Inside the kitchen of Persiana’s author

Sabrina Ghayour is a chef, food writer and host of regular London supper clubs specialising in Persian and Middle Eastern flavours. After losing her restaurant marketing job during the economic downturn, Ghayour turned to catering and, eventually, cookbook writing. Her first effort, Persiana, was the number two cookbook in the UK in 2014. 

The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed Ghayour and asked her about her kitchen, her favorite tools, and more. One of the first things we learn is that even though she is a caterer, Ghayour’s London kitchen is quite modest. She wishes she “had a penny for every time somebody said, “Oh my God, your kitchen is so small, I can’t believe you do catering from here.” And then, “Do you only have one oven?!” Yes, I only have one oven. You know what, you just make it work, right?”

In the interview, Ghayour discusses the cookbooks she turns to again and again. She prefers the books that she can read like a novel, and one of her favourite authors is Nigella Lawson. Says Ghayour, “She treads the fine line between classy and trashy recipes.”

When asked what she thought was the most underrated ingedient, her reply: the potato. “It’s unbelievable how many damn things you can do with it. I ate potato terrine in a restaurant today. It was wafer-thin slices of potato pressed together and fried-one, maybe two ingredients. But it was served with a little Alsace ham, which is like bacon. And it was like, ‘I could bury my face in this.'”