A Taste of Persia : An Introduction to Persian Cooking

by Najmieh Batmanglij

A Taste of Persia is a collection of authentic recipes from one of the world's oldest cuisines, chosen and adapted for today's lifestyle and kitchen. Here are light appetizers and kababs, hearty stews and rich, golden-crusted rices, among many other dishes, all fragrant with the distinctive herbs, spices, or fruits of Iran. Each recipe offers clear, easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions. Most take less than an hour to prepare; many require only a few moments; many others can be made in advance. Besides its 100 recipes and 60 photographs, the book includes a useful dictionary of Persian cooking techniques and ingredients, a list of specialty stores around the nation that sell hard-to-find items, and a brief history of Persian cookery. Together these make a complete introduction to this wonderful cuisine.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 23, 1999

About the author

Najmieh Batmanglij, hailed as “the guru of Persian cuisine” by The Washington Post, has spent the past 30 years cooking, traveling, and adapting authentic Persian recipes to tastes and techniques in the West. Her cookbook New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies, was called “The definitive book of Persian cooking” by the Los Angeles Times; her Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey was selected as “One of the ten best vegetarian cookbooks of the year” by The New York Times; and her From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persian Table won the Gourmand Cookbook Award for the world’s best wine history book of 2007. She is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and lives in Washington, DC, where she teaches Persian and Silk Road cooking, lectures and consults with restaurants around the world. Her most recent book is Happy Nowruz: Cooking with Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Persian food is so delicious. Although I know how to make several dishes I appreciate this cookbook's collection of some of the most classic fare. If you've never had the pleasure of tasting Persian cuisine I highly recommend visiting a Persian restaurant and attempting some of the recipes in this book.

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've tried close to half of the recipes in this book and they've all been fantastic. I've had some experience with Persian food and a couple of other cookbooks that have some good stuff in them, but this one is a real winner. Well written, with some good ethnographical notes, and the recipes are all very clear and unambiguous. There are a few ingredients that are hard to find the Pacific Northwest (fenugreek leaves?) but the author often has much more attainable substitutes listed. This book would be worth it just for the Herb Tamarind Shrimp recipe, but there's so much more to explore. I think I really have to get a hold of The Food of Life, from which I assume this is kind of a "greatest hits."

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

About the same as her other cookbook "Persian Food for the Healthy Kitchen," though I did really enjoy the in-depth historical background on the food at the beginning of each section. I ended up only copying down the recipes for Garlic & Seville Orange Fish and Saffron Rice Pudding.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taste of Persia is not merely a cookbook; it is a declaration of cultural continuity. Najmieh Batmanglij writes with the urgency of someone preserving a civilisation under pressure, and that urgency gives the book its emotional gravity.

Persian cuisine is often misunderstood as ornate or overly perfumed. Batmanglij dismantles that myth with precision and pride.

She shows a cuisine built on balance—sweet against sour, herb against grain, and patience against haste.

Her voice is unapologetically Persian. She does not translate her culture into Western terms for comfort. Instead, she invites the reader to step into her worldview. The explanations are thorough, sometimes didactic, but always purposeful. This is teaching as preservation.

The recipes are meticulous. Rice alone becomes an art form: soaked, parboiled, steamed, and crusted. Stews simmer with logic rather than excess. Herbs are not garnish but structure. Fruit is used with intelligence, not novelty.

Cooking from Taste of Persia is transformative. You begin to understand why Persian food feels both ceremonial and everyday. It teaches discipline, respect, and attentiveness.

This is food that expects something of you—and gives generously in return.

Above all, the book radiates love. Love for Iran, for tradition, for continuity note. On every page, Batmanglij asserts that cuisine is memory made edible.

Recommended.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource full of wonderful recipes. They are clearly laid out and easy to follow, with lovely photos of the final dishes. I particularly like that each recipe ends with Nush-e Jan! (may your soul be nourished).

Truly, hospitality is the soul of Persian cookery [...] [A] Persian table always provides nan-o panir-o, sabzi'khodan, which is to say, bread, cheese, and fresh vegetables and herbs.

(excerpt from Appetizers)

There are rice recipes galore as well as several kebab, soup, stew, vegetable dishes. And desserts. Of course there are desserts. All of the recipes that we tried were delicious and did indeed nourish our souls.

The only recipes glaringly missing from the book are typical bread recipes. When bread is mentioned, it's only to say that lavash and nan-e barbari are available at Persian groceries and the supermarket and that nan-e sangak is available at Persian groceries.

Among various Persian breads available in this country is nan-e sangak, or stone bread, a flat rectangular loaf 3 feet long, 18 inches wide, and 1 inch thick. It is baked over hot stones—hence the name—and served warm. Nan-e barbari, a flat, oveal loaf about 2 inches thick, is eaten very fresh and warm, usually for breakfast. Nan-e lavash, the oldest known Middle Eastern bread, is a light, crusty oval or disk about 2 feet wide. In Iranian villages it once was baked every few months in a tanour, or bread oven, then wrapped in a clean cloth and used as needed, for it keeps very well.

(excerpt from Dictionary of Persian Cooking)

[Ira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Due to the political situation I read a lot about this part of the world lately and when I saw this cookbook on offer I was curious. I cook a lot and I always love to explore other countries' recipes - and the countries themselves as well.

This cook book is really amazing! It is a wonderful mixture of interesting and very promising looking recipes (I must admit that I haven't tried all of them yet) and informations about herbs and spices, customs and of course about the people living there.

The interesting articles that paint a vivid and insightful picture of the regions and those who live there, are illustrated by amazing photographs that show the beauty of the countries as well as the people but also the different dishes and ...everything else.
It is not only a book containing recipes but it is also a picture-book or some kind of coffee-table book that you just take in hand to browse and enjoy.

I really like this book and can definitely recommend it!

[Jamie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not one recipe in this book looks appealing enough for me to try it, which forces me to ask myself why I bought it in the first place. Never was successful with ANY recipe requiring eggplant, plus lamb and veal I just don't like, which really narrows down the recipes in this book to just a few, which unfortunately require ingredients unobtainable in my area.

[Shokufeh شکوفه Kavani کاوانی · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yummy.........

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a bit beyond my cooking ability, but fascinating to read.