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Nowruz, the spring holiday also known as Persian New Year, translates to “new day,” and falls on the Northern Hemisphere’s vernal equinox, around March 20.
Dating back thousands of years, the ancient festival is celebrated by many across Iran, Central Asia and all over the world, including on the Peninsula. It’s a time that honors hope and fresh beginnings, even as upheaval and conflict in Iran likely weigh on the minds of community members this year.
Nowruz is rich in food traditions. The culinary culture connected with Nowruz is both deeply symbolic and sensory, according to Menlo Park’s Nina Sarazin, the founder of Nourish & Flourish, an educational culinary and wellness program.
Central to the celebration is the Haft Seen (also spelled Haft Sin) table display, set up before the equinox and featuring, among other symbolic items, seven elements that each begin with the Persian letter “S.” These include apples, garlic, sprouted greens, vinegar, wheat pudding, silverberry and sumac.
Each item has symbolic significance for ushering in the new year, said Fera Hashemi, co-owner of Arya Steakhouse, a modern Persian restaurant in downtown Palo Alto. Sabzeh, the sprouts, represent rebirth, while serkeh (vinegar) symbolizes time, patience and aging.
“Everything we put out on the table, it’s supposed to symbolize the upcoming year,” she said. “Sumac is a bright burgundy, symbolizing the color of the sunrise, the victory of good over evil; happiness and warmth, basically.”
Look for Nowruz specialties at Persian restaurants locally, such as Arya and Chelokababi in Sunnyvale, both of which set up Haft Seen displays for the holiday each year.
Hashemi recommends starting a Nowruz meal at Arya with the appetizer plate panir sabzi, symbolizing spring and featuring fresh greens such as basil, parsley, leeks and tarragon, served with feta, walnuts, radishes, cucumbers and tomatoes. The dish is accompanied by taftoon bread.
The traditional entree for the eve of Nowruz is sabzi polo mahi – herbed rice and greens, with the greens representing rebirth and the spirit of the season, served with fish, representing life and movement forward, according to Sarazin.
At Arya, the rice is made with leeks, parsley, cilantro, garlic and green onions and paired with marinated fish that’s seasoned with the restaurant’s house Persian spices. Hashemi said it’ll be offered through March 30 this year.
“There is nothing that tastes quite as great because of the greens and ingredients that go into the sabzi polo mahi,” Hashemi said. “We only make it once a year. Even our staff gets excited to taste it.” The dish, she said, represents “the welcoming of spring.”
Chelokababi will also be serving sabzi polo mahi as a Nowruz special March 20-21, according to Maryam Lane, the restaurant’s managing partner.
Another beloved dish representing spring flavors is kuku sabzi, a traditional vegetable frittata made with a mix of fresh herbs and barberries (zereshk), which Hashemi also recommends as part of the Nowruz meal.
Sarazin, whose mother was from Iran, enjoys cooking kuku sabzi often.
“I make it almost once a week; it’s so yummy,” she said.
Those looking for Haft Seen goods and ingredients for making Nowruz meals can check local shops, including Rose International Market in Mountain View and Real Produce International Market in Palo Alto. You can even find frozen, pre-chopped herbs for kuku sabzi, Sarazin said, making the labor-intensive dish a bit easier for newbies.
Cookies and sweets are also often eaten at Nowruz, incorporating flavors such as rose, saffron and cardamom.
Hashemi recommends ending a Nowruz meal at Arya with a dessert of bastani makhlout (Persian pistachio ice cream with saffron and rosewater), served alongside faloodeh (rice noodles in rosewater, topped with sour cherries and fresh lemon).
Thirteen days after Nowruz (or the closest weekend to then), Sizdeh be dar, or Nature Day, is commonly celebrated in Iran and in the Iranian diaspora community, Sarazin said. At a picnic that day, the sprouted greens that were grown for and displayed on the Haft Seen are tossed into moving water.
This tradition serves as “another ritual of out with the old, in with the new,” Sarazin said, as well as the final chance to celebrate Nowruz with family, friends and good food.
She grew up celebrating with her mother’s side of the family, with fond memories of visiting relatives and eating treats with them. Now, she strives to carry on the cultural heritage with her son. Some Persian American families, she said, adapt customs by blending traditional recipes with regional ingredients or adding modern twists to their celebrations.
Chelokababi managing partner Lane’s favorite part of the holiday is “definitely the many family gatherings, celebrating, forgiving, and starting new beginnings,” she told this publication in an email.
While Nowruz celebrations often include lively dance and music, Hashemi said she expects the tone of some of this year’s local holiday celebrations to be lower-key, in acknowledgement of the recent and ongoing turmoil and violence in Iran and beyond, and it will vary from family to family.
No matter how communities choose to mark the holiday, Nowruz’s themes of fresh beginnings and hope may be more poignant than ever.
“I think the most special thing about Nowruz is just being together. Especially this year, it’s particularly important,” Hashemi said.
Arya Steakhouse, 140 University Ave., Palo Alto; open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Instagram: @aryasteakhouse.
Chelokababi Restaurant, 1236 S. Wolfe Road, Sunnyvale; open Tuesday 4-9 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Saturday noon to 9:30 p.m. and Sunday noon to 9 p.m.
Rose International Market, 801 W. El Camino Real, Suite B, Mountain View; open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Real Produce International Market, 501 Oxford Ave., Palo Alto; open daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.. Instagram: @realproduce.
Nourish & Flourish, Menlo Park.
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