Woman. Life. Freedom—and Falude: Female food writers in the Iranian diaspora and the taste of home

Iranian cuisine is rapidly establishing itself as a celebrated staple in the gastronomic scene, as well as for the ambitious home cook. Food traditions frequently serve as a means of collective memory for a diaspora, and the experiences of the 1979 Islamic revolution have brought many Iranians to an exilic lifestyle, with significant communities in North America and Western Europe. This ‘positive’ food trend stands in stark contrast with the ongoing portrayal of Iranian people in the media, due to extensive conflicts of its Islamic government with the West, neighbouring countries, and not lastly, its own citizens. Curiously, this narrative of connecting food and cultural memory is highly represented by female Iranian diaspora authors and food writers over the last years, while the ongoing protests in Iran are to some extent a female-led revolution as well. The Iranian diaspora has been displaying some strong themes of differentiating between ‘Iranian’ and ‘Persian’ cuisine and culture, nostalgia for a pre-revolution and even pre-Islamic Iran is frequently expressed, as customs dating back to Zoroastrian Persia are highly emphasised and preserved both in and outside Iran. The emergence of Iranian cuisine being celebrated abroad, particularly through the writings of female diaspora authors, serves as a medium for preserving and destigmatising Iranian/Persian cultural identity. This culinary revival can serve as resistance against the dominant narratives of Iran associated with its current Islamic regime, while simultaneously reclaiming pre-Islamic and pre-revolutionary cultural roots, offering a way for the diaspora to maintain and reconstruct a collective memory.