writer Porochista Khakpour's Nowruz recommendations, our founder's sofreh haft-sin suggestions, and a closet sale
monthly recs #36
Each month, we ask a writer to speak about what’s on their mind and share their tabs for our monthly recommendations. This March’s guest curator, Porochista Khakpour, is the author of the memoir SICK and the essay collection Brown Album and in June she will publish Tehrangeles, her third novel. She is also a wonderful creative writing teacher, helping writers sharpen their own voices and tell their own stories.
This March is one of the rare Nowruzes (that’s the Iranian New Year) I will be away from home—meaning not in my hometown of L.A., nor my adopted (since 1996!) home base of NYC, nor my real home-home Tehran (inshallah one day soon!). Instead, I am going to be by myself at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in a town of 2000 people, for a central Virginia arts residency that I last visited 15 years ago. My term happened to fall in March, but I could not say no: it’s hard to refuse these gifts of solitude, immersion, and indulgence when you’re an artist. This year Nowruz will be celebrated on March 19 in the U.S., which feels a bit sneakily early, an extra treat at the end of another hard year. I love that our New Year isn’t fixed—every year it’s slightly different, as it’s tuned at the vernal equinox. How beautiful that we get to celebrate a new year at the exact start of spring!
Now actually I've never been a spring girl. Autumn and winter are my favorite months, and I deeply resent spring allergies, but I get into the spirit — when nature is pushing renewal it’s hard to not want to join in. And I love a do-over from Jan 1. This year I actually had resolutions and I failed them all by the end of the month. My dog also died a month into 2024 so I am ready for a brand-new start. Nowruz means “new” + “day” after all.
Although many cultures join us in celebrating Nowruz, I thought I’d linger on all things Persian here to take me back home since being away will undoubtedly make me miss it all much more.
1. Nowruz food is enchanting and now no one has any excuse not to try it, given that the past couple of years have ushered in an influx of Persian cookbooks. I always loved the Batmanglij classics from Mage Publishers, but I am obsessed with my friend Homa Dashtaki’s Zoroastrian cookbook, Yogurt & Whey, Roya Shariat’s tender Maman & Me, and the impeccable Sofreh cookbook. My goal is to have a Persian cookbook shelf in our new apartment, and I am well on my way.
2. Can’t be bothered to cook a Nowruz feast? No problem if you’re in NYC. For years Saeed Pourkay had this lovely stand, Taste of Persia, in a pizza shop by Union Square, and just before the pandemic the place closed. We were all so distraught but then he began doing deliveries during the pandemic. Almost every month I had asheh reshteh delivered to my doorstep. For a while he took a break, but I am happy to see he’s back and you can get Taste of Persia delivery – soups and stews, and even salads!—brought right to you all over the boroughs.
3. And if you just want an excuse to go out, go to Nasrin’s Kitchen in Manhattan, which has become my favorite Persian restaurant in the US. The décor is perfect—floral and chic and a bit bohemian, a little bit country, a little bit Tehran after-hours, extremely down-to-earth, and effortlessly charming. I got to taste Nasrin’s cooking at a Nowruz gathering she catered last year and so I’ve made sure to obsessively support her in this new venture.
4. You’re supposed to wear something new at tahveeleh sahl (the exact moment of the equinox), so why not support Persian talent? My go-to is always Hushi Mortezaie, one of my dearest friends (and the person my next book is dedicated to). His online shop is a forever inspiration. Whether it’s silver metal mesh cigarette pouches, Persian caviar bikinis, or velvet floral prints inspired by Abyaneh villagers, Hushi’s Iranian is home to me.
5. Nobody parties better than my people! By now the secret is out on Back Home Beer but I have been stocking up on my favorite Persian-by-way-of-Brooklyn beer since it launched. My favorite of the Persian celebrations is Yalda and their Yalda Queen very quickly became a favorite, after their incredibly delightful rose-colored Sumac Gose. They’re all stunningly designed, Zahra is an angel, and there will soon be a brewery thanks to crowdfunding (the most funded brewery in Kickstarter history!).
*paid subscribers can scroll down for more great recs from Porochista, including a “queer literary noir” and a snack that is “basically a Persian fruit roll-up”*
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6. Today is Chaharshanbe Suri, a traditional Iranian festival celebrated on the eve of the last Wednesday before Nowruz. It is marked by a night of bonfires and jumping over the flames. It’s a ritual invoking purification and renewal, focused on cleansing the environment to ward off negativity and welcome new beginnings. In that spirit, we’re running a survey in an effort to shape the future of passerby, making sure it includes more of what you love and less of anything you don’t. If you haven’t taken it yet, we’d really appreciate it if you took a few minutes to let us know what you think about passerby!
7. L.A. is home to the largest population of Iranians in the U.S. and if you (unlike Porochista) are in L.A. for Nowruz this year, it’s a perfect time to explore the city’s Iranian communities. Take a driving tour, soundtracked by Iranian pop music and guided by local community members.
8. For a window into what’s happening in Iran itself, we’re reading the important reporting from The Iranist and watching this video from journalist Isobel Yeung reporting on the ground about what happened to Iran’s women-led uprising.
9. It’s the beginning of the bird-watching season, the time of year for one of our favorite beautiful, meditative ways to engage with nature. Lemaire makes lovely bird call necklaces to bring with you — perhaps to a meeting of the Brooklyn Bird Club or to a birdwatching event in Prospect Park.
10. We’ll never understand why Netflix, Criterion, HBO, et. al decided to block taking screenshots of what you’re watching. As Nora Delighter wrote in her lovely elegy for the screenshot, “to screenshot (be it a frame from a film, a paragraph of text, a blurred moment from a YouTube video) is to press pause, to capture, to remember.” So we’re happy to have found a new workaround. Some screenshot-worthy films on our list include Criterion’s New York Film Festivals Favorites featuring one of our founder’s favorite films Taste of Cherry (which pairs quite well with Porochista’s bonus tea rec), Phantom Thread on Netflix, and Atlantics and Fallen Leaves (one of our favorites of 2023) on MUBI (partner-level subscribers get one month of MUBI free).
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#conversations “I've been a Park Slope Food Coop member on and off for almost 20 years. The prices are very worth it if you live close enough to shop there regularly and to shop there for heavy things like liquids and bulk dry goods (assuming you don't have a car). The value is especially good for organic meat, fish, and dairy (they have a fantastic range of cheeses). Oh, and they sometimes have great skincare, bath products, and such at a really impressive discount (Ursa Major at near-wholesale prices, for example). Where I've hit bumps in my membership is when I live too far away to get there easily, and getting there to shop or work shifts becomes too inconvenient for me to do regularly / be cost-efficient. There's also plenty to say about the atmosphere and personalities you'll encounter shopping and working shifts, but that's maybe better covered offline. The last I heard, there was a not-insignificant waitlist to join. Happy to answer any other questions if you have them, but this is probably long enough for now.”
#maps “I love Levanto which is popular with Italians rather than overseas tourists, has a small decent beach and is accessible by train to pretty and more touristy spots. Great food, not super cheap but not Portofino by any standard”
My mind this month has been solely on preparation for Nowruz, specifically, setting up my sofreh haft-sin (for those interested but not familiar with the holiday and traditions, you can read last year’s monthly recs here). I’ve always struggled to find any resources around the holiday, so I hope there are some Iranian readers amongst you and that the following recommendations are useful.