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Najmieh Batmanglij

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Najmieh Batmanglij
Najmieh Batmanglij
Batmanglij with a dish of tahdig rice (2016)
Born
Najmieh Khalili

1947 (age 76–77)
Tehran, Imperial Iran
Occupation(s)chef, cookbook author, publisher
StylePersian cooking
Children
Websitewww.najmieh.com Edit this at Wikidata

Najmieh Khalili Batmanglij (Persian: نجمیه خلیلی باتمانقلیج, IPA: [nædʒmiːˈje bɒːtmɒːŋɢeˈliːdʒ]) is an Iranian-American chef and cookbook author. Born in Tehran, she fled the Iranian Revolution in 1979, moving first to France, then the United States, building a career as a cookbook author as she went. Her first book, published in French, was called Ma Cuisine d’Iran (1984), followed by eight cookbooks in English, from Food of Life (1986) to Cooking in Iran (2018). The Washington Post hailed her in 2018 as "the grande dame of Iranian Cooking."[1]

Biography

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Najmieh Khalili was born in 1947 in Tehran, Imperial Iran (present-day Iran).[1] She received her undergraduate and master's degrees in education in the United States.[2] She returned to Iran after her education in America but was forced into exile in 1979, because of the Iranian Revolution.[2] She and her husband fled to Vence, France as refugees, where she studied cooking and began translating her mother's recipes into French resulting in her first cookbook, Ma Cuisine d'Iran.[3]

In the 1980s Batmanglij permanently relocated to Washington, DC where she wrote her celebrated book, Food of Life.[2] After her move to the United States, which was near the time of the Iran hostage crisis and she faced discrimination, as a result she needed to publish her own work.[4] Alongside her husband Mohammad, they started their own publishing house.[4]

After the success of that book, Batmanglij went on to write five more cookbooks, including From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persian Table, which won a Gourmand Cookbook Award.[5] and Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey, which The New York Times compared to reading "a good novel—once you start, it's hard to put down."[6] Batmanglij has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show and also teaches Persian cooking.[2] She is a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier, a society of professional women involved in the food, wine, and hospitality industries.[7][8]

For many years she has taught at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley, California during the World of Flavors Conference.[2]

A trailblazer in introducing Iranian cuisine to American readers, Batmanglij had few precursors, aside from Maideh Mazda, who wrote a short cookbook in 1960, and Nesta Ramazani, who wrote in 1982.[1] With her cookbook for children, called Happy Nowruz, Batmanglij went even further by writing for members of the Iranian American diaspora, and by sharing not only recipes, but also insights about Nowruz customs and traditions.[9]

Honors and awards

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On February 15, 2013, in his weekly article for the Guardian newspaper, Yotam Ottolenghi included a recipe that was inspired by a recipe in Food of Life, about which he said: "One of the most exciting cookbooks I've seen in a while, Food Of Life: Ancient Persian And Modern Iranian Cooking And Ceremonies, by Najmieh Batmanglij–I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Iran's glorious food culture."[10]

On April 6, 2016, she was the guest chef at First Lady Michelle Obama's White House Nowruz Celebration and Lunch.[11] Julia Moskin of The New York Times wrote about her latest cookbook, "...Magisterial...An engrossing visual feast of modern Iran...Cooking in Iran is an essential new book" and selected it as one of The 19 Best Cookbooks of Fall 2018.[12]

Publishers Weekly called the cookbook, "A massive and thorough guide to Persian cuisine...terrific, reverential, and accessible."[13]

On November 5, 2018 The Washington Post published an article about her written by James Beard Award winning writer Mayukh Sen with the headline " Najmieh Batmanglij is the grande dame of Iranian cooking. It’s time you knew her name."[1] On November 16, 2021 Taste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food in America by Mayukh Sen was published by W.W. Norton and Co. One of the featured immigrant women was Najmieh Batmanglij; on the same day, Hetty McKinnon wrote a review for The New York Times[14] with the headline "Seven Immigrant Women Who Changed the Way Americans Eat."[15]

Personal life

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She is married to book publisher, Mohammad Batmanglij.[2][16] Her sons are Zal Batmanglij, a film director and screenwriter whose projects include Sound of My Voice,[17] The East, and The OA; and Rostam Batmanglij, a record producer, musician, singer, songwriter and composer who was a founding member of the indie-pop band Vampire Weekend.

Bibliography

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  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (1984). Ma Cuisine d'Iran. Paris: Jacques Grancher Publisher. ISBN 2733901117.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (1986). Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies (1 ed.). Washington D.C.: Mage Publishers. ISBN 9780934211000. OCLC 13395606.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (1990). Food of Life (2 ed.). Washington D.C.: Mage Publishers. ISBN 9780934211277.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (1993). New Food of Life (3 ed.). Washington D.C.: Mage Publishers. ISBN 9780934211345.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (2009). Persian Cooking for a Healthy Kitchen. Mage Publishers, Incorporated. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-933-82326-3. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (1999). A Taste of Persia: An Introduction to Persian Cooking. Mage Publishers. p. 339. ISBN 978-0-934-21154-3. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (2000). Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey (1 ed.). Washington D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1st Hardcover Ed. ISBN 9780934211635.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (2002). Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey (2 ed.). Washington D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1st Paperback Ed. ISBN 9780934211963.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (2006). From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persia Table. Washington D.C.: Mage Publishers. ISBN 9781933823003.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (2008). Happy Nowruz: Cooking with Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year. Mage Publishers. ISBN 9781933823164.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (1992). New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies. Mage Publishers. p. 442. ISBN 978-0-934-21134-5.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (2015). Joon: Persian Cooking Made Simple. Washington D.C.: Mage Publishers. ISBN 9781933823720.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (2018). Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes and Kitchen Secrets. Mage Publishers, Incorporated. p. 728. ISBN 978-1-933-82395-9. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  • Batmanglij, Najmieh (2020). Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes and Kitchen Secrets (2 ed.). Washington D.C.: Mage Publishers. ISBN 9781949445077.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Sen, Mayukh (November 5, 2018). "Najmieh Batmanglij is the grande dame of Iranian cooking. It's time you knew her name". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Benwick, Bonnie S. (March 1, 2011). "Persian food guru updates master cookbook". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2019. When the Iranian revolution occurred in 1979, she and her husband fled to Vence, France.
  3. ^ "An Interview With Author Najmieh Batmanglij". My Persian Kitchen. February 8, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Mayukh Sen Celebrates Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized American Food Culture". Civil Eats. October 21, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  5. ^ Gourmand World Cookbook Awards (USA Only)-Cook's Books
  6. ^ Landis, Denise (December 8, 2004). "For Full- and Part-Time Vegetarians". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  7. ^ Les Dames d'Escoffier International (LDEI)
  8. ^ "An Iranian Chef's Journey from Persia to Napa". Iranian Studies, Stanford University.
  9. ^ "Happy Nowruz: Cooking With Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year". Mage Publishers. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  10. ^ Ottolenghi, Yotam (February 15, 2013). "Yotam Ottolenghi recipes: saffron and chilli lamb skewers, plus walnut and halva cake". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  11. ^ "NewsRoomAmerica.com - Remarks by The First Lady at Annual Nowruz Celebration". www.newsroomamerica.com. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  12. ^ "The 19 Best Cookbooks of Fall 2018". The New York Times. October 2, 2018. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  13. ^ "Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes & Cooking Secrets". PublishersWeekly.com. PWxyz, LLC. November 2, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  14. ^ McKinnon, Hetty (November 16, 2021). "Seven Immigrant Women Who Changed the Way Americans Eat". The New York Times.
  15. ^ "National Book Festival: Food". The Washington Post. United States. August 27, 2015. ISSN 0040-781X.
  16. ^ Maher, John (2018). "The Iranian-American Couple Dominating Persian Cookbooks". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  17. ^ Q&A: Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling on Sci-fi Cult Tale, "SOUND OF MY VOICE"
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Further reading

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  • Dawson, Victoria (2002). "Silk Road Cookery". Smithsonian. 33 (3): 3. ISSN 0037-7333.
  • Sen, Mayukh (2018). "Recipes From Najmieh Batmanglij". News India Times. ISSN 1071-0248.
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