Cooking: Persian pleasures

The fabulous cuisine of Persia is not well enough known here in America. But Naz Deravian is doing her talented best to bring its gustatory glories to American home cooks who want to add some sparkle to dinners and weekend get-togethers. Deravian left Iran with her family when she was 8 years old, grew up in Rome and Vancouver and finally settled in Los Angeles with an acting career and family of her own. Her debut cookbook, Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories, named for her award-winning food blog, whisks you away to her table and its delights, with doable directions for making over 100 recipes in your own kitchen—such as irresistible saffron-infused Steamed Persian Rice, elegant chicken simmered in a lush sauce of ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses, stuffed eggplant and a simple bowl of cucumber mixed with yogurt and a bit of mint. Deravian writes as well as she cooks, and her recipes are cradled in charming reminiscences of Iranian tradition and family life.

CAN-DO ATTITUDE
There’s a special joy to home canning, to feeling a connection with past generations who lived without supermarkets, Amazon or freezers. With canning, you’re able to preserve Mother Nature’s bounty without chemical additives, and you decide how much sugar, salt or spice to use. You might think of it as seasonality sealed in a jar. Now’s the time to put up those luscious local pears, that sweet end-of-season corn and the glorious farmers market tomatoes. Jamie DeMent’s thorough, thoughtful Canning in the Modern Kitchen: More Than 100 Recipes for Canning and Cooking Fruits, Vegetables, and Meats is the perfect guide to creating sweet and savory canning classics, from a simple jar of peaches or rich Fig Chutney to complex ratatouille or ginger-tanged Asian Pickled Carrots, and it includes all the vital step-by-step information on safe processing for both water-bath and pressure canning.

TOP PICK IN COOKBOOKS
Daniel Olivella, chef and owner of Barlata in Austin, Texas, was born and raised in Catalonia, a small region in the northeast corner of Spain that is fabled for its fabulous food. Though he’s spent more than half his life in the States and honed his skills in renowned San Francisco restaurants, he’s fiercely proud of his Catalan spirit, culture and cuisine. That pride shines in Catalan Food: Culture and Flavors from the Mediterranean, his culinary love song to the food his mama cooked and to gathering the finest ingredients and “infusing them with Catalan attitude.” The recipes, enhanced with anecdotes, range from Pica-Pica, the savory little bites that can make a meal or happily accompany rounds of drinks, to classics like Pork Meatballs with Cuttlefish and Catalan Vegetable Ragout and generous pans of paella and fidueà (short toasted noodles) arrayed with seafood. Notes within the recipes help you cook like un autèntic catalanista.

This article was originally published in the September 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.