How Do You Write About Food When the World Is Burning?

On broken nerves, bombs over Iran, and the quiet resistance of food and care.

I hope you’ve all been doing OK in this intense week in the world. This week’s post is for paying subscribers and continues my reflections on the war on Iran and my thoughts on prospects for peace in the region. I’ll also be sharing an exclusive Persian recipe from my new book Sabzi (out in the UK next week!). If you’ve enjoyed this Substack, please consider upgrading your subscription.

My nervous system is pretty broken at the moment. It’s been hard to do much these last seven days other than doom-scroll through news and social media sites, tracking where the bombs were dropping in Iran, monitoring the deaths and casualties, and checking in on friends and family. Thankfully, so far, loved ones are “OK”. Though a bomb did drop just 100 metres away from a beloved relative’s house on Sunday night, smashing windows and doors and damaging the roof. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Not physically, anyway. But you cannot underestimate the psychological impact of bombs falling in the night. The sounds. The uncertainty. The fear.

I’ve been working on issues related to conflict zones for over 20 years now — from Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel/Palestine to refugee rights — but it never gets easier to witness how easily mad men take us to war, or to be floored by the immense suffering it causes. I’ll be honest: it feels difficult to promote my new book in this context, even though it’s a project I’m really proud of, and one I’ve worked on for years. But while I’m not naive enough to think that food writing can bring about world peace, I do believe that sharing food, learning about and celebrating the history and heritage of a cuisine, and sitting down with others to break bread fosters connection, understanding, and even joy. And in a world of perma-crisis, cultivating joy can be a form of resistance. So I hope this week’s recipe — a vegetarian Persian stew made with yellow split peas, aubergines, saffron and dried limes — brings a little joy to your home from mine.

Speaking of which, can we just take a moment to celebrate Zohran Mamdani! Truly, the spark of joy we all needed this week. Thank you to everyone in NYC who worked so hard to make this happen ❤️