The Legendary Cuisine of Persia

The Legendary Cuisine of Persia

by Margaret Shaida
The Legendary Cuisine of Persia

The Legendary Cuisine of Persia

by Margaret Shaida

Hardcover

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Overview

This is the redesigned, newly photographed, hardback edition of Margaret Shaida’s award-winning The Legendary Cuisine of Persia. The book won the Glenfiddich Award when it was first published, and in various editions and various formats, has been on the list since 2000 and has never been out of print.

The Legendary Cuisine of Persia is an original and fascinating cookery book which will provide stimulation to all the senses. The book won the Glenfiddich award and was first published by Grub Street in 2000, since when it has never been out of print, and is justly regarded as a classic. It is now re-issued in an updated and revised edition with colour photographs throughout.

Persian cooking is one of the oldest and greatest cuisines of the world. It is refined, sophisticated, subtle yet distinctive, elegant and varied. Fruits, nuts, herbs and spices are combined with rice, fish and meat in combinations whose ancient influence can be found in the cooking of the Middle East, Spain and India.

Persian cuisine is perfectly suited to today’s style of eating - many of the dishes are vegetarian, and the marriage of sweet and savory, such as grains and pulses stewed with fruit and spices, make for unforgettable meals. The sweetmeats and pastries are especially mouthwatering.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781910690369
Publisher: Grub Street
Publication date: 04/19/2019
Pages: 384
Product dimensions: 6.70(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Margaret Shaida was born in England. She married an Iranian and went to live in her husband’s country in 1955. She stayed there for 25 years and learned Persian cooking from her mother-in-law and other friends and relatives in their own kitchens. Her love of Persian food grew even more passionate during the five years she spent researching this book. What she takes us on is a culinary adventure, illustrating the diversity of food as represented by its many different religions ̶ Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Zoroastrian ̶ whilst explaining the many customs and traditions which make up the exotic and colourful threads in a cuisine which spans more than three thousand years.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

The Heritage of Persia

Looking at the history of Persia is like looking through several panes of shattered glass. It is always just out of focus, distorted and fractured behind the broken shards of the histories of Greece and Rome, half hidden beyond the eastern reaches of the Moslem and Ottoman empires. It is a distant land, remote and mysterious; a land of ancient culture and often elegant ritual. It is also a land of remarkably good food.

The cuisine of Persia is unique. The origins of many dishes are shrouded in its long history of more than three thousand years and in the reciprocal influences involved in that history. Still, many of its dishes can be traced back a thousand years, some even more. While it is not unusual in many countries for the food of kings and courtiers to be recorded, it is rare indeed to have knowledge of the food of the poor. We know, however, that the recipe for the simple onion soup (eshkeneh) is believed to be the same as that used to sustain the Persian foot-soldiers on their campaigns under King Arsaces more than two thousand years ago.

The survival of the Persian way of cooking is largely due to the enduring appeal of its delicate blend of flavours and to its ability successfully to absorb and adapt the foods of other nations. Persian food is nutritionally balanced and visually attractive. But above all, it has survived because it is delicious.

When the Persians first conquered the ancient world, they extended their civilisation from the valley of the Indus in the east to Egypt and Greece in the west. They influenced religion and philosophy in Greece and Rome, but not the least influence was the introduction of their food.

Many Greeks had long followed the doctrine of Aristippus who believed in the nourishment of the spirit as well as the body, simple meals were accompanied by poetry, music and philosophy. To such people, used to plain fare spiced with little more than hexameters, the sophisticated eating habits of the Persians proved fascinating and sometimes irresistible.

The Persian believed in the satisfaction of the eye as well as of the palate and they found little to gratify either in the fare of the ancient Greeks. Even Herodotus, the Greek traveller and writer who could find little good to say about his Persian enemies, commended the remarkable skills of the Persian bakers and cooks who accompanied the generals on their campaigns. He noted the magnificent variety of 'good things' to be seen on their 'richly accoutr'd' tables, and he recalled the astonishment of one of the Greek generals at the 'folly' of the Persians who, though they 'enjoyed such fare', had felt the need to come to Greece 'to rob us of our penury'.

Indeed, the Persians thought the Greeks remained hungry much of the time because of the dreariness of their food. Desserts were unknown to the Greeks, and the Persians thought 'they left off hungry, having nothing worth mention served up to them after the meats'. King Croesus himself advised Cyrus the Great that the Persians could defeat many of the troublesome tribes by luring them with 'the good things on which the Persians live'.

Some two hundred years later, Alexander defeated the Persians, but he himself was one of the first to succumb to the refinements of the Persian court. The Macedonians absorbed many of the customs of their defeated former foe and in their returning baggage was no small measure of the food and formalities of the Persians. It was at this time that the lemons and saffron, pomegranates and pistachios of the Iranian plateau first became familiar in the Mediterranean region.

Saffron was an immediate success. Its delicate flavour and costly rarity were a great attraction to the Greeks and later to the Romans. There was less enthusiasm for the lemon, it being rather acid to the Greek palate, while the Romans initially used it only as a mothball. But there was no such confusion about the delights of the Persian pomegranates and pistachios.

It is of course next to impossible to trace the history of many dishes in the world today, particularly those classics which are found all over the Middle East. Each country lays claim to some dishes but proof is rare. The earliest reference is often taken as evidence of origin. Sometimes it depends on where the traveller or writer has first tasted a dish or a sweetmeat: for instance, a famous Persian sweet, râhat olhoqum (which is an Arabic phrase) is known as Turkish delight in the West.

The earliest known cookery books, from Athens and Rome, were mostly written by physicians concerned with the medical properties of food, or clerics defining the dietary laws of religion. No cookery books have survived from the ancient Persians most of whose libraries and records were destroyed by successive conquerors. It should be remembered too that the production and preparation of food has usually been a domestic and female chore with little to interest historians. In any case, the best cook by definition, leaves the least evidence.

But there are a few scattered facts, an occasional reference, a poetic hint or proverbial wisdom that can lead a lover of Persian food into some educated speculation. After all, the grudging praise of Herodotus cannot be entirely dismissed.

When the Persians re-established themselves following Alexander's death, they once more ruled over their own country which was considerably more extensive than it is today. For over a thousand years their empire was the centre of civilisation in the eastern half of the known world. Baghdad and eastern Iraq, Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan were all part of the Persian Empire, as was the eastern half of present-day Turkey. The Greeks ruled over the western half, and the boundaries of the Persian and Greek empires rubbed against each other for centuries, sometimes sparking into open conflict and sometimes melting into union against a common enemy. By about AD100, the common enemy was undoubtedly Rome, which was expanding eastwards with a steady determination.

It wasn't long before Persia and Rome were in direct contact. They had known of each other long before this, however. Apicius, the Roman author of a cookery book, has a recipe for lamb 'cooked in the Parthian (Iranian) manner'. It calls for a whole lamb stuffed with prunes and herbs, not unlike a dish made today in many parts of Iran.

At the same time, China made some exploratory moves towards the West. The first Chinese mission got as far as Persia, which it described as a very great country where rice, wheat and the vine were cultivated. Up until then, Persia had been the bridge between the West and India only. Now the final links were made between West and the Far East, with Persia trading regularly with China from AD200 up to the middle of the seventh century and beyond.

By AD620, the Romans were in rapid decline, and a new power was whirling up in the southern Arabian deserts. The Moslems exploded on to the scene, and the conquest of Iran was as sudden as it was unexpected. But while the Arabs overpowered Iran with their religious fervour, they were in turn overwhelmed by the cultural and culinary artistry of Persia. When they swept back along the southern Mediterranean coast and up into Spain with their religion, they also took Persia's cuisine with them. There is a clear etymological trail.

The Old Persian bâdangân became al-badinjan in Arabic, alberjinera in Spanish, and finally aubergine in French and English. Spinach, too, is derived from the Old Persian espenâj, orange from nârang, lemon from limoo, tarragon from tarkhoon.

Initially in Iran there was considerable social resistance to the Arab invaders. The culture and language of Persia, unlike those of Egypt and Syria, held firm against the Islamic conquerors, but the ancient Zoroastrian religion did not. Those who refused to submit to Islam were obliged to withdraw to refuges deep in Iran's great salt deserts. Some settled in the towns of Yazd and Kerman where the descendants still live according to the tenets of Zoroaster. Others fled eastward, finding ultimate asylum in the state of Gujarat in India. For more than five centuries they were completely cut off from their brethren in Iran, but throughout they maintained their ancient religion – and their cuisine.

They have survived to this day and are now known as the Parsees (i.e. Persians) of India. Many Indian restaurants in England today have a selection of 'Persian' food on their menus. Of course, after nearly one thousand years, Parsee food today is more Indian than Persian, though it retains a milder and more sour flavour than the spicier food of the Indian subcontinent.

The Arabs adopted many of the Persian dishes. Indeed, as they established themselves firmly in their new capital in Baghdad (the site of Ctesiphon, the ancient capital of the Persian Empire), they were able to turn their attention to the sciences in which the Iranians excelled, which in addition to astronomy and medicine, included gastronomy. The Iranians contributed much to the golden age of the Abbasids of the Caliphate of Baghdad. In doing so they yielded their claim to many of their finest culinary (and other) achievements, for all the new works were written in Arabic, the court language of the day.

Some of the most interesting and intricate Iranian recipes have come down to us only through the medieval Arabic cookery books of the Caliphate of Baghdad. Many of the dishes are identifiable by etymology. However it is probable that they differ in one singular ingredient from the original ancient Persian dishes: in the face of the Prophet's strictures on the evils of intoxication, the use of wine in their cooking would have had to be abandoned – a significant adaptation that was apparently made with some reluctance.

The demise of wine in Persian food was slow. As late as AD1100 (nearly five hundred years after the introduction of Islam) 'wine vinegar' was still in use in many dishes in the kitchens of the Caliphate of Baghdad, the very epicentre of Islam from the eighth to twelfth centuries. Even today, verjuice and light vinegar are added to many of the soups and stews to give an added piquancy, while cider or wine vinegar is recommended by some housewives for pickling.

Omar Khayyam, one of Persia's most famous mathematicians, astronomers and poets (his Rubâiyat was fully translated into English by Edward Fitzgerald in the 19th century), was censured in twelfth century Persia for his commendation of wine and women. His philosophical quatrains, written in a haze of alcohol, have long made him a favourite in the West.

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Crusades brought a further diffusion of Persia's culinary expertise cross Europe. The princes and soldiers returning from the Crusades brought back new and exotic tastes from the world of Islam, and the subsequent demand for spices and herbs was one of the factors contributing to the European age of exploration.

In medieval England, much use was made of attar of roses; rose and orange blossom petals were made into jams and preserves in much the same way as they are in Iran today. The heavenly fragrance of Persian rosewater (golâb) has long enhanced many a dish and an occasion was adopted in England as a base for a pleasant drink which became known as julep. Pomegranates, quinces, barberries and mulberries all common fruit in Persia, became popular.

The gardens of Jacobean England were filled with herbs from the Middle East for use by apothecaries as well as by the gentry for culinary embellishment and medical restoratives. Many of these are still familiar in modern Iran, though only recently becoming once more fashionable in England. A dish of mutton in an orange and cinnamon flavoured sauce noted in Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book from Medieval England (written in 1620) has a remarkable similarity to the duck and orange sauce of modern Iran.

While the Crusaders were attacking the western caliphate of Damascus, the eastern caliphate of Baghdad was under an even greater threat from the East. The Mongolian hordes poured into Iran, utterly destroying everything on their way. Whole towns and villages were laid waste, thousands of people were killed, and libraries and centres of learning razed to the ground. The Mongols established a new headquarters in Iran in preparation for continuing their westward invasion. The Il-Khans, a branch of the Mongol chieftain, ruled over Persia, but having little literary or cultural heritage of their own they quickly absorbed the Persian language, religion and cuisine. Within two centuries Teimur (Tamerlane), a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, had become totally Iranianised. He branched off to India to establish one of the most sophisticated and extravagant regimes ever known in that ancient and sophisticated land. The court language of the Moghul (the Persian for Mongol) emperors of Delhi was Persian, their culture Iranian, and their religion Islam. Their food, of course, was wholly Persian.

The Moghuls took with them not only the traditions and language of the Persian court but also those of the Persian kitchen. The direct influence can be easily identified in many Indian dishes today: biryani is from the Persian word for baked (beryân), while boorâni is the Arabised Persian word for any yoghurt dish mixed with vegetables.

The Persian bread (nân) made with yeast and baked in an oven (tanoor) took India by storm when it was first introduced there. It was a light yet substantial alternative to the unleavened and fried breads of the subcontinent. Today, the 'Indian' tandoor-baked bread (nân) and chicken (murgh) are famous throughout Europe via the popular and proliferating Indian restaurants. Kofteh (minced meat dumplings) and kebab, both Persian, are regular features on the menus of Indian restaurants from Singapore to San Francisco.

Certainly, the menu of an Indian restaurant is easily understood by an Iranian who speaks only Persian, though of course the dishes themselves, with added spices, may no longer be so familiar. Persian food is never hot and spicy. It has a delicacy in appearance and flavour which make it uniquely Persian.

To this day the two distinctive ingredients of the Persian cuisine remain the indigenous saffron and the Indian lemon which has been cultivated in Iran for at least three thousand years. Both fragrant and richly beautiful, they have long endowed Persian food with piquancy and a rich elegance that are difficult to match. It is impossible to contemplate a classical Persian meal without either lemon or saffron – more often than not it will have both.

Another unusual element in Persian cookery is the blend of meats with fruits and nuts; and lastly, the method of cooking rice which is, without doubt, unequalled anywhere in the world.

A further important aspect of Persian cookery is its tradition. Not surprisingly, in a cuisine as long-lasting as this there are few dishes that do not have a story or a tale to go with them. The culture of the ancients comes down to us, from the legends of the mythical King Jamshid, the fabled triumphs of the ancient Persian conquerors, and the poetic glories of Omar Khayyam and Ferdowsi.

An Iranian kitchen is interlaced with proverbs, old wives' tales, miracle cures and ancient wisdoms. It is filled with exotic aromas and crowded with cultural recollections of festivals and ceremonies. Its memory goes back more than three thousand years. Its cures inspire a healing faith, its aromas excite a healthy appetite and its traditions arouse a national pride. It is, in short, the heart and soul of an ancient and remarkable nation.

CHAPTER 2

Iran's Destiny

Persia is the hinge between the Far East and the Middle East. Straddled between the Caspian Sea in the north and the Persian Gulf in the south, it forms a natural highway – and part of the ancient silk route – connecting Europe with Asia. It is a big country, its rhombus shape spanning more than three thousand kilometres (some two thousand miles) in each direction; and it is a high country, criss-crossed and encircled with immense mountain ranges. The central plateau has an average height of one thousand metres (more than three thousand feet) and most of Persia's major cities, including the capital Tehran, are situated at between twelve and fifteen hundred metres (four and five thousand feet); many of its smaller towns and villages are much higher.

The destiny of Persia has been shaped and controlled by its mountains. They dominate the landscape and have in turn both protected and confined the people. In ancient times, the mountains nurtured a disciplined and ambitious race which created the first world empire. The high terrain also served to discourage attack; only the most determined and fiercest of armies was able to penetrate the land of the Iranians. One of the most ferocious attacks was the devastating Mongol conquest in the thirteenth century, after which the Iranians withdrew behind their mountains, isolated and settled for the greater part of the next seven hundred years.

(Continues…)


Excerpted from "The Legendary Cuisine of Persia"
by .
Copyright © 2004 Margaret Shaida.
Excerpted by permission of Grub Street.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Table of Contents

Aknowledgements,
Foreword,
Introduction,
The Heritage of Persia,
Iran's Destiny,
Festivals and Legends,
In a Persian Kitchen,
Bread: First Things First,
Rice: Sumptuous Dishes,
Stews and Sauces,
Soups: Through Thick and Thin,
Grills: Beneath the Bough,
Meat Dumplings: Hidden Treasures,
Stuffed Meats and Roasts,
Stuffed Vegetables,
Egg Dishes: Omelettes and Others,
Yoghurt Dishes and Salads,
Pickled Pleasures,
Conserves and Preserves,
Beverages: Cooling Refreshments,
Desserts and Delicacies,
Sweetmeats and Other Confections,
Master Recipes,
'Hot' and 'Cold' Foods,
Glossary,
Bibliography,

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