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Maman's Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen
For Donia Bijan's family, food has been the language they use to tell their stories and to communicate their love. In 1978, when the Islamic revolution in Iran threatened their safety, they fled to California's Bay Area, where the familiar flavors of Bijan's mother's cooking formed a bridge to the life they left behind. Now, through the prism of food, award-winning chef Donia Bijan unwinds her own story, finding that at the heart of it all is her mother, whose love and support enabled Bijan to realize her dreams.
From the Persian world of her youth to the American life she embraced as a teenager to her years at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris (studying under the infamous Madame Brassart) to apprenticeships in France's three-star kitchens and finally back to San Francisco, where she opened her own celebrated bistro, Bijan evokes a vibrant kaleidoscope of cultures and cuisines. And she shares thirty inspired recipes from her childhood (Saffron Yogurt Rice with Chicken and Eggplant and Orange Cardamom Cookies), her French training (Ratatouille with Black Olives and Fried Bread and Purple Plum Skillet Tart), and her cooking career (Roast Duck Legs with Dates and Warm Lentil Salad and Rose Petal Ice Cream).
An exhilarating, heartfelt memoir, Maman's Homesick Pie is also a reminder of the women who encourage us to shine.
From the Persian world of her youth to the American life she embraced as a teenager to her years at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris (studying under the infamous Madame Brassart) to apprenticeships in France's three-star kitchens and finally back to San Francisco, where she opened her own celebrated bistro, Bijan evokes a vibrant kaleidoscope of cultures and cuisines. And she shares thirty inspired recipes from her childhood (Saffron Yogurt Rice with Chicken and Eggplant and Orange Cardamom Cookies), her French training (Ratatouille with Black Olives and Fried Bread and Purple Plum Skillet Tart), and her cooking career (Roast Duck Legs with Dates and Warm Lentil Salad and Rose Petal Ice Cream).
An exhilarating, heartfelt memoir, Maman's Homesick Pie is also a reminder of the women who encourage us to shine.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
About the author
Donia Bijan
6 books113 followersDonia Bijan graduated from UC Berkeley and Le Cordon Bleu. After presiding over many of San Francisco's acclaimed restaurants and earning awards for her French-inspired cuisine, in 1994 she opened her own restaurant, L'amie Donia, in Palo Alto. She now divides her days between raising her son, teaching, and writing."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews
October 10, 2011
Everything about this book said to me, "Sarah, love me!" Indeed, the idea still sings its exotic song to me. An immersion in the culture of Persia; an education in French cuisine; the exploration of a search for belonging through food. A family story, even; the story of Iranian daughters and their mother, living out her exile in America, with recipes.
Indeed, I wanted to be told this story and the story's hope still haunts me. But sadly, Bijan wrote the book without knowing what her own story was. She thinks -- I think -- that her story is of her relationship with her mother. How her mother looked for belonging through food; how Donia, raised at her beloved feminist mother's apron strings, learned to relate to the world just as her mother did, stubbornly, through food that was at once flawlessly traditional and yearningly evocative of her even-more-beloved homeland.
I think Donia's story is something else entirely. How she still, today, cannot come to terms with her fraught relationship with her many-years-dead father. How she holds herself responsible for all the resentment and poor communication between her father and mother, because she was not always "there for them," because she "selfishly" wanted to go to America to finish high school, leaving them "alone" shortly after the political situation in Iran became too explosive for her mother -- active politically, and so dangerous to the new regime. "...how could I have left her alone with that emptiness and uncertainty, and with an angry, bitter husband to contend with?" she asks her teenage self, forgetting, as we learn later, than her younger self had always failed to heal her parents when asked -- forced, to bitter result -- to be their go-between in arguments. How she hated her father to the end, while still desperately wanting his approval; how she sought redemption through a one-hour visit with him, when he lay emotionally and mentally empty in his last days in a nursing home. How she worked too hard during the end of her mothers' and fathers' lives, even though she still harbors anger toward her father for placing work above family. How this is what he taught her; how she thought she rejected him, but she really only ever wanted to be the ideal son for him.
Because she does not know her own story, yet, this book is confusing and (in my opinion) unfinished. It tells the story from the perspective of inside a whirlwind, always whipping around to another time or place, always wildly guessing at what the others in her life "must have felt" or "must have left unsaid." We whip through her college years, not quite sure how the barely drawn love interest matters to the story (it doesn't, I don't think); we listen to her narrative resume, which is quite terrifically impressive but does not do anything to get at her heart. She meets France; she works 14-hour days; she conquers. She moves home and starts her own restaurant. She makes delicious food that reminds her of Iran. She loses her father and mother.
Oh, by the way, she fell in love; she had a child. And I will leave it at that, because that is all I know of it too.
The book needs a therapist, and a reorganization, and an utterly new first chapter, and to show us what Donia learned. I want to hear the real story. I want her to pull back the curtain. I want her to make it hurt, to bleed her palms raw, to go to the depths and then come back again, face cleansed with tears and cheeks blossoming with her knowledge. I want to read the book then, and learn what it's really like to be the daughter of a bitter Iranian doctor and his proud feminist wife.
I'll make this food though -- she sold me, at least, on that.
Indeed, I wanted to be told this story and the story's hope still haunts me. But sadly, Bijan wrote the book without knowing what her own story was. She thinks -- I think -- that her story is of her relationship with her mother. How her mother looked for belonging through food; how Donia, raised at her beloved feminist mother's apron strings, learned to relate to the world just as her mother did, stubbornly, through food that was at once flawlessly traditional and yearningly evocative of her even-more-beloved homeland.
I think Donia's story is something else entirely. How she still, today, cannot come to terms with her fraught relationship with her many-years-dead father. How she holds herself responsible for all the resentment and poor communication between her father and mother, because she was not always "there for them," because she "selfishly" wanted to go to America to finish high school, leaving them "alone" shortly after the political situation in Iran became too explosive for her mother -- active politically, and so dangerous to the new regime. "...how could I have left her alone with that emptiness and uncertainty, and with an angry, bitter husband to contend with?" she asks her teenage self, forgetting, as we learn later, than her younger self had always failed to heal her parents when asked -- forced, to bitter result -- to be their go-between in arguments. How she hated her father to the end, while still desperately wanting his approval; how she sought redemption through a one-hour visit with him, when he lay emotionally and mentally empty in his last days in a nursing home. How she worked too hard during the end of her mothers' and fathers' lives, even though she still harbors anger toward her father for placing work above family. How this is what he taught her; how she thought she rejected him, but she really only ever wanted to be the ideal son for him.
Because she does not know her own story, yet, this book is confusing and (in my opinion) unfinished. It tells the story from the perspective of inside a whirlwind, always whipping around to another time or place, always wildly guessing at what the others in her life "must have felt" or "must have left unsaid." We whip through her college years, not quite sure how the barely drawn love interest matters to the story (it doesn't, I don't think); we listen to her narrative resume, which is quite terrifically impressive but does not do anything to get at her heart. She meets France; she works 14-hour days; she conquers. She moves home and starts her own restaurant. She makes delicious food that reminds her of Iran. She loses her father and mother.
Oh, by the way, she fell in love; she had a child. And I will leave it at that, because that is all I know of it too.
The book needs a therapist, and a reorganization, and an utterly new first chapter, and to show us what Donia learned. I want to hear the real story. I want her to pull back the curtain. I want her to make it hurt, to bleed her palms raw, to go to the depths and then come back again, face cleansed with tears and cheeks blossoming with her knowledge. I want to read the book then, and learn what it's really like to be the daughter of a bitter Iranian doctor and his proud feminist wife.
I'll make this food though -- she sold me, at least, on that.
October 12, 2011
If you’ve ever read a food memoir or food travelogue or any book by Anthony Bourdain, you may have come to expect certain things from the book. I know I do. I’ve read so many of these types of books that even the outstanding ones seem to blend into all the rest, what with their similar discussions of homemade cheeses or offal or France or great restaurants. It’s hard to write about food in an original way, and even those who do (Bourdain) are now being mimicked by hundreds of others eager for a book deal.
When I saw that the promotional description for Maman’s Homesick Pie called it “heartfelt,” I thought I knew exactly what kind of food book this was going to be. I had it pigeon-holed somewhere between Ruth Reichl and Madhur Jaffrey.
To my delight, I was completely wrong. I should note that once I started this book, I put it down once—to make sugar cookies because it was making me hungry—and then picked it back up and didn’t stop until I finished in the wee hours of the morning. It WAS heartfelt. It was moving. It was beautifully written. It was hunger-inducing. It was so many wonderful things and I wished it had kept going.
Maman’s Heartsick Pie is comprised of chef Donia Bijan’s personal memoirs of growing up in Iran, moving to the United States, being transported to Paris to study at Le Cordon Bleu and then opening her own restaurant. Tying all of this narrative together are Bijan’s memories of her mother’s cooking and of the tastes and smalls of her native Persian food. (There are 30 recipes sprinkled throughout the book, by the way.)
It’s not a long book or an exhausting read. Despite the sometimes heavy subject matter, it always feels light, thanks to Bijan’s fantastic writing. By reading my short synopsis above, you may be thinking the same thing I did: that you’ve read this kind of thing before. Seen it, read it. But, if you’re like anything like me (you love to eat, love to read about food) and have a strong sense of nostalgic to childhood tastes and recipes and food, there is no reason this book should not resonate with you as well. I started reading expecting one thing, and emerged at the other side without a negative thing to say. It stole my heart (and stomach) so thoroughly, I’m considering a re-read…and also considering making an accompanying dinner from the recipes inside.
When I saw that the promotional description for Maman’s Homesick Pie called it “heartfelt,” I thought I knew exactly what kind of food book this was going to be. I had it pigeon-holed somewhere between Ruth Reichl and Madhur Jaffrey.
To my delight, I was completely wrong. I should note that once I started this book, I put it down once—to make sugar cookies because it was making me hungry—and then picked it back up and didn’t stop until I finished in the wee hours of the morning. It WAS heartfelt. It was moving. It was beautifully written. It was hunger-inducing. It was so many wonderful things and I wished it had kept going.
Maman’s Heartsick Pie is comprised of chef Donia Bijan’s personal memoirs of growing up in Iran, moving to the United States, being transported to Paris to study at Le Cordon Bleu and then opening her own restaurant. Tying all of this narrative together are Bijan’s memories of her mother’s cooking and of the tastes and smalls of her native Persian food. (There are 30 recipes sprinkled throughout the book, by the way.)
It’s not a long book or an exhausting read. Despite the sometimes heavy subject matter, it always feels light, thanks to Bijan’s fantastic writing. By reading my short synopsis above, you may be thinking the same thing I did: that you’ve read this kind of thing before. Seen it, read it. But, if you’re like anything like me (you love to eat, love to read about food) and have a strong sense of nostalgic to childhood tastes and recipes and food, there is no reason this book should not resonate with you as well. I started reading expecting one thing, and emerged at the other side without a negative thing to say. It stole my heart (and stomach) so thoroughly, I’m considering a re-read…and also considering making an accompanying dinner from the recipes inside.
December 5, 2014
I enjoy biographies and memoirs, and I love to cook. Recently, though, the "cooking memoirs" I've dipped into have often been cookbooks with a few "heartwarming" anecdotes here and there as a vehicle for the recipes.
This one is not. Yes, there are delicious-sounding recipes woven into the text, but it's more memoir than cookbook. While I didn't read it straight through, I will say it kept me up till midnight last night to finish it.
I went to a small state college in the Midwest in 1979, so it was a moving experience to read about the fall of the Shah of Iran, the unrest there, and the hostage crisis from a national's point of view. Due to my involvement with the international student community, I never fell into the vox-pop Midwestern psychosis of the times that said every person from "that place" was a terrorist or at the very least an agitator; but it didn't really strike home to me that many of my Iranian friends were at my school precisely because they had fled the oppression back home. They had no interest in destabilizing the country that had welcomed them. But at that time in that place, they were "different"--in appearance, language and culture--and that was more than enough to make them suspect. Like the Iranian girl students at my college, Bijan describes her efforts to efface herself, knowing that she couldn't just "blend in."
The memories of her parents and how the loss of their old life strained their marriage were heartbreaking to read; from being a pillar of the community, her father finds himself unable to continue his medical work due to his inability with the new language. As a linguist myself, I have found that often this difficulty, even after years of total immersion in the new language, indicates a mental block, an "echec" as the French have it--subconsciously, the person often simply wants to go home, to go back to their old way of life.
To top it off, Bijan finds herself disappointing her father, who dreamed that the daughter he wished had been a son would follow in his medical footsteps; for him, being "just a cook" was tantamount to becoming a maid. Like many children of difficult marriages, Bijan feels driven to succeed in order to win her parents' approval, knowing all the while that no matter what she achieves, it will never be good enough--first, because she is female, second because no child can mend her parents' unhappiness, however responsible for it we may feel. Of course, she wasn't responsible for the fact that her mother, a well-trained nurse, had to take on the primary breadwinning role while her father faded into the background in his own family; but even from an adult perspective, Bijan doesn't seem to have grasped that fact, which is tragic.
Bijan's memories are not related completely chronologically; like most people, one memory sparks another, and while there is an overall progression from her childhood to the present, she does flip back and forth as the memories dictate. The recipes vary from the prosaic to the very luxurious and expensive--I personally will never have "six Muscovy duck legs" with which to cook anything--but there are a few that I am just itching to try.
This one is not. Yes, there are delicious-sounding recipes woven into the text, but it's more memoir than cookbook. While I didn't read it straight through, I will say it kept me up till midnight last night to finish it.
I went to a small state college in the Midwest in 1979, so it was a moving experience to read about the fall of the Shah of Iran, the unrest there, and the hostage crisis from a national's point of view. Due to my involvement with the international student community, I never fell into the vox-pop Midwestern psychosis of the times that said every person from "that place" was a terrorist or at the very least an agitator; but it didn't really strike home to me that many of my Iranian friends were at my school precisely because they had fled the oppression back home. They had no interest in destabilizing the country that had welcomed them. But at that time in that place, they were "different"--in appearance, language and culture--and that was more than enough to make them suspect. Like the Iranian girl students at my college, Bijan describes her efforts to efface herself, knowing that she couldn't just "blend in."
The memories of her parents and how the loss of their old life strained their marriage were heartbreaking to read; from being a pillar of the community, her father finds himself unable to continue his medical work due to his inability with the new language. As a linguist myself, I have found that often this difficulty, even after years of total immersion in the new language, indicates a mental block, an "echec" as the French have it--subconsciously, the person often simply wants to go home, to go back to their old way of life.
To top it off, Bijan finds herself disappointing her father, who dreamed that the daughter he wished had been a son would follow in his medical footsteps; for him, being "just a cook" was tantamount to becoming a maid. Like many children of difficult marriages, Bijan feels driven to succeed in order to win her parents' approval, knowing all the while that no matter what she achieves, it will never be good enough--first, because she is female, second because no child can mend her parents' unhappiness, however responsible for it we may feel. Of course, she wasn't responsible for the fact that her mother, a well-trained nurse, had to take on the primary breadwinning role while her father faded into the background in his own family; but even from an adult perspective, Bijan doesn't seem to have grasped that fact, which is tragic.
Bijan's memories are not related completely chronologically; like most people, one memory sparks another, and while there is an overall progression from her childhood to the present, she does flip back and forth as the memories dictate. The recipes vary from the prosaic to the very luxurious and expensive--I personally will never have "six Muscovy duck legs" with which to cook anything--but there are a few that I am just itching to try.
June 5, 2014
Sad that the only Irooni narratives that seem to circulate in the public eye are those of privileged "Persian" royalists. Wanted to be excited about this book, loved the premise + topic, but that just totally deflated it for me. Monarchist hyperbole every other page and recipes that aren't as good as my grandma's.
September 9, 2012
What a lovely book. I read it one rainy afternoon and wished I could sit and have a cup of tea with Donia Bijan. Instead, I made her cookies. A bittersweet story with yummy recipes.
November 1, 2011
This is a memoir to savor. It's a breath-taking account of a young woman who lived the life of a cherished and richly encompassed child of the world at large. I became spellbound by Donia Bijan's life story immediately, and found myself holding my breath as I grasped her book, not wanting to read it slowly, but speeding through its pages like a delicious crepe filled with Turkish coffee ice cream.
While Ms Bijan's memoir is captivating in and of itself, her exotic recipes included at the end of chapters are both slightly tipped with the savory and screaming to be tried in one's own kitchen. I can hardly wait to try her Cardamom Honey Madeleines. Proustians everywhere know of his love affair with Madeleines to begin with, so her distinctive twist of cardamom with trying out farmers' market honeys makes this recipe irresistible to me. We have a great farmers' market in Naples.
Not to mention that I have a fabulous Madeleine pan I've never used!
What I found intriguing among so many things about this memoir is the tone of her literary "voice." I suppose I expected a lilting celebration of food and family...a "warm and inviting kitchen" experience as expressed on the cover review. Instead, Ms Bijan's telling of her past life as a refugee from revolutionary-torn Iran, to the shores of a hip and culturally shocking San Francisco, and an unimaginably glorious but difficult training in the bowels of kitchens in Paris, France, is somewhat maudlin. It's reflective. I found it a surprise, and a powerful memoir for that reason.
Food, studying the art of food preparation and restauranteering isn't what's important in her memoir, it seems to me. What is important is the underlying story of trials, family obligations and examples of dedication to others, of loving and sharing gifts through food, of finding wholeness within the simplicity of homemade and close-to-home foods and ingredients that are discovered. Food was the life-blood of Donia's family. It is also the foundation of her heritage,where she is today, and where her son and future generations are going.It was significant to me that her mother was not only a central figure in Donia's learning the importance of food and cooking, but she was a strong role-model: a midwife, a women's liberation advocate, a tireless volunteer in wartime, a teacher, a woman of grace and celebration, a needlewoman, a mother and devoted wife. Her mother didn't show her the example of taking the easy road in life, of failing to show up and give ones best efforts. It's obvious in Donia's life.
I highly recommend this book of many trips through a life that's magical and meaningful. There is much I've left out because there's so much in this memoir, beautifully told, never boring--quite the opposite--like a teatime set with Brussels lace on a silver tray holding lemon tea steeped in a china pot draped in a knitted cozy...side served with a plate of freshly baked cardamom Madeleines; this book will be in your hands until the last perfect word is read.
5 delicious stars
Deborah/TheBookishDame
While Ms Bijan's memoir is captivating in and of itself, her exotic recipes included at the end of chapters are both slightly tipped with the savory and screaming to be tried in one's own kitchen. I can hardly wait to try her Cardamom Honey Madeleines. Proustians everywhere know of his love affair with Madeleines to begin with, so her distinctive twist of cardamom with trying out farmers' market honeys makes this recipe irresistible to me. We have a great farmers' market in Naples.
Not to mention that I have a fabulous Madeleine pan I've never used!
What I found intriguing among so many things about this memoir is the tone of her literary "voice." I suppose I expected a lilting celebration of food and family...a "warm and inviting kitchen" experience as expressed on the cover review. Instead, Ms Bijan's telling of her past life as a refugee from revolutionary-torn Iran, to the shores of a hip and culturally shocking San Francisco, and an unimaginably glorious but difficult training in the bowels of kitchens in Paris, France, is somewhat maudlin. It's reflective. I found it a surprise, and a powerful memoir for that reason.
Food, studying the art of food preparation and restauranteering isn't what's important in her memoir, it seems to me. What is important is the underlying story of trials, family obligations and examples of dedication to others, of loving and sharing gifts through food, of finding wholeness within the simplicity of homemade and close-to-home foods and ingredients that are discovered. Food was the life-blood of Donia's family. It is also the foundation of her heritage,where she is today, and where her son and future generations are going.It was significant to me that her mother was not only a central figure in Donia's learning the importance of food and cooking, but she was a strong role-model: a midwife, a women's liberation advocate, a tireless volunteer in wartime, a teacher, a woman of grace and celebration, a needlewoman, a mother and devoted wife. Her mother didn't show her the example of taking the easy road in life, of failing to show up and give ones best efforts. It's obvious in Donia's life.
I highly recommend this book of many trips through a life that's magical and meaningful. There is much I've left out because there's so much in this memoir, beautifully told, never boring--quite the opposite--like a teatime set with Brussels lace on a silver tray holding lemon tea steeped in a china pot draped in a knitted cozy...side served with a plate of freshly baked cardamom Madeleines; this book will be in your hands until the last perfect word is read.
5 delicious stars
Deborah/TheBookishDame
January 30, 2020
Any book that moves me to tears will get 5 stars. Move me to tears several times? Goodreads, where is the 10 star rating?
This is a book that made me profoundly honored to learn a woman like Atefeh 'Amy' Bijan existed. Donia Bijan's journey is also a remarkable one and one can see where her resilience came from. Atefeh trained as a nurse, specializing in obstetrics, and worked alongside her husband an OB-GYN in Tehran. She founded the first nursing school in Iran, taught at university, and became a member of Parliament where she worked to advance women and children's rights in Iran. Immediately, knowing the history what happened in Iran, one can see where an extraordinary woman like Atefeh would have instantly been arrested upon her return from a holiday abroad during the upheaval. Their children were sent to America with friends/relatives while Atefeh and Bijan waited in hope to be able to return to Iran one day. As that hope diminished, they came to America to be reunited with their family. And they completed started over. So unimaginable. Her father struggled to learn the language and was unable to take the tests for his medical license. Her mother trained in England and familiar with the language, became the bread winner.
This is a story of how a family started over. How a family adjusted and put down new roots while struggling to savor memories of home too. Donia talks about her adjustments, her education, her passion to become a chef despite her father's bitter disapproval and disappointment. Her mother quietly picking up graveyard midnight shifts at the local hospital to help support her family and Donia's dreams. Recipes are interspersed in each chapter because so many memories center around food, family, and feelings they evoke. I loved traveling to culinary school in France with Donia. Though I was more unforgiving of the chef that threw a pot at her head causing her to bleed then she was. The description of the slow roasted tomatoes still haunts me with the desire to try them for myself. The plum tart recipe is high on my must make list.
This was such a beautiful memoir of family, determination, perseverance, love, and ultimately finding a place in this world.
This is a book that made me profoundly honored to learn a woman like Atefeh 'Amy' Bijan existed. Donia Bijan's journey is also a remarkable one and one can see where her resilience came from. Atefeh trained as a nurse, specializing in obstetrics, and worked alongside her husband an OB-GYN in Tehran. She founded the first nursing school in Iran, taught at university, and became a member of Parliament where she worked to advance women and children's rights in Iran. Immediately, knowing the history what happened in Iran, one can see where an extraordinary woman like Atefeh would have instantly been arrested upon her return from a holiday abroad during the upheaval. Their children were sent to America with friends/relatives while Atefeh and Bijan waited in hope to be able to return to Iran one day. As that hope diminished, they came to America to be reunited with their family. And they completed started over. So unimaginable. Her father struggled to learn the language and was unable to take the tests for his medical license. Her mother trained in England and familiar with the language, became the bread winner.
This is a story of how a family started over. How a family adjusted and put down new roots while struggling to savor memories of home too. Donia talks about her adjustments, her education, her passion to become a chef despite her father's bitter disapproval and disappointment. Her mother quietly picking up graveyard midnight shifts at the local hospital to help support her family and Donia's dreams. Recipes are interspersed in each chapter because so many memories center around food, family, and feelings they evoke. I loved traveling to culinary school in France with Donia. Though I was more unforgiving of the chef that threw a pot at her head causing her to bleed then she was. The description of the slow roasted tomatoes still haunts me with the desire to try them for myself. The plum tart recipe is high on my must make list.
This was such a beautiful memoir of family, determination, perseverance, love, and ultimately finding a place in this world.
June 20, 2018
I loved this book! Donia’s writing is so beautiful. She has the wonderful gift of being able to tell a story through the prism of food. The descriptive language encompassing her recipes soften the heart breaking tale of her family’s escape from Iran as the revolution began. Her mother’s resilience and support of Donia’s aspirations permeate this wonderfully told memoir.
April 25, 2022
I kept this book on my "currently reading" list for a very long time. . . why? the recipes of course!!! it was my goal to try every one. That didn't happen, but a lot of day dreaming did, and the ones that actually landed on the table? Fabulous. Pistachio Brittle? Oh, yeah.
The memoir bits, filled with life before and after their family ending out in the US, was wrapped up relevant recipes that served as the vehicles in and out of the the narrative flow, and for me it worked. I enjoyed every bit, and finally had to convince a deeply trusted friend to kidnap the book, with my permission, but I couldn't even hand it off. . . .she had to take it away.
This was truly a comfort book for me. Go figure. If you like Persian food. . . .you will like this book (read: these recipes)!
The memoir bits, filled with life before and after their family ending out in the US, was wrapped up relevant recipes that served as the vehicles in and out of the the narrative flow, and for me it worked. I enjoyed every bit, and finally had to convince a deeply trusted friend to kidnap the book, with my permission, but I couldn't even hand it off. . . .she had to take it away.
This was truly a comfort book for me. Go figure. If you like Persian food. . . .you will like this book (read: these recipes)!
November 18, 2011
Another Aspect of Iran We All Need To Heed
Donia Bijan has done far more than write a very tender and entertaining memoir, a progress record from a child who loved her mother's Persian cooking to successfully creating her own restaurant (L'Amie Donia) that marries the flavors of Persian, French and American cooking and ambiance. Donia Bijan gives us the insight into the real history of Iran, a country we too often see as a 'threatening other' in the world. Though not a candy-coated image of a country that does have current and past problems, Bijan at least allows us entry into a family proud of its Persian heritage and how that family coped with and survived and excelled in the face of obstacles few of us could understand until this book. She could well be a cultural ambassador for Iran! But that is not the purpose of this book.
Bijan opens he r well designed book with an Introduction that addresses her responses to her mother's death: she found solace in the kitchen with all the smells and tastes that satisfied her as a child. And from that stance she shares the memories of her childhood in Tehran, the history of her mother's stalwart life as a registered nurse trained in England after the war ended in 1945, her return to Tehran where she started her family, the vacation to Majorca in 1978 when the revolution was at its peak, and the flight to the United States for asylum, life in the US included Donia's attending college at UC Berkeley where she became fully engaged in the American way of life, only to discover that her real dream was to become a chef. She traveled to France, enrolled and was graduated from Le Cordon Bleu, successfully prepared her own mixtures of Persian and French cuisines in little towns in France only to return to San Francisco where she opened her famous restaurant.
Those are the landmarks the author shares, but the filling for the pastries are the events that occurred during this odyssey including some very insightful moments about her father's death, the influence of her mother's heritage of Persian cooking that inspired her - and the manner in which she separates her chapters is the most delicious (literally) part of the book: she shares recipes for Persian foods that not only tantalize the sensory receptor sites in the reader, but also explain in detail how to prepare these delicacies in our own kitchen.
We are indebted to Donia Bijan not only for offering a cookbook unlike any other - a warmly communicated recipe book for the most exotic foods imaginable - but also for the manner in which she encourages us as American readers to share her heritage, a meaningful tour of Iranian (Persian) culture and political history that alters our perceptions in a very positive manner. Highly Recommended on many levels.
Grady Harp
Donia Bijan has done far more than write a very tender and entertaining memoir, a progress record from a child who loved her mother's Persian cooking to successfully creating her own restaurant (L'Amie Donia) that marries the flavors of Persian, French and American cooking and ambiance. Donia Bijan gives us the insight into the real history of Iran, a country we too often see as a 'threatening other' in the world. Though not a candy-coated image of a country that does have current and past problems, Bijan at least allows us entry into a family proud of its Persian heritage and how that family coped with and survived and excelled in the face of obstacles few of us could understand until this book. She could well be a cultural ambassador for Iran! But that is not the purpose of this book.
Bijan opens he r well designed book with an Introduction that addresses her responses to her mother's death: she found solace in the kitchen with all the smells and tastes that satisfied her as a child. And from that stance she shares the memories of her childhood in Tehran, the history of her mother's stalwart life as a registered nurse trained in England after the war ended in 1945, her return to Tehran where she started her family, the vacation to Majorca in 1978 when the revolution was at its peak, and the flight to the United States for asylum, life in the US included Donia's attending college at UC Berkeley where she became fully engaged in the American way of life, only to discover that her real dream was to become a chef. She traveled to France, enrolled and was graduated from Le Cordon Bleu, successfully prepared her own mixtures of Persian and French cuisines in little towns in France only to return to San Francisco where she opened her famous restaurant.
Those are the landmarks the author shares, but the filling for the pastries are the events that occurred during this odyssey including some very insightful moments about her father's death, the influence of her mother's heritage of Persian cooking that inspired her - and the manner in which she separates her chapters is the most delicious (literally) part of the book: she shares recipes for Persian foods that not only tantalize the sensory receptor sites in the reader, but also explain in detail how to prepare these delicacies in our own kitchen.
We are indebted to Donia Bijan not only for offering a cookbook unlike any other - a warmly communicated recipe book for the most exotic foods imaginable - but also for the manner in which she encourages us as American readers to share her heritage, a meaningful tour of Iranian (Persian) culture and political history that alters our perceptions in a very positive manner. Highly Recommended on many levels.
Grady Harp
October 28, 2012
Apparently, ancient aunts... a pretty start to a sentence
Tehran--Paris--San Francisco
food
mother
exile
pomegranates walnuts lentils quince
I'd pass this sweet book on for someone else to enjoy except I must keep it for the recipes. I'd like to try almost everything in here.
My copy is an ARC with the same illustration on the cover but the background is white. The only suggestion/hope I have is that the final edition included an index for the recipes like Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise.
Rose Petal Ice Cream
This ice cream, reminiscent of a scent more than a flavor, is what I imagine people who have fallen in love ought to eat. It is new and fresh, evocative and mysterious. It is not vanilla.
Tehran--Paris--San Francisco
food
mother
exile
pomegranates walnuts lentils quince
I'd pass this sweet book on for someone else to enjoy except I must keep it for the recipes. I'd like to try almost everything in here.
My copy is an ARC with the same illustration on the cover but the background is white. The only suggestion/hope I have is that the final edition included an index for the recipes like Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise.
Rose Petal Ice Cream
This ice cream, reminiscent of a scent more than a flavor, is what I imagine people who have fallen in love ought to eat. It is new and fresh, evocative and mysterious. It is not vanilla.
January 11, 2013
This is a book by a chef who was born and lived in Iran till 1980 when her family (a colorful, talented, amazing lot) was forced to flee due to the whole Shah/revolution thing that happened. She goes to school in America and eventually to Paris to become a chef. She has always loved cooking and has a special knack for it. She devotes her entire life to it, which breaks her father's heart. He was a difficult and disappointed man, whose life did not treat fairly. The book is full of her lovely recipes, most of which are beyond this mortal's skills, but some are doable. Her mom was nicer and more capable, and very interesting in her own right, a politician, nurse and aid worker. She deserves her own book really. This book would actually make a lovely movie.
December 30, 2018
The best part of the book was the recipes, otherwise it was a disappointment. Perhaps I am jaded being married to a Persian and having many Iranian friends and acquaintances. Make no mistake, Donia came from an extremely privileged family. Don't fall for the "our family came to the USA with nothing" spiel. But, her curated story is charming for those who allow themselves to be caught up in her food memoirs. I do think there was an authenticity when she described her father being unable to cope with his loss of status in the USA and disappointment of his daughter becoming what he considered a domestic.
August 16, 2018
I loved reading about this woman’s life- her childhood in Iran with an obstetrician father and midwife mother, exile in 1979, and finding a new life in San Francisco and France. A moving tribute to her mother (and the recipes look awesome).
December 31, 2018
A beautiful biography about finding home combined with recipes that make you want to dive into your kitchen and never come out. Following Ms. Bijan from Tehran to Paris to California was a delightful journey. Highly recommended.
July 5, 2018
A sweet memoir of home and food, beautifully written from the heart. Two recipes at the end of each chapter as an added bonus (will definitely be making a few of them). Not as good as Last Days of Cafe Leila, but still very enjoyable to read.
July 1, 2018
Rich in love and warmth
An amazing story of a family of Iranian refugees during the Iran revolution and their will and love in adapting to the changes in their lives.
An amazing story of a family of Iranian refugees during the Iran revolution and their will and love in adapting to the changes in their lives.
Read
January 24, 2012Bijan's account of growing up in pre-revolutionary Iran is a gorgeous homage to her mother and to Persian culture. Trained in England as a nurse and midwife, Bijan's mother worked tirelessly by her husband's side in the Tehran hospital that he built and where he worked as a doctor. The early chapters of Bijan's memoir offer a captivating picture of Iranian culture and the community lost to her family after the revolution. In the garden of their hospital, her parents "threw elaborate parties... with lambs roasting over fire pits, classical Persian musicians, and tents lined with Persian carpets lit by lanterns." Her mother was famous for her theme parties, including one where guests fished for live trout from the swimming pool. The family spent day-long picnics with other "bohemian physicians," friends who every weekend sought "hal -- rapturous delight and inspiration from nature" at a friends' country house. There were family vacations, too, where Bijan's father filled their small rented apartments with local delights: olives, pimentos, and garlic in Spain; mortadella, mountain cheese, and fresh plums in Rome. Read Literary Mama's full review here: http://www.literarymama.com/reviews/a...
June 9, 2015
My friend Emily suggested this book, in the sense that she tentatively asked our Persian friend Dina for permission to read it and Dina sort of sniffed. But I really love books that are part memoir, part cookbook, and I also really love Persian food, so I decided to try the book out. If you also like cooking memoirs you will probably really enjoy Maman’s Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen. The author, Donia Bijan, grew up in Tehran, then went to high school in the American Midwest after her family was forced to flee the revolution in Iran in the late 1970s, and went to the Cordon Bleu after college. After working in lots of interesting and famous kitchens, she started her own restaurant in San Francisco. I enjoyed reading about how all of her experiences shaped her cooking, and how food is her medium for exploring the different aspects of her identity.
Each chapter in the book closes with two recipes, which are not purely Persian, purely French, or purely American, but a unique mixture of the three.
{Read my complete review on A Spirited Mind}
Each chapter in the book closes with two recipes, which are not purely Persian, purely French, or purely American, but a unique mixture of the three.
{Read my complete review on A Spirited Mind}
November 27, 2015
This is a simple, clean, and charming memoir, a sort of love letter (complete with recipes) to author Donia Bijan's mother. It perfectly captures -- and sometimes elucidates -- what I already knew of Iranian life, culture, and social norms, all of which I gleaned from my Iranian-American husband.
I'd ordinarily give a book of this quality (writing style, topic(s), momentum, quality of introspection, etc.) four stars, but I really, really enjoyed the story of Bijan's childhood as the daughter of progressive and affluent parents, all of whom went on vacation to Majorca when Bijan was 16, and, due to the revolution in 1979, could not return home. (Wow! That was some long sentence!)
My only criticism: why "Maman's Homesick Pie"? I don't think the phrase was ever used in the book and I could never find any connection. There's a pie. There are homesick exiles. But ne'er the twain do meet.
Small criticism of a terrific book. I plan to make Saffron Yogurt Rice (Ta Chin) with chicken as my next big, monthly Persian dinner. And probably a few other recipes from the book; each chapter concludes with one or two recipes related to the chapter.
I'd ordinarily give a book of this quality (writing style, topic(s), momentum, quality of introspection, etc.) four stars, but I really, really enjoyed the story of Bijan's childhood as the daughter of progressive and affluent parents, all of whom went on vacation to Majorca when Bijan was 16, and, due to the revolution in 1979, could not return home. (Wow! That was some long sentence!)
My only criticism: why "Maman's Homesick Pie"? I don't think the phrase was ever used in the book and I could never find any connection. There's a pie. There are homesick exiles. But ne'er the twain do meet.
Small criticism of a terrific book. I plan to make Saffron Yogurt Rice (Ta Chin) with chicken as my next big, monthly Persian dinner. And probably a few other recipes from the book; each chapter concludes with one or two recipes related to the chapter.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 19, 2017
Beautiful story and life and beautifully told. I'm always attracted to other culture and it's culinary. Reading this was a pleasure. However, some parts made me confused because it's like coming out of nowhere and I feel that the author's rambling in some other parts too. Like when she suddenly have a boyfriend in the US (where did that come from??), when she said her Father returns to Iran to practice as Ob-Gyn again and come back to the US from time to time (idk whether this is true or just a conclusion I made myself) but still feel some resentment towards the wife, near the end she suddenly got engaged and married, without much explanation on how they met (she said she's working all the time) and who is the man, and suddenly out of nowhere a son, the maman's grandson.
Also I think some of it is too convenient, she enjoyed everything, her apprenticeship, her work, her restaurant, never crying, never wavering, never questioning.
But it is beautiful and I don't regret reading this.
Also I think some of it is too convenient, she enjoyed everything, her apprenticeship, her work, her restaurant, never crying, never wavering, never questioning.
But it is beautiful and I don't regret reading this.
April 20, 2017
Loved this memoire! A beautiful story of a girl's life, from a delicious & delightful childhood with her family in Iran to a transformative and courageous move to the US. There are fun stories about her life as a child, playing with sisters, cousins and friends, harmless mischief, family vacations, as well as charming details of her life living on the top floor of her parents' hospital building. If you love cooking and especially using fresh ingredients you will love the details of recipes shared, with a story behind each. From chef school in Paris to working in various restaurants, the author diligently hones her cooking skills until finally opening a restaurant of her own. This memoire shares insights into Persian culture, the precious relationships between Donia and her family members, which reveal the delicate nature of families and the added difficulties adapting to a new culture, language and country.
February 10, 2016
For Donia Bijan s family, food has been the language they use to tell their stories and to communicate their love. In 1978, when the Islamic revolution in Iran threatened their safety, they fled to California s Bay Area, where the familiar flavors of Bijan s mother s cooking formed a bridge to the life they left behind. Now, through the prism of food, award-winning chef Donia Bijan unwinds her own story, finding that at the heart of it all is her mother, whose love and support enabled Bijan to realize her dreams. From the Persian world of her youth to the American life she embraced as a teenager to her years at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris (studying under the infamous Madame Brassart) to apprenticeships in France s three-star kitchens and finally back to San Francisco, where she opened her own celebrated bistro, Bijan ev
okes a vibrant kaleidoscope of cultures and cuisines.
okes a vibrant kaleidoscope of cultures and cuisines.
September 18, 2018
I loved this beautifully written book....A memoir with recipes!! But not just a typed up recipe, each one included in this book were acts of love.
The author starts the book while packing up her mom's home & belongings & she takes us back in time when her family lived in Iran, pre Islamic revolution. Her father was a Dr, her mother a nurse & a very forward thinking woman....& then we follow what happens to them after the revolution & their new lives & the struggles, obstacles, & also good times. But the beauty of this book was in the telling, lovingly, & the words were like little tasty treats.
My mouth watered at times & I could almost capture the aroma of some of the foods prepared-always with love!
The author starts the book while packing up her mom's home & belongings & she takes us back in time when her family lived in Iran, pre Islamic revolution. Her father was a Dr, her mother a nurse & a very forward thinking woman....& then we follow what happens to them after the revolution & their new lives & the struggles, obstacles, & also good times. But the beauty of this book was in the telling, lovingly, & the words were like little tasty treats.
My mouth watered at times & I could almost capture the aroma of some of the foods prepared-always with love!
November 14, 2017
I really enjoyed this memoir for so many reasons. First, I enjoyed the descriptions of growing up in Iran with particular attention to tastes and smells. Second, the struggle of assimilating in America for both young adults and parents who had to adjust to language, lack of professional status and new cultural norms was described vividly with both frustration and empathy. Third, it was wonderful to read about becoming and maintaining a career as a chef. The story was told with carefully chosen words and a friendly tone so that all of Donia's experiences were very relatable.
March 20, 2018
Interesting story about a family who fled Iran during the revolution. The author went through a great deal at a young age, separating from her family. She was always intrigued with different kinds of food and went on to pursue a career as a chef rather than a doctor as her father always wanted. I thought her family stories were described elegantly and wove together very well, seasoned with some recipes throughout. (I've read some very choppy biographies) This author will be at Literary Orange in April 2018, Newport Beach, Ca. so I read this book for the second time.
July 22, 2012
A lovely memoir and tribute to the author's mother. Not only is Bijan a talented chef, to her credit she is also a very good writer. I felt as though I was with her, perched on a stool in her mother's kitchen, tasting and smelling the exotic and wonderful aromas. The bonus is that Bijan has added recipes for some of her Persian inspired foods - which also happens to be one of my favorite cuisines!
November 14, 2017
This is a feel good book, an easy read. We learn a bit about Iran before, during and after the revolution and we learn a lot about the apprenticeship of a cook/chef. And as a bonus there are recipes throughout the book, several that I will try in my kitchen.
The only criticism I have about this book is that we know next to nothing about Donia's two sisters. It would have rounded out this memoir to know more about them. As you read, the feeling is more as if Donia was an only child.
The only criticism I have about this book is that we know next to nothing about Donia's two sisters. It would have rounded out this memoir to know more about them. As you read, the feeling is more as if Donia was an only child.
January 25, 2018
This book made me hungry. I found I needed to create snack trays of dates, good cheeses, and blackberries (all I had in the fridge) in order to capture the spirit of combining Persian culture and Parisian menus. I loved the love story between mother and daughter, but also the backstory of the coming undone of the father without a purpose in his new land. A read that resonates long after you put it down.
October 27, 2014
What a beautiful memoir. It starts with the author cleaning her mothers' home after the mother's death. Everything is a memory and many are connected to food. The family were Iranians who were fairly wealthy. They were lucky to be vacationing abroad when the revolution occurred. Eventually they settled in California. Every chapter have recipes of the various food memories.
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