On today’s episode of THE FOOD SEEN, Louisa Shafia grew up Persian in 1970’s Philadelphia. Her father was Iranian; pomegranates, pistachios, and saffron were aplenty in their household. It wasn’t until working as a chef in San Francisco, that Louisa awoke the flavors of her heritage, recreating her version of “fesenjan” a sweet-and-sour stew accented with pomegranate molasses and ground walnuts. Impassioned by her family’s past, she returned to Iran, did R&D in Los Angeles (the largest community of Iranian expats), and wrote “The New Persian Kitchen”. Still, Louisa wanted to further share her cuisine, opening a pop-up called Lakh Lakh at NYC’s Porsena restaurant, serving such dishes as Sabzi Kordan (herb and cheese plate with barbari bread), Sambuseh (a crispy phyllo triangle stuffed with veggies, lentils, nigella seeds, served with a spicy tomato relish), Jujeh Kebab (chicken kebab in a saffron marinade), and Bastani Nooni (saffron ice cream sandwiches with cardamom wafers). Politics aside, this may mark the start of a new Iranian food revolution. This program was brought to you by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons.

Photo by Sara Remington

“We talk about local and seasonal here, there you don’t even have to try, its just how people live. [In Iranian Bazaars]” [12:00]

–Louisa Shafia on The Food Seen

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