Image

Andy Baraghani’s kuku sabzi. Credit...Emma Fishman for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich. Prop stylist: Sophia Eleni Pappas.

Andy Baraghani doesn’t miss. I know this is a very “duh” statement, but it feels worth reiterating given his string of recent recipes that have already racked up five stars: chicken and red lentil soup with lemony yogurt; charred cabbage with miso browned butter; and this extra-green pasta salad that’s the cover girl of our spring pasta special.

He’s now assembled an absolutely stunning menu to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which begins today and runs for 13 days. “Each dish,” Andy writes, “each ingredient symbolizes something greater: herbs for rebirth; fish for prosperity; sweet, sticky confections to usher in a year of joy.”

His fish is a beautiful slow-cooked white fish with citrus and herbs, a luscious combination of leeks, garlic, lemon and clementine. Imagine setting that next to a platter of his fluffy sabzi polo (herbed rice with saffron) showered with crushed dried rose petals. The petals are optional, but that contrast between the golden rice and the pink petals feels pretty necessary to me.

I’m sorry, I interrupted. Please continue, Andy! “If there’s one dish that feels like it belongs to me, it’s kuku sabzi,” he writes. “It was the first Persian dish I truly felt confident making on my own. My recipe continues to evolve, as I fine-tune the balance of fenugreek, turmeric and eggs, making sure the texture is just right. Some families add walnuts and barberries, but I keep mine simple, letting the herbs take center stage.”