New Food of Life: Ancient Persian & Modern Iranian Cooking & Ceremonies

Food-related pieces from such classics as the 10th century Book of Kings, and 1,001 Nights to the miniatures of Mir Mussavar and Aq Mirak, from the poetry of Omar Khayyam to the humour of Mulla Nasruddin are all included. Now with the ingredients for Iranian food available in most US cities, "New Food of Life" makes accessible one of the world's oldest — yet least known — culinary traditions where the first recipes were written 4,000 years ago in a cuneiform script on clay tablets.

"New Food of Life is a treasury of 250 classical and regional Iranian recipes 120 color photographs food intertwined with Persian miniatures and illustrations together with descriptions of ancient and modern ceremonies, poetry, tales, travelogue pieces, and anecdotes make "New Food of Life not just a collection of excellent recipes but also an introduction to Persian art and culture. Each recipe is presented in a format that is brilliantly logical and marvelously easy to follow. You will learn how to cook rice, the jewel of Persian cooking, simply yet deliciously. And by combining it with a little meat, fowl, or fish, vegetables, fruit and herbs, you'll have a balanced diet--colorful yet healthy, simple yet exotic. Iranian festivals, ceremonies, and celebrations, together with the menus and recipes associated with them are described in detail: from the ancient winter solstice celebration, Yalda, or the sun's birthday, which is the origin of the Western Christmas holiday, to the rituals and symbolism involved in a modern Iranian marriage. Like a magnificent Persian carpet, more than a thousand years of Persian literature and are have been woven into this book, Food-related pieces from such classics as the fourth-century tale of Khosrow and His Knight, the tenth-century "Book of Kings, and the "Thousand and One Nights to the miniatures of Mir Mussavar and Aqa Mirak, from the poetry of Omar Khayyam and Sohrab Sepehri to the humor of Mulla Nasruddin are all included.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 436) and index.