Who new there was such a thing as Persian New Year,
( and what does it have to do with Easter? )
Nowrūz (Persian: نوروز, IPA: [nouˈɾuːz], originally "New Light") is the name of the New Year in Iranian calendars and the corresponding traditional celebrations. Nowruz is also widely referred to as the Persian New Year.
Nowruz is celebrated and observed by Iranic peoples and the related cultural continent and has spread in many other parts of the world, including parts of Central Asia, Caucasus, South Asia, Northwestern China, the Crimea and some groups in the Balkans.
Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday and having significance amongst the Zoroastrian ancestors of modern Iranians, the same time is celebrated in parts of the South Asian sub-continent as the new year. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year and Iranian families gather together to observe the rituals.
Originally being a Zoroastrian festival, and the holiest of them all, Nowruz is believed to have been invented by Zoroaster himself, although there is no clear date of origin. Since the Achaemenid era the official year has begun with the New Day when the Sun leaves the zodiac of Pisces and enters the zodiacal sign of Aries, signifying the Spring Equinox.
The Jewish festival of Purim is probably adopted from the Persian New Year. It is also a holy day for Sufis, Ismailis, Alawites, Alevis, and adherents of the Bahá'í Faith.
See, the same as Easter, a rights of Spring celebration!
SO, Martha, who is cooler than we are, had a Persian New Years dinner at her house.
The MOST HERETICAL thing you will ever read from me:
Sometimes Marta and my tastes diverge a tad when
it comes to setting our tables. She can just go a hair too far..
these napkins for example.
( the flip side of this is, that Alexis is way too severe in her table settings, no shock there ) Anyway, this is lovely and very spring like.
People I don't know having dinner at Martha's
Martha does not give us a recipe, so some quick googling , read a few, and will go with this one, but, please, you do the same, read a few different ones, sort of pick and choose, what really works for you.
From the site FXCuisine : Rice doesn't get much better than this. Easier to prepare than Fatet Lamice, it is much more delicate, a crown jewel in the thousand year old Persian cuisine. This rice is served at Persian weddings. It is the king of rices and the rice of kings. If you are serious about rice you owe it to yourself to try this at least once in your life.
Persian Jeweled Rice Javaher Polow
For 6 as a royal side dish
3 cups Basmati rice
2 organic oranges
1 large carrot
1 cup dried barberries
1/2 cup raisins
1 onion
1 cup blanched whole almonds or almonds and pistachios
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp dried rosebuds
3 tbsp green cardamom pods
pinch of saffron diluted in 1 glass water
150 gr butter
2 tbsp yoghurt
Barberries (Berberis, épine-vinette) are dried tart berries with an intense red color. They become stale and dark after a few months so you could substitute them with fresh pomegranate seeds and keep, in my opinion, with the dish's spirit.
with photos
If I make this , I will post it.
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