Persia in Peckham

Nominated as Cookbook of the Year, Sunday Times Culture Magazine, 2008 This book mixes irresistible Persian recipes with tales of modern Iran and insights about running an Iranian grocery, cookware and neighbourhood restaurant called Persepolis in southeast London. What makes Persia in Peckham so engaging is the authorial voice of Sally Butcher, a university drop-out who married an Iranian. She explains everything from persimmons to pickles with zip and charm. The recipes reflect the food that the couple sells: moreish tahini dips and broad bean pulaco, spicy kofta meatballs, sticky honeyed pastries, sour-cherry jam and cooling sherbets. Like a great corner shop, the book is stuffed with unexpected asides on cinema in Iran, or the link between the Iranian love of saffron fudge and the large number of Iranian dentists.