Najmieh Batmanglij 
Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey [EPUB ebook] 

This book is at once an exploration, a celebration, and a little-known tale of unity. It presents 150 delicious vegetarian dishes that together trace a fascinating story of culinary linkage. As renowned cookbook writer and teacher Najmieh Batmanglij explains, all have their origins along the ancient network of trade routes known as the Silk Road, stretching from China in the east to the Mediterranean in the west. On this highway moved not just trade goods but also ideas, customs, tastes and such basics of life as cooking ingredients. The result was the connecting and enrichment of dozens of cuisines. In Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey, Najmieh Batmanglij recounts that process and brings it into the modern kitchen in the form of recipes that are venturesome and yet within reach of any cook. They are intended for vegetarian, partial-vegetarian and non-vegetarian alike – anyone who is looking for balanced, unusual and exceptionally tasty dishes.


The book offers a wealth of information derived from the author’s extensive research and her travels along the Silk Road during the past 30 years. She complements the recipes with stories, pictures, histories of ingredients, and words of wisdom from her favorite poets and writers of the region. The scope of her culinary journey of discovery is vast – from Xian in China, to Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan, to Isfahan in Iran, to Istanbul in Turkey, and to the westernmost terminus of the ancient trade routes in Italy. Her recipes – all of them personal favorites – include such exotic yet simple fare as Sichuan Crispy Cucumber Pickles; Afghan Boulani, a savory pastry stuffed with garlic chives; Persian Pomegranate and Walnut Salad; Kermani Pistachio and Saffron Polow with Rose Petals; Chinese Hot and Sour Tofu Noodle Soup; Turkish Almond and Rice Flour Pudding; Uzbek Candied Quince with Walnuts; and Sicilian Sour Cherry Crostata. Fortunately, all the ingredients for these recipes can be obtained at local supermarkets and farmers’ markets. In recent years America has become a kind of modern Silk Road, where wonderful ingredients from all over the world are available to everyone.

Despre autor

Najmieh Batmanglij, hailed as one of “Seven Immigrant Women who Changed the Way Americans Eat” by The New York Times, has spent the past 40 years cooking and adapting authentic Persian recipes to tastes and techniques in the West. Her book, Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies was called "The definitive book on Persian cooking" by The Los Angeles Times. Her Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey was selected as “One of the 10 best vegetarian cookbooks of 2004” by The New York Times; and her From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persian Table won the Gourmand Cookbook Award for the world’s best wine history book of 2007. Her books also include Joon: Persian Cooking Made Simple, and Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes and Kitchen Secrets, about which The Wall Street Journal wrote, “. . . recipes are only part of the experience. The essays on cultural history, tales of personal encounters and 450 photos provide as deep an understanding of this ancient, intriguing, and wonderfully diverse country as you are likely to find anywhere.” Her most recent book is Persian Cooking for Dummies published by Wiley and Sons. She is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, and lives in Washington, DC, where she teaches Persian cooking, and consults with restaurants around the world.