Persian favourites travel to new homelands
Writer and actor Deravian pays homage to her Persian roots with debut cookbook
In Naz Deravian’s recipes, herbs are always added by the bunch or handful.
Bright, sour flavours — by way of pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, yogurt and the like — are at the forefront.
But just as important as the flavour of Deravian’s Persian home cooking is the spirit of sharing and art of storytelling.
In her debut cookbook, Bottom of the Pot (Flatiron Books, 2018), Deravian delves into the memories and dishes that influence her “accented” approach to Persian cuisine.
The Los Angeles-based writer and actor grew up in Vancouver (via Rome, Italy) after leaving her native Tehran, Iran, at the age of eight.
“There is no way that my Persian food is going to taste like how someone in Iran is making it right now. This food has travelled with me,” she says.
“I’m using ingredients that are available to me in L.A. … In (Canada), it’s going to hopefully take on your accent, and that’s lovely. I think we pay respect to tradition and pay homage to it.”
Intertwining stories with recipes came naturally, explains Deravian. When she first left Vancouver for Los Angeles, she began plying family members for instruction only to learn the path would rarely be a direct one.
“These recipes always come with a story,” she says with a laugh. Cooking and storytelling are inextricably linked, she adds, each feeding the other: “Food is a catalyst.” Excerpted from Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories by Naz Deravian with permission from Flatiron Books.