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This is a treasury of 240 classical and regional Iranian recipes. 120 colour photographs intertwined with descriptions of ancient and modern ceremonies, poetry, folk tales, travelogue excerpts, and anecdotes make "New Food of Life" not just a collection of recipes but also an introduction to Persian art and culture. Each recipe is presented in a format that is brilliantly logical and marvellously 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, fruits, and herbs, you'll have a balanced diet - colourful, 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 such Western holidays as Christmas and Halloween, to the rituals and symbolism involved in a modern Iranian marriage. Like a magnificent Persian carpet, 1,000 years of Persian literature and art have been woven into the book. 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.
Beautiful & Excellent cookbookReviewed by L. Ask, 2010-02-22
Best Persian cookbook, adjusted for cooks living in the U.S. Pictures are excellent, directions easy to follow, recipes are well developed and results are predictably wonderful. I have given this book as a gift at least four times, and plan to purchase more, I have an earlier edition and don't mind getting the newer edition myself, since pictures and recipes keep getting better and more beautifully illustrated. I am very happy with this cookbook.
Persian ÇookbookReviewed by N. Humenik, 2010-02-01
Love this cookbook! Not many Persian/English cookbooks on the market that I've noticed. This one is pleasing to the eye and true to its recipes. It also includes cultural aspects that can be useful for the reader. It arrived a little late because it good delivered to the wrong house but it was still in good condition.
Good cooking reference, plus cultural referencesReviewed by E. Nourbakhsh, 2010-01-31
A friend suggested that I buy this book, and at first I was
doubtful. I usually find cookbooks and recipes too vague on
critical details, and Iranian recipes are worse. But he promised
that this one was different. I trusted his words and was happy with
the results. Here is my review after one month of using it:
=Pros:
+ Recipes have enough details, and if you follow them you are
*almost* there.
+ The print quality of the book is GREAT! I had to re-check the
packaging slip to make sure it was as cheap as I remembered. There
are many paintings and miniatures included, and the quality is good
enough.
+ It has more than cooking instructions. It has stories, poems,
cultural ceremonies, etc. Some are pretty interesting to
read.
=Cons:
- It is a cookbook. Although a good one, still you should have some
idea of what you are doing, your stove and other general knowledge
before you can make something really tasty. And you need to
practice. But your first attempt is good enough to encourage you to
go on, I assure you!
- The table of contents is really ... not clever. There is one list
with pointers to regions, e.g. "Rice dishes". Now you have to go to
the TOC of "Rice dishes" and find out where is "Chelow X". I wish
they also had one global table of contents.
- There are pictures of some of the dishes, but they are not right
in front of the recipe page. You have to find the corresponding
picture yourself! Not even a mention of the picture on the recipe
page.
- This one isn't a negative point, just a general warning. Some of
the recipes in this book are not exactly how one would cook them in
Iran. They contain elements that many people -at least the ones I
know- might not usually use, like Saffron. And there are multiple
ways to cook the same dish, obviously, so don't expect to get the
same thing you would get in your parent's kitchen/in a restaurant
by following the book. Yours might be even more complicated and
tastier!
I might come back and update this in a couple of months. But right
now, I recommend buying it given my first month experience.
More a reference than a learning aidReviewed by Desibaba, 2009-12-23
I'm Indian, fairly good at cooking and have persian friends who
introduced me to their culture and cuisine. I've enjoyed eating the
kababs, khoreshes and their superbly done rice. I wanted to get a
cookbook which would educate me further about the food, put it in
context and help me try out a few items. This book definitely hit
the first two goals - it covers a lot of recipes, puts in a good
amount of stories and quotes and has a good reference section. But
it comes across as targeted towards advanced/expert cooks - those
who want to take it to the next level. My main difficulty with the
book is that most of the food pictures are not on the same page as
the text. The pictures are not well referenced too (the picture
caption points to the text but not the other way around). This
makes it difficult to use (there are a few typos in the numbering
here and there). Not all the recipes have pictures too. I feel this
book could use a good editor - perhaps the second edition would
improve on this. For complex items, pictures at intermediate stages
would help a lot too.
Otherwise, as most reviewers have pointed out....its great for its
holistic approach and the author has put in a lot of her personal
memories and tips into it. Superb pictures and collection of
recipes in one place. The hardcover finish makes it worth the
money. But I wouldn't recommend this as a starting point.
Great reference for Persian recipesReviewed by Product tester, 2009-12-09
This is the best source for Persian recipes. A few ingredients are harder to find, but it has a variety of regional recipes and background and pictures that my Persian husband and his family enjoy.
© 2009 Cooking News.
