Najmieh Batmanglij: Happy Nowruz

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Americans typically celebrate New Year's in the dead of winter when it is hard to imagine spring and warmth. Even Chinese New Year often falls on a cold day when green buds and flowers have yet to make their appearance. Why not celebrate Nowruz, the Iranian and Zoroastrian New Year instead? Click here to see the White House's Noruz table. Najmieh Batmanglij's Happy Nowruz: Cooking with Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year (Mage 2008) introduces the Iranian celebration of spring to children (and their parents) along with fun recipes to celebrate the holiday. Nowruz is not really a religious holiday, as much as it is a spiritual one, Najmieh explains, one that last 13 days with enough food (sweets) to get everyone in the mood for summer holidays. Nowruz is celebrated from the Balkans and Turkey through Central Asia and Afghanistan all the way to China – among Turkic and Iranian populations – perhaps because it is so simply a rejoicing of spring. Nowruz dates back thousands of years. Najmieh writes: The festival and its customs have roots as long and tangled as the noodles in a traditional Nowruz soup. Some trace the New Year customs back 5,000 years to the spring festivals of Sumer and Babylon, with their dying and reborn gods. Others refer to King Jamshid, whose first celebration of Nowruz is recounted in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. Still others point to the prophet Zoroaster and the Persian Empire. (p. 11) Whatever its origins, celebrating this holiday is a chance to connect older kids with the geography and history of an important region, as well as pre-Christian beliefs. Nowruz takes place on March 20, 21 or 22nd when the sun crosses the celestial equator. The first half of the book is about how to celebrate Nowruz, and the second is full of recipes suitable for making with children. Najmieh describes all the preparations necessary before Nowruz: spring-cleaning, buying goldfish, making holiday cards and sprouting seeds in eggshells. The helpful photographs by Chris Eichler show children making decorated eggs using natural dyes from turmeric (yellow) and red onion peel (red) rather than commercial dye. She describes the Wild Fire Eve (p. 31) and The Banging of Spoons (p. 33) when children bang pots and spoons and go trick or treating. Finally, there is the Nowruz Holiday Table (p. 37). The recipes include a simple Nan or flatbread (pp. 56-57 with plenty of pictures showing how to kneed the bread. Following that recipe are ones using the Nan in pizza (pp. 59-60) and Cheese, Fresh Herb, Fruit, and Nut Sandwich (pp. 60-61) again with large pictures showing steps and the finish sandwich. To use up the extra egg from making sprout seeds in shells, Najmieh has a recipe for Fresh Herb Kuku with Barberries (pp. 62-63) which is similar to a frittata. The famous Ashe-E Reshteh or Noodle Soup (pp. 64-65), essential for celebrating Nowruz is rich with chickpeas, kidney beans, spinach and turmeric and green spices. There are several more complicated rice dishes – Red Rice with Green Beans (pp. 68-69) and Green Rice (pp. 70-71) good for getting children to eat more vegetables. Some of the sweet recipes will be very familiar but with a twist: Gingerbread Cookies (p. 75) but in the shape of Haji Firuz, Nowruz Cupcakes (p. 77) flavored with cardamom, and Cream Puffs (p. 79) flavored with rose water. Some of the recipes call for unusual flour, like Rice Cookies (p. 89) and Four-Leaf Clover Cookies (p. 95) made from chickpea flour. It is worth looking for a Middle Eastern store or buying the supplies on the Internet. Persian sweets are typically not as cloyingly sweet as others in the Middle East. At the end of the book are two recipes Super Chef is especially pleased to see. The first is for Persian Ice Cream, Bastani-E Nuni (pp. 102-3) a saffron flavored creamy dessert that includes mastic and sahlab. The other is for Sharbat-E Albalu or Sour Cherry Cooler (pp. 104-7). It may be difficult to get sour cherries in many areas of the US – but this syrup-based drink beats cranberry juice hands down. You can use Happy Nowruz to incorporate new recipes into Easter or introduce children to a new holiday. It is a delightful book with pictures of children enjoying themselves and partaking in a rich tradition. Previous articles: [Kids Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef