This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
The United Nations has marked 21 March as International Nowruz Day, commemorating a holiday that sees millions around the world eating, dancing and furiously spring-cleaning the house from top-to-toe. Nowruz, meaning ‘new day’ in Persian, falls on the first day of the Persian calendar (around the same time as the Spring Equinox), and observes the end of darkness and the rebirth of nature. Here’s the 101 on a celebration that’s withstood multiple conquests and the test of time.
What is it?
Nowruz, the Persian New Year, is a 3,000-year-old celebration of spring, rooted in the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism. It begins on the first day of the Iranian calendar, usually on or around 20 March, or Spring Equinox, and lasts for 13 days. With deep reverence for fertility, nature and new beginnings, it’s celebrated by around 300 million people across Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Central Asia, as well as in Kurdish, Turkic Uyghur and Parsi communities worldwide.
How is it celebrated?
Festivities typically involve large gatherings of friends and family, street festivals, bonfires, fireworks, poetry and folk music. In Afghanistan and Central Asia, games originating in nomadic communities are popular, while in Iran, khane tekani (spring cleaning) marks the start of festivities. But the common denominator is food — and lots of it.
The plov rice dish is often the centrepiece of a Nowruz meal.
Photograph by Tom Lau, Getty Images
What’s a typical feast like?
Most spreads will include a haft-sin, a display of seven ingredients beginning with the letter ‘S’ in their local language. Each symbolises a different concept, such as health (garlic), patience (vinegar) and beauty (apple) in Iran. You can also expect an elaborate tray with sabzeh (lentil sprouts grown specially for Nowruz), nuts, sweets, dried fruits and colourfully painted eggs. On the last day of Nowruz, Iranians host special picnics to mark the end of the previous year, while in Kazakhstan, locals build yurts in which they lay out tables of rich food.
What are the most popular Nowruz dishes?
In Iran, typical dishes include kookoo sabzi (a herby frittata), sabzi polo ba mahi (rice with herbs and fried fish) and reshteh polo (aromatic rice and noodles). Plov, the rice-based national dish of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, is at the heart of most Nowruz gatherings, with countless variations on meat, vegetables and spices. In Azerbaijan, fragrant kebabs and dolma (stuffed vine leaves) are popular, along with sweets such as baklava and shekerbura (moon-shaped pastry with sugar, nuts and cardamom). In Uzbekistan, sumalak (a sweet pudding made with sprouted wheat) is made in giant cauldrons. Afghans cook sabzi challow (a spinach and lamb curry), followed by desserts including kolcheh nowrozi (rice flour biscuits) and haft mewa (a dried fruit salad in syrup). For Kazakhs, Nowruz almost always involves nauryz kozhe (a soup of barley, horse meat and milk).
Can you recommend a good cookbook for Nowruz food?
For Persian recipes, Feasts by Sabrina Ghayour and The Saffron Tales by Yasmin Khan are great options. For Central Asian and Azerbaijani flavours, check out Samarkand by Caroline Eden and Eleanor Ford. And for Afghan dishes, see Parwana by Durkhanai Ayubi.
How can you join in with the festivities?
Bergamot, Plateful Cafe, Berenjak and Tehran-Berlin are among many London restaurants offering Nowruz-themed menus and supper clubs. Options elsewhere in the UK include Konj Cafe in Edinburgh and Parisa Events in Cardiff.
Published in Issue 26 (winter 2024) of Food by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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