Description
Product Description
Winner of the IACP 2019 First Book Award presented by The Julia Child Foundation
"Like Madhur Jaffrey and Marcella Hazan before her, Naz Deravian will introduce the pleasures and secrets of her mother culture's cooking to a broad audience that has no idea what it's been missing. America will not only fall in love with Persian cooking, it'll fall in love with Naz.” - Samin Nosrat, author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: The Four Elements of Good Cooking
Naz Deravian lays out the multi-hued canvas of a Persian meal, with 100+ recipes adapted to an American home kitchen and interspersed with Naz's celebrated essays exploring the idea of home.
At eight years old, Naz Deravian left Iran with her family during the height of the 1979 Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis. Over the following ten years, they emigrated from Iran to Rome to Vancouver, carrying with them books of Persian poetry, tiny jars of saffron threads, and always, the knowledge that home can be found in a simple, perfect pot of rice. As they traverse the world in search of a place to land, Naz's family finds comfort and familiarity in pots of hearty aash, steaming pomegranate and walnut chicken, and of course, tahdig: the crispy, golden jewels of rice that form a crust at the bottom of the pot. The best part, saved for last.
In Bottom of the Pot, Naz, now an award-winning writer and passionate home cook based in LA, opens up to us a world of fragrant rose petals and tart dried limes, music and poetry, and the bittersweet twin pulls of assimilation and nostalgia. In over 100 recipes, Naz introduces us to Persian food made from a global perspective, at home in an American kitchen.
Review
"In her debut cookbook Bottom of the Pot, Naz Deravian brings us right to her table, and to all the tables that have informed hers. Every bit of writing and each recipe is a poem, each photograph so tempting. I am so taken by this book and am reminded of what made me fall in love with cookbooks in the first place: they teach us about the world outside of our own walls, introduce us to people we might not otherwise know, and invite us to make new memories and traditions in our own kitchens. In this way, cookbooks are the most hospitable political tool I know. They don't build walls, they elongate tables. Thank you Naz for this beautiful book that I already cherish." - Julia Turshen, author of Now & Again, Feed the Resistance and Small Victories
“Yes, Bottom of the Pot is a beautiful, engaging book. Yes, its stories, recipes, and photos will bring an entirely new generation of cooks into the extraordinary, sophisticated Persian kitchen. But far more importantly, Bottom of the Pot is a timely book. As a nation, we stand at a crossroads: we can choose to turn our attention outward, look out into the world with empathy, celebrate diversity, and immerse ourselves in the sensual pleasures of cultures foreign to us. Or, we can build walls, both figurative and literal. We can close ourselves off to the infinite gifts of this wild and vibrant world. This book will nudge us to choose the former path. Indeed, by appealing to our senses and our hearts, Bottom of the Pot will bring new meaning to Michael Pollan's idea that 'Eating is a political act.'
Like Madhur Jaffrey and Marcella Hazan before her, Naz Deravian will introduce the pleasures and secrets of her mother culture's cooking to a broad audience that has no idea what it's been missing. America will not only fall in love with Persian cooking, it'll fall in love with Naz.”
- Samin Nosrat, author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: The Four Elements of Good Cooking
“This beautiful book tells the story of the Iranian diaspora through recipes ranging from breathtaking feats of culinary mastery, to humble, everyday family meals. What an absolute pleasure to join Deravian on this sweet and tender journey; her warmth and Persian hospitality shine through the page, inviting you in like family to her dinner table.”
- Louisa Shafia, auth