It Came From the East
“I feel like a 17th-century spice trader at a desert feast as they bring me home-squeezed pomegranate juice, yoghurt sprinkled with rose petals, aubergine paste with whey and walnuts.”
- Alex Kapranos, Franz Ferdinand
THE GUARDIAN UK
Offal good
When I tell my husband we're having testicles for dinner, he blanches and says he has a headache.
So I arrive alone at Banu, where the owners of the hip Queen West Persian restaurant, three siblings, want to ease me into my first sampling of dom balan -- lamb's testicles, marinated and grilled.
-Deirdre Kelly
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Where Banu’s Samira Mohyeddin eats Persian food in the burbs
“There were Iranian restaurants, but they weren’t places you wanted to stay—there was never any atmosphere,” Mohyeddin says. “It was literally: buy some food, eat it and get out.”
- Samira Mohyeddin, Banu
TORONTO LIFE
Chef’s Showcase
Mohyeddin drew inspiration from his mother, spending countless hours in her Scarborough kitchen learning the secrets of Persian cuisine.
“Growing up, there was always a lot of people over, always eating,” he says. “It helped start my fascination with food.”
TORONTO STAR
Celebrate Persian New Year with this staple dish
We learn how to make “liquid gold”.