TASTE OF PERSIA 18028_TasteofPersia.indd i 5/17/16 11:01 AM LAHICH, AZERBAIJAN— Fresh and dried barberries at a village shop. ALSO BY NAOMI DUGUID Burma: Rivers of Flavor WITH JEFFREY ALFORD Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Travels in the Other China Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour and Tradition Around the World Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia Seductions of Rice Flatbreads & Flavors: A Baker’s Atlas 18028_TasteofPersia.indd ii 5/17/16 11:01 AM TA STE OF PE R SI A A Cook’s Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan NAOMI DUGUID NEW YORK 18028_TasteofPersia.indd iii 5/17/16 11:01 AM Text copyright © 2016 by Naomi Duguid Location photographs copyright © 2016 by Naomi Duguid Studio photographs copyright © 2016 by Gentl & Hyers Photograph on page 282 by Brian John All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced— mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopying—without written permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data Names: Duguid, Naomi, author. Title: Taste of Persia / by Naomi Duguid. Description: New York, NY : Artisan, a division of Workman Publishing Company, Inc., [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifi ers: LCCN 2016012875 | ISBN 9781579655488 (hardback, with dust jacket) Subjects: LCSH: Cooking, Iranian. | LCGFT: Cookbooks. Classifi cation: LCC TX725.I7 D84 2016 | DDC 641.5955—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016012875 Design by Jan Derevjanik Artisan books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for premiums and sales promotions as well as for fund-raising or educational use. Special editions or book excerpts also can be created to specifi cation. 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Published by Artisan A division of Workman Publishing Co., Inc. 225 Varick Street New York, NY 10014-4381 artisanbooks.com Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son, Limited Printed in China First printing, September 2016 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 SHEKI, AZERBAIJAN—A boy at a corner fruit and vegetable store. 18028_TasteofPersia.indd iv 5/17/16 11:01 AM 18028_TasteofPersia.indd v 5/17/16 11:01 AM HALABJA, KURDISTAN— Pouring tea at home, for guests. 18028_TasteofPersia.indd vi 5/17/16 11:01 AM C O N T E N TS Introduction 1 A New Era 4 Maps 6 Cuisines Without Borders 9 FLAVORS AND CONDIMENTS 17 SALADS AND VEGETABLES 45 SOUP PARADISE 91 STUFFED VEGETABLES AND DUMPLINGS 115 FISH 137 GRILLED MEAT AND POULTRY 159 STOVETOP MEAT AND POULTRY 179 RICE AND OTHER GRAINS 209 FLATBREAD HEARTLAND 237 A TASTE FOR SWEET 275 A WEALTH OF FRUIT 311 A Closer Look 341 Travel Notes 352 Glossary 354 Annotated Bibliography 375 Acknowledgments 380 Index 384 18028_TasteofPersia.indd vii 5/17/16 11:02 AM 18028_TasteofPersia.indd viii 5/17/16 11:02 AM I N T RO DUC T I O N ON THE WALL OF MY OFFICE, I HAVE A MAP THAT SHOWS THE PERSIAN EMPIRE under Darius the Great, who died in 486 BC. He ruled an empire fi rst established by Cyrus the Great, the largest the world had ever known. Persia (present-day Iran) lay at the heart of the empire, which stretched as far west as Greece and, to the east, all the way to India. When I fi rst imagined this book, my idea was to write about the people and food of the Persian culinary region that centers on Iran but includes peoples in the immediate neighborhood: in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kurdistan. The region extends from the Caucasus Mountains in the north to the southern tip of Iran, and lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The people here speak many diff erent languages and follow many diff erent religions. At the same time, they share a history, and they are all marked by Persian infl uences that date back to the time of Cyrus and Darius and continue in the modern era. The connections between them are found not in their diff erent places of worship, nor in their many distinctive languages and alphabets, but in the kitchen, in the garden, and at the table. I want to take you there to engage with the intensities of Georgian dishes; with the creative and subtle culinary traditions of Iran, Armenia, and Azerbaijan; and with the remarkable home cooking of the people of Kurdistan. The food is enticing, and the recipes are very friendly to the home cook. Flavors, textures, and ingredients will be familiar to anyone from a European or North American tradition. And that shouldn’t be surprising, for Persian ingredients and culinary wisdom have infl uenced cuisines from India to Morocco to northern Europe. Common elements in the cuisines of Persia and her neighbors in the Caucasus and Kurdistan include richly fl avored bean dishes, fl atbreads of many kinds, generous use of herbs and greens, plenty of cheese and yogurt, walnuts (used in sauces, marinades, and vegetarian pâtés), inventive soups and stews, savory dishes fl avored with pomegranate and/or other fruits, and (for all but the Georgians) rice as a beloved staple. Common to all the peoples of the region is a culture of hospitality, of sharing food and drink with both friends and strangers, with generosity. TABRIZ, IRAN—A popular local eatery. INTRODUCTION 1 18028_TasteofPersia.indd 1 5/17/16 11:02 AM