JUNE IS HERE! and I have BAD NEWS and GOOD NEWS about my book launch. The BAD NEWS (which I’ll deliver in three short installments) is that
The GOOD NEWS is that personal disappointments like this one remind me of a lesson I learned from my Iranian sister-in-law on why sometimes it's best to wait! Her name is Badri, she's Mahmoud's sister (the same age as me), and there's no denying she's a master of Persian cooking! Every nugget I taste of hers turns to metaphorical gold. Take Badri's incomparable eggplant stew, for example …! I remember the impact of that very first bite at Badri’s house: a symphony of flavors exploding in my mouth: the savory lamb, the delicate split peas, the crunchy french fries …the tomatoey sauce, just tangy enough. And the eggplant, of course, fried tender and mellow. It went perfectly with Badri's heavenly saffron-infused rice. And It was one of those meals when . . . how do they say it? The total effect exceeded the sum of its glorious parts.
And once Mahmoud and I returned to the States, I kept trying to replicate that stew (a classic dish known in Persian as khoreshte bademjan). Mahmoud, who could make a decent stew himself, had been faithful to explain to me what was in it: lamb cooked with onions, split peas and eggplant—and simmered slowly in a sauce seasoned with salt, pepper, turmeric, tomato paste and lemon. It seemed simple enough--perhaps too simple, I thought to myself. For no matter how often I followed the steps, I could never get my stew as luscious as Badri's. Surely he’s forgotten to mention something, I figured, and I went on a private quest for that missing ingredient--the key to that exquisite melding of flavors. So I turned to my arsenal of “secret ingredients.” I tried garlic. Then curry. Then cayenne pepper. Rosemary and oregano were a serious mistake. When I got desperate, I threw in some sugar—then doused it with teriyaki sauce. When I faced the fact that I couldn’t “improve” it, I finally gave up in exhaustion. As much as I enjoyed Mahmoud’s eggplant stew, his sister Badri’s stew was even better. So, the next time Mahmoud and I visited Iran, I asked Badri if she would share her secret. Speaking slow-paced and clearly as she always did for me, she listed her requisite set of seasonings: namack (salt), felfel (black pepper), zarchoobeh (turmeric), rohbe goje (tomato paste), limoo (lemon). “And that’s it,” she said, smiling her sparkly smile. I was totally baffled. “Are you sure that's all?” I asked her. It was the exact same list that Mahmoud had given—the one that had sounded too simple to be complete. We shared a moment of laughter over my skepticism. But then Badri spoke up again. That's when I discovered the secret of Badri's delicious eggplant stew--and at the same time learned a new phrase in Persian: “Leslie Khanum, ghaza boyad yavash-yavash bepaze… ta ghashang ja biafte. "(Miss Leslie, the food must cook ever so slowly …till it finally comes nicely into its own.”) “Till it finally comes nicely into its own”… I can still hear the warmth in her voice as she said it. And the more I thought about it, the more it hit me. So--the secret of the stew was in the slow cooking of it? The principle for me was hardly a new one … but was it one I’d learned to put into practice? I admit it: a side of me questioned whether simmering a stew slowly over a low flame could really make that much of a difference--particularly without the help of a flavor-enhancer that comes in a bottle. But what would I have to lose (other than the extra time I'd have to wait)? Not long after, I tried applying the principle for myself. And when I tasted that stew, I loved the outcome--and realized anew that some things take a little extra time to come into their own. And that makes them worth the wait! If you’re interested, I encourage you to try Badri’s eggplant stew too. Just click on the link for eggplant stew*; it includes all the steps except for the french fry garnish. Be sure to scroll down to read all the comments from readers. And if you would, reply to this email and let me know how you like it! *When you reach the home page, let your cursor hover over the starred word “recipes,” then in the first column to the right click on the first entry [“Khoresht (stew)”] under the “Main Courses” column. Finally, click on the photo at the top left of the page (labelled “Khoresht-E Bademjan”) to access the recipe. Since my conversation with Badri, I’ve gleaned so much from Badri’s secret—whose wisdom holds true far beyond the kitchen. Where else in life should we take something more slowly--being patient, careful, and steadfastly confident ’til finally "it nicely comes into its own”? When watching our diet? Raising our children? Waiting on God to answer our prayers? Or when waiting to publish that very first manuscript? Stay tuned! Again, the new launch date is September 30--and it’s all good! Thank you for watching and waiting along with me and Badri (who also appears in the story)!
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If you were a fan of American westerns in the 1960s through the 1990s (or had spent time around someone who was), you might be familiar with the Hollywood hunks and heroes who contributed to making the genre so popular. Some of the better-known faces of the western film era included John Wayne, Steve McQueen, Burt Lancaster, Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, Robert Duvall, Kevin Costner, and (last but not least) Clint Eastwood! Some of the above starred as the "badass" cowboys in the great western classic film "The Magnificent Seven" (1960), while others made names for themselves in classic westerns that followed. (How did I become so familiar with these faces and names, you ask, when I never once sat through a single western? That's easy: I grew up with a father who was a diehard western fan!) Little did I know that when I was grown, I would marry into a family with four brothers—each one an expert herder, hunter, and horseman in his own right. So much so that among themselves and other family members, they were affectionately known as "The Magnificent Four" (complete with real cowboy gear!). Not only that—over time, each brother also came to be tagged as one of four Hollywood cowboy heroes whose names are still well recognized today: (1) Yul Brynner, (2) Kevin Costner, (3) Robert Duvall, and (4) Clint Eastwood. (And if the truth be told, I ended up participating in the “name-each-brother-after-a-movie-star-challenge” myself! (How did the family know or even care enough, you ask, to reference the names of American western classics and the Hollywood stars who played in them? Actually, while in the 60s and 70s US Americans were watching these western classics on the States, Mahmoud, his father [“Baba”], and his three other brothers were viewing the same popular westerns from their Iranian TV sets on the other side of the world!) SO … MEET THE AHMADI BROTHERS!aka "The Magnificent Four”)! So, finally, let me formally introduce you to the four Ahmadi brothers (pictured with their parents, just below)! As you look at each adult brother in the photo, would you like to play along and (based on the celebrity-related clues provided) figure out which brother is which --by trying to match each brother’s name (and accompanying actor nickname) with the right face?
When you have finished guessing which brother is which in the photo, scroll further down the page and check your responses against the ones in the Answer Key. ANSWER KEY:
How did things go? There are other things to discover about each of the brothers (especially the one with the “squinty eyes” and textured hair!) I hope you’ll choose to find out when my debut memoir, The Road Between Hearts: A Memoir of a Black American Woman Discovering Iran is released on June 24, 2025! Please stand by for more details in my next blogpost! This is Leslie Powell Ahmadi: a Black American Christian woman who met and married a man from a Muslim family and lived several years with him and our two young children in Iran. Every month or so, I enjoy bringing you information, an experience, an encounter, and/or a perspective related to Iran and its people. Something that may catch your attention. You may or may not know that I have also written a soon-to-be released memoir about my life and discoveries in Iran, called The Road Between Hearts: A Memoir of a Black American Woman Discovering Iran. Some of you will notice that the title has changed slightly since I last mentioned it … but more about that later. For now, let me share another preview of one of my earliest discoveries (since my last blogpost): MEET THE AHMADI SISTERS! In the summer of 1989, Mahmoud—my husband of just one year at the time—took a break from his research at Ohio State to visit his parents, siblings, and the rest of his abundant family back in Iran after twelve long years of living in America! Here is a photo of Mahmoud and his five sisters, shortly after they first laid eyes on each other: When Mahmoud returned to Columbus two weeks later and showed me the photo, the joy that emanated from it was so sweet and palpable, I could almost eat it with a spoon! In order of their position from left to right, he pointed out each one to me proudly. (And one year later, when I went to Iran for my first-time visit, I would come to discover and love each sister and personality in her own right!)
(Later, she would paint a stunning replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, “The Last Supper,” and hung it as a centerpiece on her wall. Why? Because she loved da Vinci’s painting!
(Later, she’s the one who would sometimes walk in and offer to scrub my back down while I was in the shower. And even though I’d politely decline, I appreciated the intention behind it … she knew how to get things done!)
(Later, she would ask me all kinds of questions about Mahmoud’s and my life in America and our early days of knowing each other. She also taught me how to frame my face fashionably with a scarf and drape it around my neck just so!)
(She’s the one who would later bring me sweetened mint tea she had brewed for me herself if she noticed me showing even the slightest signs of stomach pangs. She also sewed me a stunning crimson blouse of silk that I wore and wore till I wore it out!)
(One November, she would take it upon herself to cook a delicious turkey dinner with a “Persian touch” and invite me and all the families, after she learned about an American holiday known as “Thanksgiving.”) *** As you may have picked up from my various blogposts, my road to Iran began with Mahmoud, continued with his family, and extended beyond that! That’s why the first part of my memoir’s title has changed from Road Between Two Hearts to The Road Between Hearts: a lot of hearts ended up on this road besides Mahmoud’s and mine! I hope you will join me in my next blogpost—when the day of the book’s release and other details will finally be announced! (By that time, I might also be able to invite you to explore my newly-designed website!) Meet My Mother-in-Law Shazdeh Amirhosseini: Matriarch of the Ahmadi Family |
AuthorDr. Leslie Ahmadi discovered her intercultural calling in her parents’ home at age four--where between the jazz, the spirituals, and the rock ‘n roll music, she heard folk songs in languages from around the world. Thirty years later she had a doctorate in foreign language and culture education--and her folk song guitar never far away. Archives
June 2025
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