Today is Saint Patrick's Day , a holiday for green beer along with corned beef and cabbage. Yet another Spring holiday, older and more religious happens on Saturday - Nowruz the Persian New Year.Its is a time of renewal to welcome in the season of Spring. The holiday brings all sorts of feasting and fun.
Naz Deravian , an actress who was in the CBS show "Jag" and author of the Persian cookbook Bottom of the Pot contributed Afghani recipes to yesterday's New York Times Food section.It is a New year celebrated not just by Iranians but countries in the Silk Road route.This also includes the ancient kingdom of Afghanistan.It is from the Zoroastrian tradition, withe the religion being the oldest monotheisstic one in the world. Their beliefs have influenced Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Nowruz is Persian for "new day". The foods and even their preparations have meaning. Rinsing and soaking fruit and nuts to be used in water symbolizes brightness and life. Sweets , of course, celebrate the sweetness of life while green ingredients like spinach mean new life . However the holiday will be subdued in cities like Kabul because of the Taliban takeover and the group does not like the Zoroastrians or their religion. Still there will be quiet celebrations where entire families will prep the food and the women will sing traditional songs.
Ms Deravian gives a variety of different recipes for a New Year's celebration. There is sabzi, a lamb and spinach stew that is spiked with chili and garlic. Two pounds of spinach is used and it, the lamb and a large yellow onion are cooked. Cilantro and chives along with scallions are added to intensify the flavor and color of rebirth . It can be served with challaw , rice spiced with green cardamon pods and cumin seeds .(you can go to any Asian food store for the cardamon pods) The rice is first parboiled and then finished cooking with the pods and seeds for three minutes. It is then simmered for another twenty minutes. One of the most important dishes is haft mewa, seven fruits in Persian. Seven is a lucky number in the culture however more can be added to the recipe. This is a collection of walnuts,pistachios and almonds rinsed and soaked with golden raisins, apricots and black raisins,Oleaster or senjed , a type of olive with a sour tomato taste and dried sour apricot are the chief ingredients however they can only be found at Afghan or Iranian markets or online. Ms. Deravian suggests using figs and dried cherries instead.All the ingredients are soaked for to days and served chilled.
Nowruz is another Spring holiday, ancient and sacred.It is also joyous celebrating a new year full of life and promise.Its' foods reflect this.
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