Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation11 Mai 2022

Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Caspian Chef discusses returning to his Iranian roots after decades of assimilation

In this Growing Up Irooni we talk to Omid Roustaei, better known as the Caspian Chef. In this conversation, we discuss the process of coming to the United States on his own and figuring out his own path for assimilating into American culture as a means of survival. Omid has has a very rich and varied path, first studying biotech engineering, and then becoming a personal chef and yoga teacher, to pursuing a career in psychotherapy, to returning to cooking and his Iranian roots only in the past few years.This was one of the most fascinating conversations I've had- and we really go into some territory that I think will resonate with so many of us- life is certainly not linear, and we can see that in Omid's story. We talk about career and pursuing your dreams- he first went down the ‘traditional Iranian path' of becoming a biotech engineer and worked in that field for a while, before pivoting to the perhaps more American notion of pursuing his passion- cooking and psychotherapy. We also talked about the process of assimilation as a coping mechanism- what it means to arrive in a country and need to fit in. And finally, what led Omid back to the path of rediscovering his Iranian roots- from cooking Persian food, to becoming reacquainted with the Persian language, and to ultimately seek out and become part of the Iranian diaspora community again.I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!

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Episoder(223)

Poetry | Rumi's deevané shō Part 2

In this second part of the discussion for Rumi's deevāné shō, we go over the first two lines of the poem in detail.

26 Jun 202311min

Interview | Growing Up Irooni: Marjan Kamali

Host: Leyla ShamsGuest: Marjan KamaliIntroduction:Leyla Shams, host of Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation, introduces her guest Marjan Kamali, the award-winning author of the Stationary Shop.Top...

22 Jun 202349min

Poetry | Rumi's deevané shō Intro

In this intro lesson for Rumi's deevāné shō, we go over the full poem with musician Fared Shafinury.In addition, we learn about Fared and his project "Radif Retreat". In this particular lesson, we als...

19 Jun 202336min

Interview | Growing Up Irooni: Kayvon Zand on inclusivity in the zan zendegee azadee era

Kayvon Zand is a nightlife personality and musician living in New York City, and goes by the pronouns he or they. I’ve been a fan for years, and love their extravagant and very extra style. In the pas...

24 Mai 20231h 13min

Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Ari Rastegar and the business of being Iranian

In this episode, we talk to Ari Rastegar, a commercial real estate developer in Austin, Texas. Ari talks about his half Iranian background, how his father instilled the Iranian culture in him, and how...

10 Mai 202323min

Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Nixta Taqueria's Sara Mardanbigi Makes Contact with the Motherland

Nixta Taqueria is an award winning taqueria in Austin coowned by today's Growing Up Irooni guest Sara Mardanbigi. She owns it together with her husband Edgar Rico, who she recently took on a month lon...

25 Apr 202348min

Interview | Growing Up Irooni- Funny in Farsi 20 years later, with Firoozeh Dumas

I’m so excited to share with you today my interview with Firoozeh Dumas, author of Funny in Farsi. Funny in Farsi came out when I was in college, and it’s almost hard to remember what a huge huge deal...

12 Apr 202339min

Poetry | Monir Taha's meegan ké jangé jangé Intro

In this first lesson on Monir Taha's poem ‘meegan ké jangé jangé, میگن که جنگه جنگه’, we talk to Naz Deravian, Monir's daughter and author of the cookbook Bottom of the Pot, about the poem in general,...

8 Mar 202345min