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Our latest Iran Chat is with Iranian-American celebrity chef Ariana Bundy. \xa0Ariana is the award-winning author of two cookbooks,\xa0Pomegranates and Roses: My Persian Family Recipes\xa0and Sweet Alternative: More than 100 recipes without gluten, dairy and soy.\xa0\xa0She is also the writer, director and star of the 8-part television series Ariana's Persian Kitchen, which airs on NatGeo People. Ariana's work has been featured\xa0in a variety of magazines like Food & Travel, Harper's Bazaar and Food & Wine Magazine; she has also appeared on television programs like BBC's Good Food Live, Euronews and Top Billing. \xa0For more information about Ariana Bundy or to get some delicious\xa0recipe ideas, you can visit her website arianabundy.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. \xa0
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Why She Chose to Focus\xa0on Persian Cuisine

"As I was working hotels and coming across different cuisines, I met a lot of people who said \u2018Oh my God, my food, Turkish cuisine, is so amazing... and Thai people would say 'my food,\xa0Thai food,\xa0is so amazing.' \xa0And everyone would know about Thai food and Turkish food, but nobody knew anything about Persian food and it kind of ticked me off! \xa0I thought, wait a minute, we have an incredible cuisine with a really rich history. \xa0Why is\xa0it that, because of our political situation, people aren\u2019t trying out our cuisine? \xa0And I realized also that I was\xa0a professional chef\xa0who didn\u2019t really know how to cook proper Persian food. I knew what it was supposed to taste like and smell like, but I didn\u2019t know how to go about doing it. \xa0So that\u2019s when I decided I needed to share it... with my coworkers, other chefs, other people I came across, myself (I wanted to learn more about it); and ultimately I wanted people of my generation who were kind of detached from their cuisine to know about it."

About Persian Cuisine

"People are surprised because they imagine it to be spicy;\xa0more like Indian food\u2026 \xa0maybe Turkish food or like Arabic food.\xa0 I would always say that it\u2019s delicately spiced. It\u2019s well-balanced.\xa0 It uses ingredients you can commonly find anywhere. \xa0It\u2019s the way the ingredients are put together that makes it super special. Common things like oranges and chicken come together beautifully with carrots to create something spectacular like Shirin Polo. \xa0Pomegranates and walnuts come together to create something magical."

What She's Learned From Her Audience

"What I've learned is that it\u2019s all about emotions and memories.\xa0 And not necessarily about the food.\xa0 It\u2019s about something they can tap into and either take them back in their own memory or be proud of when showing to their foreign friends.\xa0 Or talk amongst themselves about a trip they had to Iran and how they would like to go back again. It\u2019s all about feelings and emotions and how that food and that culture makes them feel."

Misconceptions\xa0about Iran

"People just don\u2019t get to see the real Iran; there are very few shows out there on Iran.\xa0\xa0I think most foreigners when they visit are surprised at how lovely and normal everything is. People go to school, people cook, people party, people love playing cards, people go to the park, people have picnics; and they are just super hospitable..\xa0 You can ski, and you can go hiking and you can go to a fancy restaurant... all these things you get in any European city you can pretty much get in Iran, and more!"

Persian Cooking Tips

"For blooming your saffron don\u2019t use hot water, just pound the saffron in your pestle and mortar and add an ice cube to it and let it melt. I learned that in Mashhad while filming my show on saffron and the guy taught me that that way you keep the color really bright and you keep the fragrance. You should also add saffron at the end of your cooking time so if you\u2019re cooking a stew and you have an hour, you add it at the last 10 minutes so you keep the flavor and aroma in there. \xa0\xa0Another tip:\xa0 Add a little yogurt with butter and oil at the bottom of your pan when making tadiq so that you get a really crunchy lovely tadiq at the end of it."