Marjan

My earliest memory of food as a finicky child doesn’t capture a favorable portrait. Thankfully, as an adult, I have developed a mature taste bud with an affluent appreciation of ingredients from across the world. My family and I arrived in Los Angeles immersed in a food culture that is extremely enticing to most immigrants: pizza, tacos, hot dogs, and hamburgers! I still remember my mother’s struggle to find herbs and ingredients traditionally used to make Persian dishes. These days, these ingredients are readily available in most Middle Eastern stores. In the seventies, she had to ask her family back in Iran to ship most ingredients she needed to prepare her specialties. Therefore, once the meal was prepared, she would enlighten us on all the particular ingredients used to prepare her dish. I used to take for granted how hard my mother had to work to create a Persian meal. My question would always be: “Why not have pizza for dinner or a frozen meal like all my other friends?” Today, I have a deep appreciation for her discipline to work a full time job, buy fresh ingredients on her way home, and prepare a wholesome, organic meal from scratch! She installed in me to not merely feed my appetite, but to nourish my body with healthy, nutritious homemade meals.

From my mother’s example, I gained a valuable lesson: cooking for those you love, not only confirms how much you care to prepare a meal, but also how important it is to eat tasty, nutritious and healthy servings. Whenever I would ask my mother, “What did you do differently this time? It tastes better than ever!” She replied: “Love! That was my secret ingredient”. Seeing my mother everyday in the kitchen preparing meals with her busy schedule, allowed me to appreciate the importance of cooking. It became organic for me to want to do the same. Therefore during my summer breaks, one of my favorite things to do was cook alongside my mother in the kitchen. To my surprise, whatever I prepared as a youngster, my family was always encouraging me, telling me how much they enjoyed it.

Today, I wonder if this was a tactic to give me confidence to cook. But then again, my brother who is a food critic in our family and would not be shy to point out to anyone their mistakes in cooking, would ask me to make him lunch or something special to eat. To this day, he is my number one fan. Once I became a little more confident in my skills in the kitchen, I would prepare meals for friends, and they too would enjoy my creations. All the positive endorsements, gave me the confidence to try out new recipes, flavors, and styles of cooking.

I have been blessed with a family who is not fastidious to try flavors from all over the world. Since my mother’s Persian cooking is spectacular (not only by my account, but anyone who has had her cooking), it was up to me to sharpen my skills in international cuisine with different ingredients, spices, and styles in cooking.

Living in a multi-cultural city, I have been blessed to have friends from all over the world. They have introduced restaurants to me that would initiate new ingredients to my appetite. Once I finished my studies and had the opportunity to travel the world, I was fascinated with different cultures and flavors unique to those regions. My deep appreciation of diverse cultures, their distinctive culinary styles, and ingredients, have helped to broaden my own recipe collection.


10 Q&A's

What makes you smile?
Food, of course

What's the life lesson so far?
Patience … a work in progress

What do you have for breakfast on a regular day?
Toast, butter, honey and tea

Three foods you could easily live without?
Eggplants, horseradish, olives (surprises me too)

Three foods you could never live without?
Anyone who knows me knows this: butter, bacon, and French fries!

Your newest crave?
Red velvet cup cakes with real cream cheese frosting! Does anyone have a recipe for this???

Blueberries, raspberries or strawberries?
Raspberries

If on a stranded island, and you had one choice, which would it be? Steak and potatoes? Cheesecake and berries? A hot shower and then a walk on the beach with your favorite model/ actor?
Kobe beef, medium rare, with purple potatoes prepared by Nobu and delivered by George Clooney! (hay, why not! I can dream)

Which food, fruit, or vegetable best describes you/your personality?
Kobe beef - I like to be messaged, drink beer, rest all day...and I am not cheap

What would you cook if George Clooney came over for dinner?
Fesenjoon! Sweet, a little tart, and exotic enough to catch his attention