The world of Persian-influenced cuisine is a huge one, stretching over vast distances in time and space. And so perhaps it’s no wonder that the list of people to whom I owe thanks for help and inspiration with this book is a long one.
First, though, a word about the origins of the book. I firmly believe that through sharing food and food wisdom we can connect imaginatively and politically with people in other countries and situations. In the summer of 2012, I was thinking about the way in which the mainstream media causes people to demonize countries ruled by totalitarian regimes. I realized that it was time I wrote about Persian culinary tradition, to try to put a human face on the people of Iran, and to show the connection and contribution of Persian food culture to other cuisines and peoples in the region.
When I first proposed this book in a phone call to my editor, Ann Bramson, she was enthusiastic and took the idea to Peter Workman, the founder of Artisan’s parent company. I am so grateful to him for having the confidence to sign the book, despite the rocky relationship that then existed between the United States and Iran.
Starting in spring 2013, I made trips to Georgia, Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iraqi Kurdistan. And everywhere I had interesting conversations about food and politics and agriculture, past and present. I don’t know the names of many of the people whom I met and learned from; I am indebted to a host of market vendors, farmers, travelers, and others with whom I had casual but valuable encounters.
In Georgia, Tamar Babuadze, who introduced herself to me on Facebook long ago, has become a great friend. She’s helped me understand food words, plant names, and home-cooking traditions, and through her I have met a wonderful circle of like-minded friends in Tbilisi and beyond. I thank her and her family, including her mother-in-law, Dali, and Dali’s sister Chuka, for their generous hospitality. Big thanks also to Elene Asatiani for introductions and miles of driving, and to her mother and grandmother in Kutaisi. Thanks to Paul Rimple and Justyna Melnikiewicz; Ana Mikadze-Chikvaidze the cheesemaker; and Gulnazi “Ana” Khutsishvili in Stepandsminda.
I thank Chamala and Matanet, and Chamala’s husband, Ilgar, in Sheki, Azerbaijan, for recipe talk and patient teaching. Big thanks also to Jairan and her husband, Dadash, with whom I stayed in Lahich, for kitchen talk, cooking instruction, and more. Thanks to Ajdar and the other men I met in the apple orchard above Lahich, who plied me with food and drink both there and in the mountains; to Elvin, who drove me around for a couple of days out of Baku; and to the many strangers of all kinds who engaged with me while I was in Azerbaijan.
In Armenia, Sonia Tashjian shared wisdom and recipes from her years of research into Armenian culinary traditions. I bow to her in gratitude. I thank Anahit Stepanian, with whom I stayed in Yerevan; Ana Arshakyan of Tatev; many of the older villagers of Tatev who invited me in for shots of tutovka; Gayane Simonyan and her family in Yerevan; Armin for several days of driving; Gozeh and her son Georgi Tamoyan in the Yazidi village of Raya Taza; and Tsayhlik and her family in the village of Melikgyugh, who taught me about Armenian gata, bread, and a lot more.
In Kurdistan, I owe thanks to all in Ayub Nuri’s extended family, and in particular to his mother, Hoshida; his sisters Dila the bread maker and Asti, and their families; and his brothers Mokhtar and Starr, all in Halabja. Much gratitude to Ayub’s older brother Yusef; Yusef’s wife, Cheeman; and their children, with whom I stayed in Sulaymaniyah, and to their Hawrami friend Hillal. Thanks also to Najad and his family, to Lidia and her sister-in-law Shler and family, and to Wazira Jala. Thank you to Shwan, who took me to meet Kurdish Syrian refugees at a camp outside Sulaymaniyah.
Before going to Iran, I had enormous help from Hamid and Anoosheh of IranTours, with getting my visa and making arrangements. That help continued while I was traveling in Iran, and included long conversations and a drive to look for saffron. Many other people in Iran offered assistance, some of them sharing frank views of politics and other issues in the country, others generous with food advice and instruction. They include Farahnoz and her sons; Fereshteh; the train compartment women whose names I never learned; Afsar and her husband, Abbas, and family on the farm northwest of Shiraz; Abbas’s second wife, Leila; Leila’s remarkable parents, Heshmat and Hajji Hos and the large nomad families in the mountains; and Vahid and his family in Shiraz, where we talked about food and I learned the Iranian way to grill eggplant.
Along the way I met other foreigners who were traveling or working in the place I was visiting and who shared not just meals but also transportation and information with me. I thank them all. They include Debby Corper, Nicholas Law, and his niece Kati Balázs; Brian John; Karen Stigant; French psychiatrists Marc Vartabedian and Frédérique Netter, with whom I had memorable conversations in Tatev, Armenia; Todd Fabacher, CEO of Digital Pomegranate in Gyumri, Armenia; and Sepideh of the World Food Programme in Kurdistan.
Friends in Toronto and elsewhere have been of invaluable practical help: Karen (Kaz) Connelly, who went to Kurdistan a year before I did, introduced me to journalist Ayub Nuri in Toronto and to a number of her contacts in Sulaymaniyah. In turn, Ayub Nuri introduced me to his family in Kurdistan, who enfolded me with their hospitality, warmth, and protection, and taught me a great deal about Kurdish food and family. Haig Petrus, whose Armenian roots are deep and strong, found a contact in Yerevan who he thought might be of help, and indeed she was: the marvelous Sonia Tashjian (see previous). Lily Tarba, a family friend who is Georgian-Abkhazian and lives in Toronto, passed along her grandmother’s recipe for green ajika. Jennifer Klinec sent along cookie recipes from her mother-in-law in Yazd. I’ve had helpful advice and conversations with many others, including Georgian winemaker Irakli Nikolashvili, Fabi Jahanbin, Afi Mardukhi, Shayma Sadat (@SpiceSpoon), and professors Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi and Jennifer Jenkins at the University of Toronto. Thank you, everyone.
I rely on food sellers in Toronto for advice as well as for meat, fruits and vegetables, cheese, and more. Thanks to Hiyam Samara and to all at Sanagan’s Meat Locker, Hooked, Akram’s Shoppe, and 4-Life, all in Kensington Market. Thanks too to farmers and vendors at Wychwood and Sick Kids markets.
Special thanks to Dawn Woodward of Evelyn’s Cracker and Dina Fayerman, dear friends who are my go-to consultants for all food- and recipe-related puzzles and issues, and for book advice generally.
Thanks to the rest of my dear longtime friends in Toronto and environs for all your help, advice, and support, including occasional recipe tastings: Jennifer McLagan, Trisha Jackson, Carol Off, Xiaolan Zhao, Anne Collins, Sharon Klein, Ethan Poskanzer, Hilary Buttrich, Anne MacKenzie, Kathy Wazana, Lillian Burgess, and Ramsay Derry. And thanks to supportive friends in Chiang Mai and elsewhere, including Fern Somraks, Deb Olson, Trish and Gary Snell, Bob and Coleen Scott, and John Fu.
Freelance life has a great deal to recommend it, especially its diversity. I am grateful for various assignments that have challenged and enriched me. Huge thanks to Steve Jones, Wendy Hebb, Hannelore Suderman, and all who work at the Bread Lab in Mount Vernon, Washington, for creating a forum (the Grain Gathering) where grain, agriculture, and survival are discussed and explored each year, and for inviting me to contribute. Thanks to TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival) for inviting me to host the Food on Film series, and to Ruba Kanaan for the invitation to speak about Persian art and food at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. I thank Rick Halpern and the Culinaria program at the University of Toronto for the invitation to be Culinaria’s first Writer in Residence, and Peter Meehan, Rachel Khong, and others at Lucky Peach for inviting me to contribute pieces on Iran and other topics to their lively magazine.
Thanks to good friends in the food world Tina Ujlaki, Nathan Thornburgh, Martha Holmberg, Serge Madikians, Cameron Stauch, and Jeff Koehler, for your encouragement and for far-ranging conversations about food, culture, and politics. Thanks, too, to many at the Oxford Symposium on Food, including Elisabeth Luard and Ursula Heinzelmann.
Once I figure out the recipes and write them down, they are taken for a test-drive by others. I am so grateful to everyone who offered to retest recipes, for it takes work, not just the testing but also writing down comments. Big thanks to Deanna Welborn in Washington State, who did a lot of heavy lifting, and thanks also to Shalini Roy, Cassandra Kobayashi, Lisa Dahl, Cameron Stauch, Charles Hays, Linda Elvira Piedra, Anne MacKenzie, and Dina Fayerman.
Ann Bramson is a dream editor not only because of her wonderful aesthetic sense and good editorial judgment but also because she trusts me, and thus includes me in decisions about design, studio photography, and more. The rest of the team at Artisan is also a dream: Big thanks to publisher Lia Ronnen for her confidence in me; to book designer Jan Derevjanik, art director Michelle Ishay-Cohen, design manager Renata Di Biase, and artful mapmaker Rodica Prato for their lovely work; to production editor Sibylle Kazeroid, who kept me and everyone else on track; to Judith Sutton, who copyedited the rough manuscript with meticulous care, as she has done with all my books; to production director Nancy Murray for her meticulous attention to printing and photo quality; and to the wonderful Allison McGeehon, who takes on publicity early and with energy and imagination, and always follows through.
It was a real pleasure to work with Gentl & Hyers again (they created the photos for Flatbreads & Flavors in 1994), because they are still very collaborative and intuitive in the way they work. Big thanks to the food styling team, headed by Rebecca Jurkevich and assisted by Su Li and Linda Mancini, for all that wonderful prep and cooking. Everything turned out so beautifully.
Finally, on the home front, I’ve had the luxury of rich discussions and loving appreciation, always, from Dominic and Tashi; from my daughter-in-law, Fatema; and from dear Paul. Thank you.