All the recipes given in the book are authentic and have been tested by many generations of Iranian cooks and housewives and although they can sometimes appear exotic or complex, this book shows that this results from the surprising and subtle combinations of quite commonplace ingredients. Indeed, the basic methods are simple and the cook is not required either to re-equip the kitchen or to embark on an endless quest for esoteric ingredients. The book won the 1993 Glenfiddich Food Book of the Year Award.