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We recently caught up with Laura Bashar, owner of San Diego based food blog Family Spice and author of "Norouz, the Traditions and Food of the Persian New Year". Her recipes and blog focuses on fresh, family recipes with a Persian flair. Laura shared her book and these beautiful photos of Nowruz with us, which you can find on her blog, and also gave us an overview of what Nowruz is all about. Nowruz, which translates to "new day" in Farsi, is a holiday rooted in Zoroastrianism, a monotheistic religion that is tied to the seasons. Nowruz is the most important of the Zoroastrian holidays and has been celebrated for over 3,000 years. The first celebration of Nowruz is Chaharshanbe Suri, the night before the last Wednesday of the year. This festival is the celebration of good winning over evil, or light overtaking darkness. People make bonfires in the streets or in their yards and jump over them. All that is bad and evil from the previous year is taken by the fire, allowing one to start
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A GUIDE TO NOWRUZ WITH LAURA BASHAR
OF FAMILY SPICES
We recently caught up with Laura Bashar, owner of San Diego based food blog Family Spice and author of "Norouz, the Traditions and Food of the
Persian New Year". Her recipes and blog focuses on fresh, family recipes with a Persian flair. Laura shared her book and these beautiful photos of
Nowruz with us, which you can find on her blog, and also gave us an overview of what Nowruz is all about.
Nowruz, which translates to "new day" in Farsi, is a holiday rooted in Zoroastrianism, a monotheistic religion that is tied to the seasons. Nowruz is the most important of the Zoroastrian holidays and has been celebrated
for over 3,000 years.The first celebration of Nowruz is Chaharshanbe Suri, the night before the last Wednesday of the year. This festival is the celebration of good winning over evil, or light overtaking darkness. People make bonfires in the streets
or in their yards and jump over them. All that is bad and evil from the previous year is taken by the fire, allowing one to start the new year
cleansed and refreshed.
A ceremonial table called Sofreh Haft Sin, or Table of Seven S’s, is also set up at home. The haft-sinn table is set with the Holy Book, flowers, a bowl of
goldfish, a mirror, candles and painted eggs and seven traditional foods each starting with the letter 's' in Persian. These items include:
sabzeh (sprouts symbolizing new life) samanu (a sweet wheat-germ pudding) sir (garlic, representing medicine) sib (apple, representing beauty) senjed (jujubes, symbolizing love) sumac berries (symbolizing the color of sunrise)
serkeh (vinegar, symbolizing longevity)After thirteen days, Sizdeh Bedar is celebrated, which literally translates
to "getting rid of the thirteenth." Families throw green sprouts into rivers or lakes to symbolize the plant's return to nature and conclude the festivities
until the next year.
For the New Year, a traditional soup, Ash-e-Reshteh, is always served. Noodles are believed to bring good fortune, and it is customary to serve
Ash-e Reshteh or any noodles before embarking on something new. You can find the full recipe by Laura Bashar of Family Spice here.
Sweets are also a central part of any Nowruz table- according to a three-thousand-year-old legend, King Jamshid discovered sugar on Nowruz (the word candy comes from the Persian word for sugar, qand). These seven
sweets include baklava, rice, almond, walnut & chickpea cookies, honey & saffron almonds & sugar coated almonds.
A special thanks to Laura at Family Spice for her wonderful overview of Nowruz! Be sure to check out her fantastic Persian inspired recipes on
her blog.
