Announcements
Students
Spotlight on Persian Cooking
In the fall of 2019, the Iranian Studies Program highlights Persian cooking and cuisine. Through a new cooking course and book talks, we hope to share the traditions, unique flavors, and rich history of Iran's culinary legacy.
Book Talks
All the Saffron We Carried with Us: Exploring, Honoring, and Adapting the Flavors of Iran in My American Kitchen
Naz Deravian
Thursday, October 10, 6:30 PM
Award-winning author Naz Deravian discusses her new book Bottom of the Pot – Persian Recipes and Stories and her journey from Iran, to Italy, Canada and the U.S. and explores the idea of home, belonging, and bringing Iranian food and ingredients to the American kitchen table.
More information coming soon
Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes and Kitchen Secrets
Najmieh Batmanglij
Thursday, November 21, 6:30 PM
Thursday, November 21, 6:30 PM
Hailed as the “Grande Dame of Iranian cooking,” acclaimed chef, author, and scholar, Najmieh Batmanglij discusses her new book Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes and Kitchen Secrets and her recent culinary travels to Iran. Her celebrated cook books include Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies, and Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey.
More information coming soon
More information coming soon
New French-Persian cooking course offered in the fall!
We are pleased to announce a new course on French-Persian cooking will be offered to Stanford students this fall. Taught by various culinary experts, this multicultural course on French and Persian culinary arts includes recipe-making and tasting. It provides introductory knowledge of traditional ingredients and how to find them, cooking preparation, and customs related to Persian and French culinary arts.
Meet the Persian cuisine instructors:
Naz Deravian
Naz Deravian is a James Beard Award nominated author of Bottom of the Pot – Persian Recipes and Stories (Flatiron Books). She is the recipient of The IACP Julia Child First Book Award, presented by The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. She has been published in The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, Saveur, O Magazine, and Montecristo Magazine. She has also been profiled in The New York Times and Bon Appetit magazine, among others. Ms. Deravian was born in Iran, she grew up in Canada and now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.
Hanif Sadr
Hanif Sadr was born in Paris, France and raised in Tehran, Iran. He is a chef and co-founder of Komaaj Food group, a Northern Iranian restaurant and catering company based in Berkeley, California.
Faz Poursohi
Faz Poursohi is an acclaimed chef and culinary entrepreneur. Born in Soh, Iran, Faz has a degree in systems engineering from the University of Illinois. He began his culinary career as a college student and worked his way up to management of several prestigious restaurants with Lettuce Entertain You, Inc. out of Chicago and then joined Spectrum Foods as opening chef of MacArthur Park, Palo Alto until opening his own restaurants. He currently has five restaurants and a bakery in the Bay Area, four are FAZ Mediterranean restaurants in Danville, San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Pleasanton, MacArthur Park restaurant in Palo Alto, and FAZ Bakery & Coffee Bar in Danville.
Najmieh Batmanglij
Hailed as “The Grande Dame of Iranian Cooking” by The Washington Post, has spent the past 40 years cooking, traveling, and adapting authentic Persian recipes to tastes and techniques in the West. The 25th Anniversary Edition of her book Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies was called “A classic cookbook made even better…Gorgeous expanded edition” by Russ Parsons in the Los Angeles Times. Her Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey was selected as “One of the 10 best vegetarian cookbooks of 2004” by The New York Times, while her most recent book, Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes and Kitchen Secrets was selected as one of the 19 best cookbooks of Autumn 2018 by The New York Times, where Julia Moskin called it, "Magisterial...An engrossing visual feast of modern Iran…An essential new book”; and Evan Kleiman of KCRW Radio selected it as her “Cookbook of 2018.” Najmieh is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and lives in Washington, D.C., where she teaches Persian and Silk Road cooking, and consults with restaurants around the world.