A memoir of love and food in IRAN

23rd February 2023

The Temporary Bride: A memoir of love and food in Iran by Jennifer Klinec.

#fromourbookshelves

“Each day… the house fills with the aroma of saffron, pomegranate syrup or onions fried in butter….”

Given this memoir was published in 2014, it makes for a sobering contrast to the situation in the country today.

From running cooking classes in London, just how does the author end up in Iran? She says that “..since I was a student eating my first Persian stew, tearing fibres of lamb between a metal spoon and fork, breathing in the scent of dried black limes, I have chartered a course to this place.” So, it is a real foodie passion, grit and determination that drove her to go and live in Iran.

Arriving from Canada via London, the author learns to navigate the country. She explores, observes and tries to integrate. She moves on from her antipathy towards arranged marriages, a facet of their culture that now seems to her “sweet, innocent, even romantic”. She grapples with how to wear the hijab.

A serendipitous encounter in Yazd leads her to the kitchen of a woman, who is prepared to show her the rudiments of Iranian cooking. She describes how Iranian rice is cooked like none other, bathed like a Hindu princess (no less) before the cooking process even starts. She loves the romantic notion that women are compared to food (breasts like pomegranates) and as she finds connection with Vahid (the son of the woman with whom she is cooking), her life blossoms. She soon becomes his ba namak, a ‘perfectly seasoned‘ woman after just 10 days of being together. From gruff expletives to adoring utterances in just a short time.

This is probably not a book that will appeal to anyone with vegetarian tendencies, as there are full-on descriptions of meat dishes – for example, Jennifer and Vahid go to a tiny 4 table eatery, a tabaakhi – where the soup is served with a choice of brains, tongue, foot or eyeballs. And yes, there is a trip to a slaughterhouse for authenticity. She is also witness to human executions.

And then there is the question of a temporary marriage and how that came about….

This is a very good memoir to immerse you in Iran and its culture, it’s easy to read and poignant at times. It is particularly sad given what is happening in the country at the moment, such a contrast to when the memoir was penned in the earlier 21st Century. The author certainly took her courage in her hands and went for something she had always wanted and perhaps ended up with a more enlivening and thought provoking experience than she had anticipated.

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