rendered the recipes to exact American measurements and timing.

The author observes: "Here is a culinary art so highly developed that the most lowly vegetable can taste divine, every meal can be a gastronomic treat, every cook a creative artist."

Mrs. Ramazani also includes a historical and cultural introduction to the food of Persia. The background of many of the dishes are also explained through engaging anecdotes.

Included are:

322 recipes from all regions of Iran: soups, ashes, stews (khoresht and khorak), dolmehs, boranis, vegetables, salads, rice dishes (pollos and chelos), kababs, breads (nan), sweets, desserts, sharbats and pickles (torshis).
Photographs of prepared dishes.
A glossary of Persian culinary terms.
A guide to grocery stores outside of Iran where hard-to-find ingredients may be obtained.
A historical and cultural guide to Persian cuisine.

Back of Book:

If Scheherazade had to depend on her culinary imagination to persuade the King to spare her, she doubtless would have told him about recipes such as these. "There is a succulent dish", she might have begun, "called Shirin Pollo, wherein rice is enfolded with strips of chicken, sweetened orange peel, pistachios and almonds.." On nights to follow she might whet his appetite with Fessenjoon, chicken stewed in Pomegranate syrup and walnuts, or Meat and Parsley Soup with Green Plums, Roast Partridges in Cream, Lamb Hearts with Cinnamon or Cranberry and October Bean Soup.

After she had delved into the kookoos (souffles), the kebabs, the dolemahs, the game birds, vegetables, salads, breads and pickles, she might turn to the sweets- Elephant's Ears, Persian Marzipan, Sweet Fingers, the sherbets and cold sweet drinks. She would soon have the King eating out of her hand, for Persian cuisine offers something for even the most sophisticated of gourmets in search of new epicurean delights.

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Nesta Ramazani, something of a Scheherazade of the kitchen herself, has cooked many more than 1001 Persian meals for her Persian husband, family and friends. Half English and half Persian, she has lived in both countries, making her uniquely qualified to offer these recipes. During a one-year return visit to her homeland, she not only feasted and tasted, but pried many a secret from Persian cooks and house-wives. Back in America, she tested and tried out hundreds of dishes with friends and finally rendered the recipes to exact American measurements and timing.

The oldest cuisine known to man, Persian cooking is based on lamb, fruits, vegetables and grains, used in subtle and varied combinations. The food is neither highly spiced nor hot but seasoned with herbs. It is very nutritious and very economical requiring minimum amounts of meat. Many dishes are easy to prepare ahead of time and well suited to reheating- they make good leftovers.

As Mrs. Ramazani writes: "Here is a culinary art so highly developed that the most lowly vegetable can taste divine, every meal can be a gastronomic treat, every cook a creative artist."

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