Persian New Year Norooz Pop- Up Dinner at Porsena, NYC

Ever get a craving for some really authentic, home-style Persian food? After trying what Louisa Shafia cooked up at her Persian New Year Norooz Pop- Up dinner at Porsena– I can tell you that I’m totally hooked.

Shafia, who is part Iranian and part Jewish American, has found her passion in exploring and creating healthful dishes using the flavors of her heritage.

She has authored two wonderful cookbooks, the most recent one being The New Persian Kitchen (which I just ordered BTW) after sampling her superb creations. Shafia was an absolute delight to meet and one can just see how her charming sprit is truly connected to the food she crafts.

So lets talk about the divine meal we had at her Lakh Lakh Persian Street Food Pop Up, which has been going on since September on Mondays at Porsena.

What I love about Shafia’s cuisine is that everything is super fresh. Her market driven, healhy dishes are made of clean flavors with the freshest of ingredients.

Take for example the appetizer we started our meal with called “Sabzi Khordan – a herb and cheese plate with Barbari bread” which consisted of fresh feta flavored with olive oil, roasted cumin and coriander seeds. It is traditionally eaten wrapped in thin flatbread with herbs, radishes and walnuts. This was a perfect beginning to all that was to come.

I truly enjoyed every dish that we ate at this multi course meal but there were I few I just cant get over.

There was a bean and herb soup made with fresh noodles which was topped with a dollop of yogurt fried onions that I just couldn’t get enough of.

My favorite dish of the night was the “Fish with Tamarind and Barberries”. Wow – what a combination of flavors. A mild grouper fillet was topped of with a tangy berry/tamarind/almond sauce. I can still taste the fantastic combination in my mouth.

We finished our meal with a lemon curd filled tarlet which was a perfect ending to a perfect meal. I cant wait to see what Louisa Shafia plans next. If you cant tell already….I am a real fan!

Here is some of what we ate: