Ten Speed Press/Sara Remington

The New Persian Kitchen

On Sunday, May 19, Cortez in Echo Park is hosting a dinner featuring recipes from Louisa Shafia's The New Persian Kitchen from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The menu is based on dishes from the cookbook, but the process of selecting which ones to include was collaborative. Shafia sent a list of suggestions to Cortez co-owner and chef Marta Teegen, who then added input on what would work best with what's available at the farmers market. The two share an appreciation for seasonal ingredients -- an element echoed throughout the cookbook.

"Persian cooking has always been taking the bounty of the garden and making it the center of the meal," says Shafia. "The word for paradise comes from the Persian word for a walled garden in the desert."

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bravotv.com

Asa Soltan Rahmati from Shahs of Sunset

If you're following the L.A.-based reality show Shahs of Sunset, (and we're certainly not judging you if you aren't) you've probably become acquainted with Asa Soltan Rahmati. And if that's the case, you've probably noticed that her favorite things are music, gold and Persian food. In what we guess is her debut single, recorded in Farsi and first posted in 2009 titled "Fessenjoon," Asa raps an homage to her Iranian roots by highlighting some hallmark cuisines, which include -- you guessed it -- fessenjoon and badenjoon, pomegranate-walnut stew and eggplant and sun-dried yogurt dip, respectively. (Fresh green herb stew, ghormeh sabzi, did not make the chorus due to, we believe, rhyming complications).

OK, so the video is ridiculous and even uncomfortable to watch at times for obvious reasons: namely her brother lurking in the background as she dances and flings her hair around. And after a chorus of chanting the above-mentioned cuisines, she raps about the lost Iranian identity and the social, political and religious problems plaguing our race as she leans on her immaculate white BMW.

While it's not likely she'll be up for a Grammy anytime soon, this self-proclaimed artist is actually onto something.

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G. Snyder

Koobideh Plate at Kabab Mahaleh

Leading up to this year's Best of L.A. issue (due out Oct. 4), we'll be counting down, in no particular order, 100 of our favorite dishes.

66: Koobideh at Kabab Mahaleh.

On Friday afternoons, the Pico corridor is a happening place -- especially at Kabab Mahaleh, where the Persian Jewish community packs in for a lunch of turmeric-saturated ground meat skewers called koobideh, served with a trencherman's portion of sangak, baked sesame flatbread, roasted in tall ovens just behind the counter; a couple of charred plump tomatoes; raw onion; and a pile of aromatic lemon basil.

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Jgarbee

Za'atar Zeta Hour

Hit your semi-specialty "local" national grocer (Whole Foods, we're talking about you) these days, and you can pretty much declare your local condiment duties done. But if we step away from the fancy Artisinal LA packaging and get straight down to tasting, finding top notch, locally sourced pantry ingredients involves digging in the aisles of your tiny neighborhood market. Which is exactly where we find our best hidden dinner gems, including these "Zeta" lavash chips from Araz-Z. The owner's name is Ara Zeithlian; he has been operating his Pico Rivera lavash company, Breadmasters, since the 1990s.

Sure, turning those leftover batches into baked crackers is a perfectly logical business proposition, but it's also a pretty tasty one. The best of Zeithlian's baked "chips" -- there are also ranch and flax versions -- are those spiced with za'atar, a Middle Eastern dried spice mix in various forms that typically includes oregano, sumac, thyme, sesame seeds and salt.

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Tajrish

The grill.

If you are stickler for restaurant menu clarity, Tajrish in Marina Del Rey will make you want to hurl your baklava across the room. For instance, there are chunks of filet mignon, marinated and char-broiled. There are also chunks of filet mignon, skewered, marinated, and char-broiled. The latter would appear to be kabobs, but then so are the former, we think. Rice may be substituted for salad at no extra cost. However, if you want half a side of salad and half a side of rice, you pay a dollar more.

Of course, none of this matters at all. Located on the edge of Venice, Tajrish is a strip mall Persian joint, on many nights emptier than a high school in July, the pink tablecloth-draped tables bare and clean. Yet, as you stumble in, curious and hungry, the proprietor seated at the register grins. If Tajrish were a high school, you'd think he was baked to a lavash-like crisp, but he's only enjoying his work. And what work it is.

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Celia Soudry

Naan Hut breads

Since August 2010 the small storefront on Santa Monica Boulevard and Colby Avenue posted signage that Naan Hut was "coming soon." After driving by the space numerous times over the past several months, we weren't sure it would ever open. But behold the Persian restaurant, specializing in naan, adjacent to Froplay Yogurt, is now open for business. They may not be fully functional just yet, but there's plenty of naan to go around.

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We all know that it's nice to get out for dinner with your significant other or a friend, and to avoid a stressful night of cooking followed by a sink piled with dirty dishes. But if you're anything like us, you love food, you love going out, and too often wind up ordering too much of everything and spending way too much money. There are ways, though, to eat an appropriate amount of delicious food, and to go home without a crater in your bank account and an overstuffed belly. While it's easy to get in and out of a total dive for under 30 bucks (after tax, but before tip), it's not as simple when the restaurant has silverware, glasses and a tablecloth. To attempt this feat, we tried our luck at Flame Persian Cuisine on Westwood Boulevard.

N. Galuten

Things that go well with bread

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If you're like me, or probably half your friends, you've been struck ill, most likely as penance for avoiding that same illness just a couple of weeks ago. But if it has made an appearance, or even if it hasn't, you will find comfort in the idea of a bowl of soup delivered to your door. But rather than opting for that same old chicken broth with different accoutrement, today we seek out hidden soup treasures conveniently located within delivery distance of my home, the Pico/Westwood area of West L.A.

N. Galuten

The Persian soup, ash reshteh, from Flame

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