00:00Through food, you can get to know a culture, so I'm hoping you will enjoy the recipes that
00:09I'm preparing for you.
00:10I made tachin, which is a yogurt and rice and chicken and saffron dish.
00:19It's actually a cake which you turn upside down and then you cut and you serve.
00:24It's delicious.
00:25It's distinctly Persian because it has the rice, which Iranians absolutely love, but
00:30it also has saffron, which is the king of all Persian spices.
00:34And it's the combination of things that makes it really Iranian as well.
00:38So it's yogurt with garlic, with saffron, with chicken, with rice, and it's really extra
00:44special.
00:45I also made mastakhiar, which is yogurt with walnuts, rose petals, cucumbers, fresh mint
00:52and dried mint, raisins.
00:55I studied classic French cuisine and pastry, but I really wanted to learn about my culture,
01:02and so I went back to Iran.
01:03I got recipes from my grandmother, my aunt, and my mom, and tried to recreate everything
01:08just because I think the best way to learn a culture, obviously, is through food.
01:13Iranian food is very delicate, but it's also very comforting.
01:17It's very balanced.
01:18So you've got the garmi and the sardi, which is the hot and the cold.
01:21It's the Persian version of the yin and yang cuisine, and it's also quite different because
01:28it uses ordinary ingredients, yet the way it's mixed together in a dish, it makes it
01:34so different and so extraordinary.
01:37And there are no chilies in Iranian food, very, very little.
01:40I mean, only a couple of recipes from the deep south have chilies.
01:44So Iranians don't use chilies.
01:46They don't use too much garlic, unless the recipe's from the north.
01:50So that's what makes Iranian food really different.
01:53My book, Pomegranates and Roses, my Persian family recipes, is about Persian food and
01:59also Persian culinary culture, has family stories weaved into it.
02:03The qualities of being a good chef are loving food, really loving food, because that's what
02:09you're going to be doing 16 hours a day.
02:12You're going to be dealing with food, whether it's chocolate or meat or anything.
02:17You're just constantly surrounded by food, so you really have to love it.
02:21Also, you have to have a lot of stamina, because it's very hard work.
02:24And remember, you're going to have unsociable hours.
02:27It's going to be tough, but you're going to be doing something you love.
02:30And also, try to find a mentor who you can talk to, ask questions and learn and progress
02:36and, you know, do what you love to do.
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