20 Days In Hell

After 20 excruciating days of receiving zero information from the Iranian officials of my cousin’s whereabouts, his family were finally allowed to “visit” him in Adel Abad prison (Shiraz) in a booth separated by glass. As it turns out, he is being kept in solitary confinement. In “the hotbox”, “the hole”, “lockdown.” And for what? For practising a religion of oneness. Of love, compassion, and justice.

My heart aches for him. For his parents. Sisters. Wife and two young children. But it’s not just him. Countless other completely innocent souls have been, and still are today, victims of the Iranian government’s cruel cruel wrath.

If I could see or speak to Vargha, I would tell him that I am ardently praying for him. And that so are my parents. And my sister, and my friends and my followers. I would beg him to remain hopeful and resilient. Just as I beg you to count your blessings every day. To make the most of your freedom. To work for oneness. To love and to serve. And to stand up for injustice. To stand up, and to speak out for those who cannot speak out for themselves.

Lastly, to please share news of Vargha and the other Bahá’ís terrible state of affairs with your family, friends, and contacts. For perhaps, if the Iranian government is placed under greater pressure for their wicked injustice, they may hopefully reevaluate such inhuman operations.

Nothing Beats Persian Food

Nothing. Nada. Nil.

In addition to all of the other food, I have been eating some LEGIT Persian food. And not any Persian food but Persian food made with love by my loving mama and talented sister. And, with local and organic ingredients. Oh my, how I wish you could taste it too!

From top to bottom: Persian breakfast featuring a wholemeal fruit and nut loaf from Vic’s Cafe, khoreshteh gheymeh bademjoon (a lentil, eggplant and beef dish) with saffron rice, salad, yoghurt and pickled vegetables. And last but best of all, ghormesabzi (a green stew made from beef, red kidney beans and a combination of herbs and vegetables). Yum to the freakin’ O.

TAXI: A MOVIE REVIEW

Jafar Panahi is a badass Iranian film director, screenwriter and film editor. Wikipedia tells me, after several years of making short films and working as an assistant director, Panahi achieved international recognition with his film, The White Balloon (1995), which I am yet to see and which won the first major award won by an Iranian film at Cannes. Nice one Panahi, way to represent!

This accomplishment alongside his later films constructed Panahi as one of the most influential film-makers in Iran. And Although his works were often banned in his own country, Panahi continued to receive international acclaim.

However; in 2010, after several years of conflict with the Iranian government over the content of his films (including several short-term arrests), Panahi, his wife, daughter and 15 friends were arrested. Panahi was sentenced to a six-year jail sentence and a 20-year ban on directing any movies, writing screenplays, giving any form of interview with Iranian or foreign media, or from leaving the country except for medical treatment or making the Hajj pilgrimage. While awaiting the result of an appeal he made This Is Not a Film (2011), a documentary feature in the form of a video diary in spite of the legal ramifications of his arrest. It was smuggled out of Iran in a flash drive hidden inside a cake and shown at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival the same year. In a cake! Need I even continue?

Panahi’s new film Taxi premiered in competition at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2015 and won Golden Bear, the prize awarded for the best film in the festival.

If these facts alone haven’t got you dying to see his films/this film. Let me assure you that Taxi is great. It is so beautifully balanced; strong, strange, serious yet at the same time, subtle and humorous. Taxi excels at what good art does best. It delivers important ideas with modesty and laughter.

Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed the little girl’s performance. Her sharp chatty manner is not uncommon of a young Iranian girl. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing one, no doubt you would’ve found yourself at one point or another, blocking your ears or shutting off your brain! My mother often recalls memories of my own sister speaking too fast and too much in such an adult-like manner at such a young age and being shhhed on public transport by the old and impatient.

Go see it. So totally worth it.

5/5

An Entire Post Dedicated To Baklava

Before I begin, some context:
Naw-Rúz (literally, new day) is the first day of the Bahá’í calendar year and one of nine holy days for adherents of the Bahá’í Faith. It occurs on the vernal equinox, on or near March 21. Historically and in contemporary times, Naw-Ruz is also the celebration of the traditional Iranian New Year holiday and is celebrated throughout the countries of the Middle East and Central Asia such as in Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iraq, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Afghanistan, Syria, and Tajikistan. Thanks Wikipedia.

This morning, I was surprised by my dear dear Israeli friend, Lifa and his gorgeous wife and sweet son with an absolutely mouthwatering plate of baklava! Posted by Lifa’s mother all the way from Haifa, especially for moi! Amazing. Here in rural Japan, is an Israeli, the nationality I was taught to hate (from the mere age of 7!) by my Iranian school and teachers, surprising me on a Bahá’í and Iranian holiday. Wishing me a joyful New Year. Making sure I am okay, happy and well so far from my family and friends. Love is everything. “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.”

I am so utterly grateful. I will forever remember this day.

New Recipes

I have been experimenting…

1. Savory oats. Basically, make porridge as usual then crack a free-range egg into it, stir for a minute and season with salt and pepper. This time, I also added a tablespoon of home-made basil pesto. Finished with pumpkin seeds and avocado. The verdict? GOOD!

2.Coconut baklava balls. It’s almost Persian New Year (March 21st) and so, the perfect time to attempt to healthify my favorite Iranian sweets. These turned out pretty amazing (if I can say so myself). Next, I’ll try healthifying (like how I made up a word?) the original baklava, as well.

1 1/2 cups unsweetened desiccated coconut plus a little more for coating
1 cup almond powder
4 tbsp melted coconut oil
4 tbsp honey or maple syrup
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp rose water (optional)
1/2 tsp cardamom or more depending on taste
a pinch of sea salt

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor or blender for 1-2 min or until the mixture starts to come together like a dough.

Use your hands to form small balls (wet them to prevent sticking).

Roll the balls in the extra coconut until well coated then transfer to a plate.

Refrigerate for at least 30 min before nomnom.

Meet the Kazemis

This was not staged. I walked into the lounge, saw this cuteness overload and snapped it.

I’m having a bit of a hard time. Going through a rough patch. Perhaps it’s the winter blues. It’s cold, it gets dark at 4.30pm and all the leaves have fallen off the trees. Or maybe I’m tired of routine…plus, the earthquakes back home aren’t helping. I really worry for my family. You know, hence the gloomy poetry. Sorry, I feel I’m still rhyming.

So the one thing (but this thing is so darn significant that it’s OK to be A thing) that has kept/is keeping, me going is the thought of reuniting with my parents after what seems a century. Also, I miss speaking Farsi. As in real-life Farsi instead of Soulja Boy through the phone styles. I dunno, something to do with my roots, maybe.

This post “Meet the Kazemis”, inspired by Meet the Patels (hehe) is the first of the many (not too many) blog posts that shall be documenting their soon-to-come time with me.

My parents are the best people in the entire world and I honestly wouldn’t be who I am today and where I am today without them. And I don’t mean that in a cliched way, although that’s probably one of the most cliched statements eva. I mean that 100% wholeheartedly. Perhaps someday, you’ll read about it in my *fingers crossed* published memoir but for now, I’ll just say, they sacrificed a whole lot (friends, family, basic comforts) to migrate from Iran to NZ, a country where they didn’t know a word of the language or a thing about the place and they did all this, solely for the sake of me and my sister. So that we could be permitted higher-education and so, have a better and broader future.

This is one of my most favorite photos ever. Can you guess why? I’m going to tell you anyway. In the foreground, mum is posing, like seriously posing while dad is being dad, oblivious of everything, having the time of his life enjoying the waterfall splashing on his back.

So, without further adiue, meet maman Afsoon (Kaviani). I don’t know why she keeps her original last name. She’s the one who instilled the passion of healthy eating in me. She’s the one I’ve been crying on the phone to when things here have been excruciating and not surprisingly my blog’s biggest fan. And by that, I mean she likes EVERYTHING on Facebook and Instagram without actually ever clicking the links.

Next, Baba Sirous (Kazemi). Or Sirius as NZers mispronounce. He’s a real joker. And by that, I mean he thinks he’s funny, but he’s often just rude instead. He is the kebab master of our family. Persian kebabs, much to my disappointment, with ample meat. One day, about 6 years back, he stupidly used petrol to light his kebab charcoal because whatever he usually used wasn’t there or wasn’t working and long story short, he passed out from the fumes.  Thankfully, he survived (after an ER visit!) and got back on the horse (cooked kebabs) the following day. This all took place because Baba loves EATING which places him behind my accidental eating of the whole thing(s).

A HEALTHY Persian Salad Olivieh

Come on Persians, let’s face it, there’s a reason our fathers and uncles have those pot bellies; Persian food. It’s one of a kind, always saliva inducing, forever flavourful and smothered in barberries, pistachios and mayo. Salad Olivieh, our version of potato salad calls for at least 2 CUPS of mayonnaise and that particular recipe claimed to be a “healthier” version of the original. And, as if that ain’t heart-attack inducing enough, we Iranians like to spread even MORE mayonnaise on top. My dilemma is, it happens to be one of my favourites. So, my mission? To healthify the shizz out of it.

First, abort chicken – the original recipe calls for shredded chicken.

Next, abort mayo and use a combination of 100% natural yoghurt and avocado instead.

3 free-range eggs, hard boiled
3 medium potatoes, boiled
2 cups of frozen peas, corn and carrots, thawed
1 cup of Persian gherkins, chopped small

Dressing:
1.5 cups natural yoghurt (I used Greek yoghurt)
1/2 large avocado
juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Grate the eggs and potatoes and transfer to a large bowl.

Next, add peas, corn, carrots and gherkins then mix well.

For the dressing, combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Reserve 1/4 cup of dressing then add remainder to the salad.

Mix mix mix again.

To finish, transfer salad to a nice dish, smooth top using back of a spoon then decorate pretty.

 

Persian stuffed peppers (dolmeh felfel)

As promised, more Middle Eastern style food.

Last night we ate Middle Eastern food. I made (anticlockwise), Persian stuffed peppers, curried couscous salad, hummus, babaganoush, and a garden salad with avocado and artichoke. Chips. Artichoke chips, sliced thin, rubbed between paper towels to drain excess liquid and baked, on high (no oil no seasoning just as is) in my toaster oven. So delicious! The small orange bowl is Indian-style pickled/chutnied yuzu (a Japanese citrus) made by Shogo-san.

Also, Lifa, my Israeli friend said my hummus was world-class which means I don’t need any more compliments for at least a year. Okay, go ahead, one more won’t hurt. For dessert, we had Persian Wife Cake. Which is basically a baklavaesque cake that I assigned a silly name.

The original Persian dolmeh is made by stuffing grape leaves but we also make them by filling eggplants, tomatoes, pumpkins and bell peppers. Dolmeh is delicious because it’s packed with so much flavor. As in literally. Packed to the rim with herbs and spices. Here is the recipe I used. If you’re vegetarian or vegan all you have to do is swap the mince for lentils and you’re all set. Enjoy!