On Thursday 20 March at 09:01 the sun crossed the equator going north to mark the vernal equinox. This was the point in the year at which day and night became of equal length and, going forward, will mean days becoming longer than nights – astronomical spring. It also marked the start of Nowruz, a festival marking the first day of a new year on the Iranian calendar.
Nowruz, which means “new day”, is celebrated by many peoples across West and central Asia, the Caucasus and the Balkans, but particularly in Iran. Its foundation myths are rooted there, in the pre-Islamic religions of Zoroastrianism and Mithraism. The Islamic Republic grits its teeth and tolerates this ancient, secular festival. In nearby Afghanistan it has been banned by the Taliban.
Nowruz is a moment in time to say good-bye to the old year (a spring clean is in order), to celebrate the new one, and to look forward with hope and positivity. It is largely based around family get-togethers, with special foods being served such as Sabzi Polo ba Mahi, saffron rice with herbs and fried fish, and Kuku Sabzi, herb omelette made with eggs, parsley, coriander, and other greens.
A table called Haft-Seen (or Haft-Sin) – see below – is laid at home with seven special items that start with the letter “S” in Persian, each one symbolising different aspects of life and well-being – garlic (seer) for health and protection, an apple (seeb) for beauty.
Families visit each other, ideally within the first three or four days of the holiday, with the older relatives having pre-eminence, to share tea, sweetmeats and nuts and fruit. Children receive Eidi, which is money given by elders as a New Year gift. The holiday lasts for 13 days, and on the final one, people go outside to be in and wonder at nature, and to enjoy a picnic called Sizdah Be-dar.
But for all these pleasures, Nowruz can be a poignant time for families of Iranian heritage in London. Many are separated from their extended families and forever concerned about their wellbeing in today’s increasingly authoritarian Iran.
The UK has a long, complex and troubled relationship with that country, dating back to the late 16th Century. Most notoriously, the UK was instrumental in the 1953 military coup to overthrow the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh.
He came to power in Iran in 1951 and was hugely popular for taking a stand against the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, a British-owned firm that made vast profits while paying Iran very little and operated as a state within the state. Mosaddegh’s nationalisation of the company led the British government to work with the Americans to remove him.
The initial wave of Iranian migration to the UK began in the 1950s, with students from well-to-do families coming to gain a university education. Some stayed and moved into the professions. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 marked a significant turning point, leading to a substantial increase in Iranian emigration as people fled political and religious persecution.
In a 1989 oral history study called In Exile: Iranian Recollections, part of a project supported by Hammersmith & Fulham Council, five young people told their harrowing stories of escape from Iran and of the initial hardship they faced in London. But they also record the acts of kindness that helped them into a new life.
The Iranian diaspora is very diverse, encompassing various cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds.* Professional and affluent Iranians initially settled in west London, south Kensington being particularly popular. Working and middle-class Iranians moved into Ealing, Acton and Hammersmith. Iranian Jews escaping persecution following the Islamic Revolution were drawn to Finchley and Barnet.
In these areas, Persian grocery stores, restaurants and cafes and other community spaces have flourished. Ballards Lane in central Finchley has come to be called “Little Tehran”, with its high concentration of Iranian restaurants, sweet shops, cafes, bakeries and money exchanges jostling alongside south Asian, east European and locally owned businesses.
In recent years, the proliferation of Iranian/Persian cooking across London has become marked. Leading the change is British-Iranian chef and author Sabrina Ghayour, dubbed ‘The Golden Girl of Persian Cookery’. She has just celebrated the 10th anniversary of her debut cookbook, Persiana, which has sold over 1.5 million copies.
Persian restaurants traditionally offered a range of grilled meats and kebabs instantly recognised by British palates as being akin to what was supplied in Turkish and Greek doner shops. However, since the early 2010s more sophisticated Persian dishes and Persian-inspired stews infused with flavours of saffron, sumac, cinnamon and rose, and beautifully garnished with walnut and pomegranate seeds have started to take centre stage. Particularly worth noting are the smaller spaces offering “Maman Paz” (home-cooked by mum) dishes, such as Maryam’s Kitchen in south Ealing or Saffron Kitchen on Ballards Lane.
Back in Iran, food can also be resistance. In January 2023, Navab Ebrakimi, an Iranian chef, with over 3.5 million Instagram followers and popular for his effortless cooking of classic Persian dishes, was arrested and his café closed. He was one of tens of thousands arrested as the Iranian authorities clamped down on growing anti-government dissent following the death in police custody of Masha Amini in September 2022 for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly.
Ebrakimi was eventually released without charge, but it is widely assumed that he had been detained after one of his recipes was interpreted as mocking the death of regime hero General Qasem Soleimani. More widely, some restaurants and cafés have become spaces for political discussion and dissent, including by allowing women to enter without hijabs. Recipes shared on Tik Tok or Instagram can include coded messages as symbols of defiance.
It’s food for thought as you tuck into a Khoresht-e-Karafs (celery and lamb stew) and saffron steamed rice and finish off with a sublime wash of rose water in the classic vermicelli sorbet Faloodeh and celebrate in your own way the arrival of spring, with hope for a better future for us all.
*The word Persian means an ethnic group whereas “Iranian” refers to a political structure and nationality. Persians comprise the majority of the population of Iran, but there are Kurds and Azeris and others living there too. Persians can also be found in Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
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