What You’ve Given Me

By Keemia Sarafpour

“Food is something that connects us to our culture and our childhood, our family, Persianhood.”

Keemia: All right. So, I'm here with my mom and I'm going to interview her about her signature dish. What was… when was the first time that you made this lasagna?

Mom: I was about seventeen or eighteen, and my sister's husband owned few restaurants back in Iran, and… one of these restaurants was an Italian restaurant. And they came over with my sister, and he taught me how to make lasagna, and I took the dish to school the next day, and—

Keemia: You guys had some left?

Mom: Well, we made two different batches, one for that night, one for the next day. And I remember to this day… and I warmed it up in the oven in the morning, but then I took it to school and we were supposed to have it in… in our break, but my friends couldn't wait. They finished the whole thing, even before school started [laughing]. So from then on, whenever we had parties, my mom used to… my mom asked me, "can you make the lasagna for the party?" So it became my signature dish, since then.

Keemia: Do you think there is any Iranian food that comes close to having that… the same relationship that you have with the lasagna? Is there anything like that?

Mom: Yes I do, actually. Since childhood, my favorite Persian dish is called tahchin, which is… this is my favorite dish from childhood, my mom used to make it for any special occasions, so when I became an adult and I wanted to learn how to cook Persian dish, that was the first dish I asked my mom to teach me. And, uh… that comes close to the lasagna, actually. Especially in our family, food is very important. We don't eat to survive.

Keemia: Yeah. We eat to eat.

Mom: We eat because we enjoy food, and food has always been a center of conversation and gathering in our family, um… at least in my—

Keemia: Do you think we have so much food, and there's this abundance… and it's such an important thing, to try to keep a connection to your childhood and your home and where your family is?

Mom: Absolutely, and food is something that connects us to our culture and our childhood, our family… our Persianhood, as I have to say. And, um… and it's what they have, with whatever ingredients that comes as close as, like, the ingredients that we use in Iran, we try to make it as authentic as possible. As I said, we don't eat to survive. We eat because we love food. And my eighty-nine-year-old mom, she loves to still cook and she loves to impress her grandkids, her children, to this day. She wants to make the best version of her recipes every single time, and I think that's what's kept her alive and kept her… so lively.

Keemia: Okay. Thank you, Mom. And you know, I just realized I'm seventeen. I'm a junior in high school, so I think you need to teach me how to make the lasagna so I can do it for my family.

Mom: Absolutely. I think… you have watched me do it so many times, so it's in the back of your mind, and that's exactly what happened to me when I wanted to leave to come to the states after I got married. I have always watched my mom make food, but I never made Persian food, so, at the end she gave me all the recipes, I had the recipe book. And when I came here, it was… it was so natural for me to make them. I would read the recipe and I knew exactly what I have to do because I have watched her over the years, so many different times, and it came so naturally to me. So I'm sure you've seen me so many times, you know exactly. Once I give you the recipe, you will just…

Keemia: Yeah. I can just picture you at the stove, making it.

Mom: Yeah. So you can do it immediately.

Keemia: Thank you, Mom.

Mom: You're welcome.