Happy Persian New Year!

Festive foods at start of every spring

Mar. 27, 2012 (Adapted from the newspaper the Cincinnati Enquirer) |

Hengameh Nassef mixes a saffron sauce into the Sabzi Polo, a rice dish, at her party for Persian New Year .
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Many cultures celebrate the New Year at the same time nature does in the spring, when the world turns green and life begins again. One of the most ancient spring festivals is Nowruz, or Persian New Year, celebrated at the vernal equinox on March 21st. For Hengameh Nassef, the New Year is a chance to share her Persian culture with friends. Last Wednesday, a day that felt more like the first day of summer than of spring, she welcomed guests to her Indian Hill home. Some of the guests shared a cultural background with Nassef, who was born in Iran and grew up in Houston and is married to an Egyptian. But Nassef also likes to invite friends from all backgrounds to share her traditions, and there were people from Venezuela, Pakistan, Egypt and China, and quite a few Americans who had never heard of Nowruz. I think of it as my job to promote cultural understanding, Nassef said. The more people know about cultures other than their own, the more you break down barriers between people. Nowruz is an easy holiday to share. Its secular, like western New Year, and is celebrated in many countries that were part of the Old Persian Empire, such as Central Asia, parts of

Pakistan, and India. Persia was renamed Iran in 1935, but many Iranians identify themselves as Persian, associating with a rich, ancient culture. The holiday is certainly ancient, it started 3 000 years ago as a Zoroastrian spring festival. It begins several days before the equinox, with a night where people build fires and jump over them to eliminate pain and sickness, and to gain strength. Spring cleaning is done in all houses to get ready for the celebrations of March 21st . New clothes, lots of visiting and entertaining all are part of the holiday. Of course food is central to the celebration. Nassef said that a Nowruz menu always includes fish and herbed rice. The rice, called sabzi polo, has lots of fresh, green herbs that symbolize spring. Fish is often covered with a bright-yellow, saffron batter and then fried. But at the lunch party, Nassef had grilled salmon brilliantly colored with saffron and spices alongside the rice. Also important at every Persian meal is torshi, or pickled vegetables. My father made the torshi.. Its a recipe handed down from generation to generation. So this recipe might be 150 years old, Nassef said. Torshi simply means sour, and there are many kinds of pickles, from crisp vinegary carrots to this version typical of Shiraz, where Nassefs parents are from. It includes eggplant, cauliflower and other vegetables. Vocabulary To celebrate: Persian New Year -------- -------- --------- ---------- ------------The 4 seasons are Spring/ S---------/ A------------/ W----------Iran/Iranian Venezuala/V------Pakistan/P------Egypt/E-------China/C-----

Food mentioned in the article: Fish,........................................

Recipes
Sabzipolo 3 cups Basmati rice 1 bunch fresh parsley, 1 bunch chives 1 bunch fresh cilantro 1 bunch fresh dill 3 cloves garlic teaspoon ground cumin ground cinnamon cup melted unsalted butter 1/3 cup vegetable oil 3 tablespoons salt teaspoon saffron (optional) In Persian rice cooking, the goal is to keep the rice grains separate. In a large bowl, wash and drain the rice in 2-3 changes of water. Add more water to cover, and set the rice aside to soak for 1-2 hours. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drain the soaked rice and stir it into the boiling water. Return to a boil and cook the rice until tender. Then drain the rice, discarding the water. Chop the herbs finely. There should be 3 cups. Spread the vegetable oil on the bottom of the pot. Cover the oil with one-third of the rice in a single layer. Spread one-third of the herb mix over the rice and fluff by hand to mix. Sprinkle cumin and cinnamon on top of herbs. Repeat the process twice. Cover tightly, reduce the heat to medium and steam the rice for approximately 1 hours. Pile on a platter and drizzle butter over the top.

For a traditional garnish, mix the saffron with 1 tablespoon hot water. Lightly mix 2-3 tablespoons of rice with the liquid saffron. Sprinkle it over the top of the rice on its serving plate.

Nowruz Fish 4 tablespoons flour 2 eggs 1 tablespoon dry white wine 1 teaspoon ground saffron diluted in 2 tablespoons hot water tablespoon chopped garlic salt and freshly ground pepper 3 pounds halibut or other white fish fillet, rinsed and patted dry, cut into pound pieces Vegetable oil for frying lemon wedges Put the flour in a large flat bowl and whisk in the eggs. Gradually whisk in the wine and diluted saffron until a smooth batter is achieved. Season with garlic, salt and pepper. Add fish to mixture and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. In a frying pan over medium-high heat pour in oil to a depth of inch and heat. Remove the fish from the batter and fry until golden brown on the bottom. using a slotted spatula, flip the fish over and continue to cook until the other side is also golden brown. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep hot in a 300-degree oven while you cook another batch. Serve with lemon wedges.