Join Bita and Beata in today’s culinary conversation about connecting to our culture with special guest Cynthia Banafsheh Samanian.  Cynthia is an expert in experiential marketing, teaches cooking class business school, and runs a podcast.  Cynthia is a great example of a woman who has built on her bi-cultural up-bringing to help others come together at the table, both literally and figuratively.

 

What is your mission with regards to experiential marketing with regards to your culture?

• “At the end of the day I am all about helping people share their culture and share their stories around food”

 

Is there a MPF podcast episode that you particularly connected with and why?

• Yes!  Episode 31, Caspian Chef
• • Mom is from “shomal”, Farsi for the northern region of Iran and I had never heard anyone speak of the specialty foods of this region that I grew up eating

 

Favorite family foods - Cynthia’s folks used to overnight the following Persian foods to her!

• Mirza ghassemi (and fresh eggs to cook and enjoy along side)
• Seer torshi
• Khoresh bademjoon

 

Persian foods Cynthia likes to cook:

• Sabzi polo
• Salad shirazi
• Cotlet
• Ghormeh sabzi
• Loobia polo
• Kookoo seebzamini

 

What do you hope to pass down to your young kids with regards to Persian-French (husband is French American) food culture?

• A rice cooker that makes perfect tahdig!
• A remembrance of Cynthia’s mom’s saying, “you can tell that a house is warm when the kitchen is busy”
• Side note:  Cynthia’s parents (like many of ours) were immigrants - food was a way to bring people into their home and introduce them to Persian culture and to connect

 

Ask the Beats

Cynthia asks the Beats:  If you could teach someone one thing, what dish would it be and why?

• How to make the perfect tahdig, tahchin, and an appetizer sampling platter
• Let us know if you are interested in Bita and Beata hosting their own cooking class!

 

Contact us at hello@modernpersianfood.com or Instagram

 

Resources and recipes from this episode:

Episode 31:  Cultural Spotlight Caspian Regional Foods with Special Guest The Caspian Chef

 

Find Cynthia at:

The Experiential Table Podcast | Food Marketing Podcast

Hidden Rhythm: Teach Online Cooking Classes

Culinary Marketing Coach (@hiddenrhythm) • Instagram photos and videos

Bita’s recipe links:

Salad Shirazi | Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Persian Tahdig

How to Prepare Persian Rice in a Rice Cooker

Tah-cheen Baked Persian Chicken and Rice Casserole

Tahchin Bites

 

Beata’s recipe links:

Persian Salads: Maast-o-Khiar with Shallot and Salad Shirazi

Katte Persian Rice with Tahdig

Persian Jeweled Tahchin

All Modern Persian Food episodes can be found at: Episodes

Co-host Beata Nazem Kelley blog: BeatsEats – Persian Girl Desperately Addicted to Food!

Co-host Bita Arabian blog: Oven Hug - Healthy Persian Recipes | Modern Persian Recipes

 

Podcast production by Alvarez Audio