Food in the Islamic Middle East: A Case Study of the Sephardic Heritage Cookbook

Nowruz: A Celebration for Everyone

Nowruz defines the first day of spring as the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, which usually falls around March 21st in a calendar year. Today, building on a 3,000-year-long tradition, more than 300 million people worldwide celebrate Nowruz as the beginning of the New Year in the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East, and other regions. After Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, the new government attempted to suppress the festival since it is not explicitly a Muslim holiday: non-Muslims, including Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians, celebrate it too. Yet these attempts failed, or rather the government relented to popular pressure, and Iran now observes Nowruz as an official state holiday in Iran. Nowruz is primarily a secular holiday, but it has religious roots in Zoroastrianism, an ancient Persian religion that predates Islam. As a result, Nowruz is celebrated by people of various religious and ethnic backgrounds in the region, including Muslims, Zoroastrians, and Baha’is. In Iran, where, again, Nowruz is a national holiday, people of all faiths celebrate it, including Shia and Sunni Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and others. In Afghanistan, where Nowruz is also a public holiday, members of the Sunni and Shia Muslim communities celebrate it along with members of other religious groups. Overall, while Nowruz has its origins in Zoroastrianism, it has evolved to become a cultural festivity that diverse communities embrace across the region. 

In commemorating springtime, Nowruz represents the revival of nature and encourages values of peace between generations. Further, the holiday promotes strengthening the ties among people based on mutual respect, thus contributing to cultural diversity and friendship among people and different communities. More specifically, before the holiday, people attempt to banish bad luck by performing ritual dances and filling vessels in their homes with water, which are associated with health. On the last Tuesday night before Nowruz, many celebrate Wild Fire Eve, which the distinguished Iranian food writer Najmieh Batmanglij describes as a “night in which [people] jump over a fire or go to doors banging spoons to scare away bad luck.” Since the focus of Nowruz is fertility and new life, it is appropriate that many traditions include seeds and eggs in their festivities. 

To prepare for this holiday, households set up tables covered with seven symbolic items they call Haft-Sinn. “Haft” means “seven” and “sinn” is “s” in Farsi, and all of the items start with this same letter. These include “sabzeh” (seed sprouts, usually wheat, oats, and other seeds, which symbolize renewal and rebirth), “senjed” (wild olives, to spark love), “seer” (garlic, to bring good health), “sib” (apples, which symbolize beauty), “somaq” (sumac, which symbolizes fertility), “serkeh” (white vinegar, which symbolizes immortality and eternity), and “sonbol” (hyacinth, which symbolizes fragrance). Also, many people consider seven a lucky number, and people choose each food as a symbol of renewal. People eat a fish recipe to symbolize abundance in the New Year, while egg dishes represent fertility and green vegetables represent the rebirth of the earth. 

Neda Mehdizadeh, a contributor to the Sephardic Heritage Cookbook and someone who grew up within the Jewish community of Iran, shares that her family typically observed Nowruz by making dishes such as green kookoo (an egg dish with plenty of herbs), herbed green rice, noodle rice with raisins and dates, smoked white fish, fried white fish, and sweets such as toot (white mulberries), a kind of marzipan flavored cardamom and rose water. Kookoo, a group of heavily herbed Persian egg dishes - akin to omelets or frittatas - are especially popular during Nowruz as symbols of fertility. One variety known for its green color is called kookoo sabzi, which gets its signature hue from a mix of herbs called sabzi (greens such as parsley, dill, and coriander) which symbolizes rebirth. Kookoo sabzi is everything from a celebration of new life, an energy booster, and a symbol for renewal in the spring. 

Nowruz remains has proven popular to this day. In 2009, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), listed the holiday on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, noting that it “promotes values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families as well as reconciliation and neighborliness.” With traditions like Haft-Sinn, Wild Fire Eve, and classic Nowruz recipes and dishes, Nowruz is a joyful holiday that everyone can celebrate! 





Works Cited

AntiquityNow. “Bon Appetit Wednesday! Celebrate Persian New Year with Kookoo Sabzi,” accessed February 13, 2023, https://antiquitynow.org/2015/03/18/bon-appetit-wednesday-celebrate-persian-new-year-with-kookoo-sabzi/.

Batmanglij, Najmieh. Happy Nowruz: Cooking with Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year. Chevy Chase, Maryland: Mage Publishers, 2015. 

Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization. “International Nowruz Day: United Nations,” accessed February 15, 2023, https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-nowruz-day. 

Mehdizadeh, Neda. Sephardic Heritage Cookbook Ottoman, Persian, Moroccan, Egyptian Recipes and More. North Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016. Neda Khazai Mehdizadeh’s Story, pp. 151-156.

Rahimi, Babak. Performing Iran: Culture, Performance, Theatre. London: I.B. Tauris, 2022. 









 

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