When the war between Israel and Iran broke out in June, Jewish chef Arielle Nir Mamiye experienced a wave of conflicting emotions. “Of course, I worried about family and friends in Israel, but I also felt like I was having an identity crisis,” said Mamiye, who creates and develops recipes for her 133,000-plus followers on Instagram and writes her popular Substack newsletter from her home in Deal, N.J. “Two cultures very integral to my identity were battling each other, and it was devastating.” 

Born to a Persian Israeli father and a Moroccan mother, Mamiye grew up in Great Neck, N.Y., hearing stories about the warmth and beauty of Iran. So, when she watched both Israel and Iran come under fire, she did the one thing she knew would bring her comfort: cook.

“It calms me, makes me feel pride,” she said. “And when I post on my social media accounts, it’s a meaningful way to connect with my people.”

Her Persian family would regularly gather for Shabbat dinners during her childhood, and it is the aromatic classics from those meals she finds especially comforting now, including rice tachins (see accompanying recipe for Cranberry and Eggplant Tachin, which is ideal for Rosh Hashanah) and Gondi meatballs, which her family eats at the start of their Rosh Hashanah seders—the traditional Persian holiday meal that includes blessings over nine foods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Arielle Nir Mamiye (@ariellenir)

 

Mamiye is not the only Persian Jew finding solace in the kitchen. In both Israel and the United States, Persian Jewish cooks—many with large social media followings—have been grappling with the dissonance of claiming two sparring cultures.

Half-Persian, half-Ashkenazi Israeli cookbook author Rottem Lieberson saw her parents’ and daughters’ Tel Aviv apartments damaged by ballistic missiles during the June war. She said her 84-year-old father, Yoav, who was born in Iran, still feels connected to his birthplace.

“The minute he came here as a child, he became totally Israeli on the outside, but in his heart, he is still 100 percent Persian,” said Lieberson, who has been preparing Persian food for him almost daily since June. “It would be a dream come true to take my father back someday. Who knows? Maybe it will actually happen.”

In the meantime, some Persian chefs are reaching out to their local communities. Nicole Dayani, a Los Angeles-based cooking school instructor, has been connecting more than ever to both Jewish and non-Jewish Persian friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Nicole Dayani (@nicoleskitchenla)

 

“The beautiful thing is that, at least in my circles, there’s an understanding that we don’t speak for our governments and we don’t delve into politics,” said Dayani, who offers classes for businesses like Sephora and nonprofits such as Hadassah through her school, Nicole’s Kitchen LA.

Dayani said she often fields questions about the intersection of her two cultures. “All my life, I’ve been asked how it’s possible that I am both Persian and Jewish,” she said. “I explain that thousands of years ago, Judaism started where Israel is today, but over time, many were either kicked out or moved to different places, such as Persia, and now we live all over the world.”

Indeed, Jews in Iran trace their roots back to at least the sixth century BCE, after Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem caused many to flee the Holy Land. In the modern era, with the overthrow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979 and the installment of the Islamic Republic, the majority of the country’s 80,000 Jews fled to Israel or the United States, with large concentrations today in Los Angeles and Great Neck. Some 8,000 remain in Iran. 

Dayani grew up steeped in Persian Jewish heritage. Her grandmothers would prepare endless dishes, among them tarragon- and fenugreek-scented Persian dolmeh (stuffed vegetables), slow-roasted beef ribs with tamarind and silan date syrup (see accompanying recipe—another stellar Rosh Hashanah entree) and barbari flatbreads.

“Food has always been central to my identity,” said Dayani, who began cooking seriously and making videos while a student at the University of California, Los Angeles. After some of those videos fusing Persian flavors with Western favorites, such as ravioli, went viral on social media, Dayani eventually convinced her parents to support her decision to pursue cooking full time.

Another chef who pivoted mid-college is Zach Neman. He grew up surrounded by Persian Jewish culture in Great Neck, but he said he didn’t outwardly embrace that heritage until he was a student at the University of Maryland, where he began filming cooking videos after he was rejected for computer engineering internships. His content took off, and he became a full-time creator, working with brands on sponsored content and amassing more than 1 million Instagram followers.

At the outset of the war, Neman said he grappled with whether to make a public statement, which he eventually did on Instagram. “I’m watching the country my family comes from, the land of my ancestors, launch missiles at the country I call home as a Jew,” he said in the Instagram story. “I feel torn in ways that are hard to explain. Because I love Iranian people. I love Jewish people. And I reject the idea that we must choose between the two people.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Zachary Neman (@cheffinwithzach)

 

It’s rare for Neman to enter controversial waters online, but it wasn’t the first time. “In the past, when I first started mentioning Israel, I lost somewhere between 80,000 to 100,000 followers,” he said. “I don’t mind. People will tell me to go back to Poland, which makes no sense whatsoever.

“I am proud of who I am and where I come from,” Neman added. “No one can take that away from me.” 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup-plus canola, avocado or olive oil
• 4 cups basmati rice
• 1 teaspoon saffron threads
• 7 tablespoons-plus kosher salt
• 3 ice cubes
• 2 globe eggplants, cut into 1/4-inch slices lengthwise
• 4 eggs, beaten
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries

Instructions

1. Grease a 15-inch oval glass baking dish or a 9-by-13-inch rectangular glass baking dish with 1/2 cup of oil.

2. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Place the rice into a large bowl, cover it with room temperature water and let it soak for 30 minutes to 1 hour and then strain it.

3. Make the saffron water: place saffron threads and a pinch of salt into a mortar and pestle. Grind the saffron until it turns into a powder. Add 3 cubes of ice and let the ice melt into the saffron.

4. Turn the oven onto the broil setting and place a rack in the upper third of the oven. Place the eggplant slices on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Drizzle the tops with oil and place one baking sheet into the oven. Broil until the eggplant is dark golden brown and almost charred, about 5 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, flip the slices and drizzle with a bit more oil. Return to the oven and broil until golden, about 3 more minutes. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and immediately sprinkle eggplant with about half teaspoon of salt. Repeat with the second baking sheet. When finished, set the oven to bake at 350°.

5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium high heat. Add 7 tablespoons of salt to the boiling water. Add the rice and cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until rice is partially cooked and still has a bite to it. Drain the rice.

6. Place the saffron water, eggs, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of salt into a large mixing bowl. Whisk until combined. Add the rice to the bowl and gently fold until the rice is completely coated.

7. Place half the rice into the bottom of the oiled baking dish. Use a large spoon or spatula to smooth into an even layer. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the dried cranberries in an even layer over the rice. Next, add the eggplant slices in a single layer. Top with the remaining rice and spread into an even layer, covering the eggplants completely. Tightly cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.

8. Bake in the oven for 2 hours or until the rice is golden brown on the bottom. (Look through the bottom of the glass dish to check the color.) Let it rest for 5 minutes.

9. To unmold the tachin, place a serving platter a bit larger than your baking dish over the top. Very carefully, yet confidently, flip the tachin onto the platter and lift up the baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining cranberries over the tachin and serve.

Ingredients

For the meat

• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• 4 pounds English-style bone-in beef ribs
• 1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 2 cups water

For the sauce

• 2 tablespoons tamarind paste
• 2 tablespoons silan (or honey or molasses)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha (adjust for heat preference)
• 1/4 cup water 
• 2 tablespoons prepared balsamic glaze
• 1/3 cup scallion greens, thinly sliced, for garnish

Instructions

1. Prepare ribs: Preheat oven to 400°. Cover the bottom of a medium roasting pan with the sliced onions. Arrange beef ribs on top of the onions, meat side up. Brush all sides of the ribs with the mustard, then sprinkle evenly with the smoked paprika. Roast, uncovered, for 1 hour. Remove the tray from the oven and pour the water into the bottom of the pan (not over the ribs). Reduce the oven temperature to 350°.

2. Make the sauce: In a small bowl, whisk the tamarind paste, silan, soy sauce, sesame oil, Sriracha, water and balsamic glaze until smooth. Pour evenly over the cooked ribs, then cover tightly with foil.

3. Return the covered tray to the oven and roast, uncovering and basting every 30 minutes, until the meat is tender, removing the foil during the last 10 minutes to caramelize the top, 2 to 2  1/2 hours in total.

4. Transfer ribs to a serving dish, spoon pan sauce over the ribs and garnish with the scallion greens.

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Adeena Sussman is the author of Shabbat: Recipes and Rituals from My Kitchen to Yours and Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors from My Israeli Kitchen. Sign up for her Substack here.