Even though it snowed all afternoon, I know winter is going to end because the spring equinox is three weeks away. With that comes Norooz, the Persian New Year, and I’ll be celebrating with a Norooz dinner at Porsena on March 16. The menu is full of herbs and spring ingredients, including an Azerbaijani smoked fish and herb omelet, roasted fish with tamarind and barberries, and mini tartlets filled with tangy limoo omani custard. See the full menu and all details here.
I’m also aware of time passing because Food52’s 2015 Piglet cookbook tournament is well under way, yeehaw! 2014 kicked off with a bang when The New Persian Kitchen won last year, but now it’s almost time for the new champ to be crowned. As per tradition, I judged two cookbooks in this year’s running: the excellent Olives, Lemons, and Za’atar, and Green Kitchen Travels. Read my review and see if you agree.
Tomorrow night at the regular Monday night Lakh Lakh Persian sdinner, we’re featuring recipes from Azerbaijan, Iran, and Pakistan. There are only a few more dinners after tomorrow night, as our final dinner is March 23, so come join us before we say goodbye!
Here’s tonight’s menu. As usual, we’re at Porsena Extra Bar, 21 E. 7th Street in Manhattan, between 2nd and 3rd. We serve from 5:30-10 pm, no reservations. Questions? Call Porsena at 212 228 4923.
Lakh Lakh Menu for Monday March 2
Sabzi Khordan, herb and cheese plate with barbari bread. Traditionally eaten by tucking herbs, feta, radishes, and walnuts into the bread and folding it into a rustic sandwich.
Tarator, Turkish style cucumber yogurt with walnuts and herbs. A condiment meant to be eaten with rice, stew, kebab, and other foods.
Sambuseh, crispy phyllo triangles stuffed with spinach and soft white cheese, with nigella seeds and spicy tomato coriander sauce
Eshkeneh, egg drop soup with onions, fenugreek, and turmeric
Jigar, lamb liver kebab
Khoresht-e narenj, chicken stew with oranges, saffron, almonds, and pistachios
Pakistani ground lamb kebabs stuffed with ginger and mint
Balgabag plov, Azerbaijani style rice with pumpkin and saffron
Cocktail: sour orange sharbat with Prosecco
Dear Luisa, I was just reading something about the Piglet Tournament on Food52 and just by chance I found your article, which let me find out you were the winner last year! Yoohooo! I was quite oblivious to the world of cookbooks at the moment, but I wanted to congratulate you anyway, a year later. I even swelled a little with pride when I found out the winner book was about Persian cooking.
bests 🙂
Hey Saghar, thank you so much! Your site is absolutely stunning, I love the photos. Wish I could magically receive a bowl of your firni right now!