Yogurt & Whey: Recipes of an Iranian Immigrant Life

by Homa Dashtaki

Overview

A Los Angeles Times Best Cookbook of 2023 • A WBUR Here & Now Best Cookbook of 2023 • One of Eater's 12 Best Cookbooks of Spring 2023

A collection of recipes reflecting a life affected by immigration, community, adaptation, and experimentation—and sublime, old-world, creamy yogurt.

As founder of much-loved The White Moustache Yogurt company, Homa Dashtaki employs the same traditionally Iranian methods of making yogurt that her family has for generations in her kitchen today. Her passion culminates in inspiring the use of a new ingredient: whey, the liquid gold extracted from straining homemade yogurt. Across 100 recipes ranging from ancient see-rogh to rum cocktails, ghormeh sabzi to lemon meringue pie, Dashtaki weaves in and out of nostalgic and innovative dishes. The result of years of obsessively making yogurt results in a love for every drop of whey that she passes onto home cooks in these recipes. Embrace whey’s bright tang in a summer gazpacho or a pitcher of pineapple margaritas. Enjoy the crispy edges it lends to creamy pancakes.

Enlivened by hand-drawn illustrations and dreamy photographs, Yogurt & Whey is a beautiful homage to Iranian yogurt traditions—past, present, and future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393254532
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	03/07/2023
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	315,547
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Homa Dashtaki is the founder of the White Moustache. Her artisanal yogurt has garnered acclaim from the New York Times, Vogue, Bon Appétit, and Food & Wine. She was born in Iran and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

★ 02/20/2023

Dashtaki, founder of the White Moustache yogurt company, debuts with an edifying and delicious exploration of Zoroastrian cuisine and the many innovative uses of yogurt and its usually discarded by-product, whey. Whether taking center stage in recipes for labneh (“the creamy yogurt cheese you get from straining yogurt for a full day”) and kashk (“soured, dried yogurt balls that last for years”) or playing a supporting role in condiments (including whey-fermented kimchi), stews, rice, and meat dishes, the eponymous ingredients prove to be amazingly versatile. A lengthy and detailed introduction transports readers to the author’s homeland of Iran, stating that the collection connects her family, food, and business “across time and place.” This claim rings true, with dishes that will be less familiar to American palates, including fesenjan (“an ancient, celebratory stew”) and parsi sev (breakfast noodles), as well as some more familiar items such as blueberry muffins and pancakes. The thorough introduction to yogurt-making itself examines key decisions such as which milk to use and whether to strain. Dashtaki proves a skilled and thoughtful writer, and her reverence for the dishes she offers makes this a treat. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Truly one of a kind…[Yogurt & Whey] demands to be read, with stories both ancient and modern and fillips of fancifulness and humor: 'When combined with whey, not only does the cauliflower sing, it puts on a one-woman chorus line.'"

Barbara Jacobs

"If you want to up your yogurt game, this Iranian cookbook will show you the whey."

NPR - Diba Mohtasham

"I had tears in my eyes holding @homadash of @whitemoustacheyogurt’s immaculate cookbook…This book could not be more gorgeous & brilliant."

Porochista Khakpour

"Yogurt & Whey is ultimately a reminder of why cooking is so important: It’s a love letter to a minority culture with just about 15,000 to 20,000 members left in Iran, rooted in Dashtaki’s sense of responsibility to keep her community’s traditions alive."

Eater - Bettina Makalintal

"When it comes to yogurt, there is no greater authority than Homa Dashtaki. Dashtaki is the founder of White Moustache Yogurt, a Brooklyn-based yogurt brand crafting creamy and luxurious yogurt with traditional techniques. Her debut book features 100 recipes which use yogurt in both long-established and innovative techniques. The book chronicles Dashtaki’s path as an Iranian immigrant who became a yogurt entrepreneur after pursuing a career in law. In this book you’ll see yogurt transformed through new and old techniques that result in dishes like traditional Iranian ghormeh sabzi, or even tangy rum cocktails which are made with whey. This book is a love letter to Iran’s diasporic cooking traditions through yogurt, one of the most elemental ingredients."

Food & Wine - Lucy Simon

"[Dashtaki’s] movingly articulated sentiments and stories—and the recipes they’ve inspired—will have many of us absorbed."

|Los Angeles Times