Pars Arts

7 Questions for Yogurtsoda

Yogurtsoda is the new online home of Iranian-American, Bay Area-based, Pars Arts contributor Mariam Hosseini’s excellent food and travel writing.

1. You’ve blogged regularly for quite a while on Distant Voices. Why did you decide to spin out food/travel posts to Yogurtsoda?
I’d been planning on blogging on my own domain for years, but had never really gotten around to it. www.distant-voices.com is actually my sister’s domain and she had hosted (re)definition for me there since the beginning.

Yogurtsoda is still in transition – not everything is properly formatted and archived yet. But hey, I love doogh, and www.yogurtsoda.com is a reflection of two things close to my heart: food and Iranian culture. For better or worse, I’m really shekamoo.

2. How did you become interested in cooking?
When I was five years old, my favorite television show was Yan Can Cook. I used to watch him and imitate what he did by “playing chef.” I had my own pretend live studio audience and everything in my head, embarassingly enough. He’s the original celebrity chef in my eyes.

I also grew up in a household where home cooking and healthy food was valued, so being exposed to that from a young age led to my curiosity in the kitchen. I still remember the first meal I cooked for my family as a kid: A huge pot of instant ramen noodles, refried beans, and some boiled peach atrocity of a “beverage.” Thankfully, I’ve come a long way since then.

3. You work quite a bit at your day job in the non-profit world; how do you make the time to cook?
I’ve definitely had to scale down in the past couple of years. I’m too busy to crank out my homemade pasta maker or to tackle multi-course meals, so I stick to simpler recipes that maintain the integrity of the ingredients but still work with a busy schedule. It also helps if I prep as much as I can ahead of time. My kitchen is pretty small too, so I’m limited not only by time but also space.

4. What’s the best Bay Area Persian food? What’s the best Persian restaurant you’ve been to anywhere?
My parents’ kitchen. I don’t know what it is, but I much prefer Iranian homecooking to the restaurant variety. That being said, Shalizaar in Belmont is probably the best Persian food in the Bay Area, but I haven’t tried them all to be able to give a fair assessment. Any of the Moby Dick restaurants in the Washington, D.C. area are the best I’ve had in the U.S – their kabab koobideh is really good.

5. Which food-related blogs do you read?
I read Serious Eats; it’s such a great resource and an entertaining read. I also love The Girl Who Ate Everything, Writing with My Mouth Full and Michael Ruhlman’s blog.

6. What do you always have on hand in the kitchen?
Equipment: A chef’s knife, a wok and a couple of thick-bottomed pans.

Ingredients: Garlic, olive oil, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, Parmesan cheese, vinegar (balsamic and rice wine), eggs, dried mushrooms, chicken stock, rice and at least one kind of pasta.

7. Which recipe on Yogurtsoda is a good one for readers with beginner cooking skills to try?
Most of the recipes I post are pretty easy, but some of my favorites for beginner cooks are Lentil Salad with Browned Sausages, Hearts of Palm Salad with Shrimp and Avocado, and Pumpkin Spiced Muffins.

Zoulbia Recipe

photo credit: quinn.anya

It’s Hanukkah/Christmas/Kwanzaa! Time for lots of sweets, and over on All Kinds of Yum, Iranian American food blogger Tannaz has posted her recipe for zoulbia, which looks delicious and includes this clever trick:

You can buy plastic squeeze bottles from restaurant supply stores, or even from stores like Target, but in a pinch, an empty plastic shampoo, dish soap, or ketchup bottle with a narrow opening, thoroughly cleaned, works fine.

Farhang Foundation Film Festival: Call for Entries & LACMA Screening

The newly formed Farhang Foundation has a call for entries for their eponymous film festival, which is being produced by the fine folks at SoCiArts. Here are the guidelines:

For the Farhang Foundation Film Festival, filmmakers from all walks of life, Iranian and non-Iranian, are welcome to create and submit a short, five to eight minute movie, of any genre and style, visualizing their unique take on Iranian Heritage. Farhang Foundation defines Iranian Heritage as a way of life and culture that has been passed from one generation to the next in an Iranian influenced environment and is not limited to geographical borders.  It may include elements from the past and present of Iranian arts, literature, music and history. Submissions will be accepted through February 1, 2009 via www.sociarts.com.

The winner will receive $5,000USD cash prize, as well as travel expenses to attend the award presentation during the Farhang Foundation Nowruz Celebration at LACMA.

The winning entry will be screened at LACMA, and all submitted films can be viewed on the SoCiArts website.

Khoda – Reza Dolatabadi

Reza Dolatabadi is director/art director of “Khoda,” a five-minute student film comprised of more than 6000 paintings produced over two years.

Khoda from Reza Dolatabadi

Director/art director: Reza Dolatabadi
Written by Reza Dolatabadi & Mark Szalos Farkas
Animation by Adam Thomson
Music by Hamed Mafakheri

Hossein Derakhshan: Iranian Bloggers Speak Out

A group of Iranian bloggers has published a collective statement about Hossein Derakhshan’s arrest in Tehran. It’s signed by Omid Memarian and Sanam Dolatshahi, among others.

From On Hoder’s Disappearance and Possible Detention (eyeranian.net):

Derakhshan’s own position regarding a number of prisoners of conscience in Iran has been a source of contention among the blogging community and has caused many to distance themselves from him. This, however, doesn’t change the fact that the freedom of expression is sacred for all not just the ones with whom we agree.

We therefore categorically condemn the circumstances surrounding Derakhshan’s arrest and detention and demand his immediate release.

Kiosk on PRI

Kiosk on PRI’s The World. Frontman Arash Sobhani is interviewed – he discusses the influence of gypsy music on Kiosk’s most recent album, Global Zoo.

Also, as of today, you can follow the band on Twitter.

Moon Sun Flower Game

Moon Sun Flower Game

“Moon Sun Flower Game” is a German film, a “true fairytale” about Forough Farrokhzad and Hossein Mansouri. Mansouri was a child when Farrokhzad met (and adopted) him in the leper colony that was the subject of her documentary, The House is Black. 

Trailers here: English & Deutsch. (Merci, Roya!)

Googoosh Blog

Yes, you read that right: Googoosh has an official blog.

Nasim Pedrad

Every dorky Iranian girl will relate to this great stand-up bit by comic and actor Nasim Pedrad, who has appeared on ER and performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade. Also check out her fairly accurate mockumentary about the A.I.B. – aggressive Iranian bachelor:

(via Iranian.com)

Hossein Derakhshan Arrested

This is old news that was reported by an Iranian source a few weeks ago but not confirmed elsewhere. Today Iranian blogger Khorshid Khanoom/Lady Sun writes that she has word that Hossein Derakhshan, aka Hoder, was indeed arrested in Iran on November 1. From her English-language blog, Lady Sun:

I am quoting this news from Nazli Kamvari, a friend of Hossein Derakhshan and an Iranian blogger living in Toronto, who has been directly in touch with Hossein’s sister and just wrote about this news in her Persian blog.

My understanding is that Hossein’s family has been under pressure from the authorities not to talk about Hossein’s arrest and not to get a lawyer for him. So, it is understandable that they are not talking to the media. But we at least can assure both the Persian and global blogosphere, who were previously in doubts about Hossein’s arrest, that he’s really arrested.