Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes and Kitchen Secrets

Love it and will treasure this volume. Excellent cookbook as well as guide to the cuisine of each region in Iran. The recipes are very well written and explained. Fail proof. The only book of Persian cuisine you would need. No gimmicks and the recipes are authentic and healthy. You will need to purchase the required ingredients for you to start using this book and cooking frequently. Any middle eastern store will have them. Pg. 702 has a visual glossary of spices and herbs, followed by an index of recipes by region with their Persian name as well as English translation. Then there is an additional full and proper Index on pg. 714. This is a big thick volume, but easy to navigate. Bound well with a cloth spine bind to hold it safely. Lovely addition and a must buy! Najmieh’s best book, Food of Life follows second. Must buy - it has all the possible most delicious, great recipes (250+) one could prepare. Value for your money. Very well Book bound now, so it holds very well in spite of being a thick volume. The recipes are presented in an easy to follow pattern with pictures of most recipes. Easy and very well organized index. So much culture, customs, and food - it is treasure to be passed down for generations. Might make an excellent present for oneself or others fond of cooking middle eastern and Mediterranean cuisine.

I own all of Ms. Batmanglij’s cookbooks and find all of her recipes accurate, detailed and easy to follow. However, this book is beyond compare, a true masterpiece.

Updated March 17, 2023 With Nowruz only three days away on the 20th March, I want to wish all Iranians including the diaspora a wonderful Persian New Year 1402! My original review was from the 2020 (2nd edition) version of "Cooking in Iran." Proceeding forward is my updated review for the 2022—2nd edition 2nd printing. I've ordered (2) brand new copies of the 2022 version and found several typos and errors which I have reached out to Mage Publishers and Najmieh-joon. If anyone finds additional errors or printing oddities, please reach out to Amin Sepehri, Assistant to the Publisher at Mage. His contact info is on the Contact Section of Mage Publishing website. I don't know how many of the batches are affected by the flaws and ugly impressions of the bookmarking ribbon left on the pages. Other than that, my original review still stands. Truly a magnificent book on Ashpazi Irani. I have the 2020 version of Food of Life in addition to Cooking in Iran. Ronald N. Tan @ "Tan Can Cook Vacaville, California USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let me preface first that I am primarily a professional portrait and men's fashion photographer and "personal cheffing" as a side income. I know the difference between a good photograph and a lousy snapshot miles away. With that said, anyone negative critiquing the "snapshot" images featured in "Cooking in Iran" are incorrect. I considered these images of lifestyle and capturing the moment authentic style of photojournalism. Kudos to Mr. Afshin Bakhtiar for the amazing photography. Having said that, I want to address people who complains about "foreign ingredients." You will have to do your homework and set aside your culinary budget to source these uniquely interesting Persian ingredients. I highly recommend Kala Mala Persian Grocery, if you're in the continental USA. After a great success of cooking recipes from Chef Najmieh Batmanglij's "Food of Life," deciding to purchase "Cooking in Iran" is a brainer. This book is huge and is enriched with exceptional cooking of the regional Iran and former Iranian territories from the days of yore. What I love most about this book is the **many** recipes and variations of the Persian spice mix known as "advieh." If you enjoy mixing your own spices, get this book. You will be rewarded with many spice mix recipes. Better check and restock your spices!

This is hands down a Masterpiece. This is much more than a cookbook—it is an extremely thorough and extensive encyclopedia of the rich diversity of Iranian cuisine that has ever been compiled. This is a Must Buy. The author actually went to each region of Iran and complied an impressive and vast array of all the various regional, local and family recipes. She has beautifully captured the rich and vibrant diversity of Iranian cuisine. She even included regional recipes of the various minority groups in Iran such as the Iranian Jews, Armenians, etc. Made me proud to be of Iranian descent. Thank you to the author for putting together this masterpiece and documenting all the beautiful and rich diversity of Iranian cuisine. This is like the Shahnameh of Iranian cuisine. I bought a copy of this cookbook for each of my friends and family members. It makes the most beautiful and thoughtful gift.

A compendium of recipes from all over Iran, Khanoom Batmanglij has really put a lot of work into this project, and it shows! There are photos and history and wonderful recipes from all over the country. Don't even think the price is too high. When you receive the book, you will see how THICK it is, and how HEAVY! Kudos for a wonderful job in presenting our lovely culture to outsiders. I cannot wait to dive into recipes from regions other than the ones from which my parents came. Thank you, Khanoom Batmanglij!

Many years ago I had purchased her "Food of Life" book, which has been a great reference cook book to use in our daily cooking for over 15 years. I was very excited when I found out that her new book "Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes and Kitchen Secrets" came out and purchased it. The book is another master piece of Persian cooking and a must in every Persian kitchen library. Thank you Najmieh Batmanglij for brining such a joy and nostalgia in our lives.

Beautiful history of Iran and persian food. Easy to follow recipes. Highly recommend this cookbook.

This book arrived today - very early! It is so inspiring. I have a lot of middle eastern cookbooks, but the recipes in this, I have never seen or tasted before. Yes , the back looks a little fragile for the size of the book, but if supported correctly, other books on each side, it will last for decades. Buy it, you will be thrilled like I am. Thank you Amazon for the fast delivery.

Je suis arrivée à ce livre par un esprit curieux des fêtes des autres pays, et j'ai fait une merveilleuse découverte. Quel livre OPTIMISTE et CHALEUREUX. Une envie de cuisiner le sourire au coeur, voilà ce qu'il m'est très agréable de dire. Bien sûr le livre est écrit en anglais, mais il faut passer le cap (puisqu'il n'existe pas encore en français) et revenir si besoin deux à trois fois sur la recette et les portes de l'imaginaire s'ouvrent, les ingrédients deviennent faciles à découvrir (les deux pages de photos avec les ingrédients avec le titre en anglais sont intelligents et aident à la compréhension) ; j'apprécie sa façon de décrire "l'esprit" d'une recette : pas de règle absolue d'un ingrédient introuvable, si une recette comprend un tel ingrédient on peut aussi faire avec ce que l'on a près de soi, cela se trouve rarement dans un livre, La générosité de son auteur ouvre un sens plus large : "l'esprit" de la recette . c'est une invitation à la joie du beau, du bon et du partage.

This is one if not THE best cooking book i ever bought! Pros: all recipies are amazing and u want to cook basically all of them! Stunning Fotos Nice short introductions (to the dish but also to the regions... ) Good structure, per regions and also within the recipie (easy to follow) Authentic original ingredients! (Love books that have authenic recipies... yes some recipies u may can not cook cos u don't have raw pistacio (still in husc) but most of them u can if putting effort of finding the right ingrediens (eg zafferan, black limes, sumac, etc). This is the only way to cook authentic mindblowingly delicious iranian food. No cons! It is not the ceapest book, but you get soo much value! I can say with confidence that this book will be my good compagnon for the rest of my life! ... i you like middle eastern food, do yourself the favor and buy this book! AMAZING!

I am really really enjoying reading this book and finding out about all the great Iranian regional recipes. A stunning recipe book!

A heavy wondeful book 👍