The story behind why I created PÉRXICAN spice blend
Three years ago, the gorgeous Silver Lake building where I was hosting my Persian Supper + Salons in LA was sold and the new owners legally evicted the tenants, including me.
It was one of the most heart-breaking moments of my life because I was not only losing my affordable, rent-controlled home, but also the garage I had converted into my art studio, the outdoor space where I could host gatherings and the ability to continue my pop-up dinner series (featured in Eater LA).
When life gives you lemons, you make Persian Limonada
Given my budget for rent as a self-employed creative and LA’s escalating rent prices, what I could get for the same price as my former space was basically a bedroom inside of a shared home with others….which wasn’t going to work for me.
And so, I put all my belongings into storage and decided to go to a city I had never been to before but which had been calling my name like a mysterious and seductive siren: Mexico City.
What awaited me there would forever change the trajectory of my life and add even more layers to the already layered existence I had as an artist, cook and culture maker.
I spent the Fall of 2019 exploring the food, culture and people of Mexico City. Through one of my best friends and his husband, I met some of the city’s most interesting artists, gallery owners, designers and creatives. Through my own curiosity and appetite for culinary adventure, I met some of CDMX/s emerging chefs, food writers and restauranteurs. And because of my love of underground nightlife, I explored some of the city’s underground and subversive parties and events.
Connecting my Persian roots with my travels in Mexico
My explorations in Mexico City deserve their own post(s) but for now, let me get to the story of how this trip inspired the Persian-Mexican artistic spice blend I created in 2021 called PÉRXICAN. As I was navigating the bustling, colorful city streets of Roma Norte and Condessa, the two neighborhoods I spent most of my time in, I started to feel a vibe that I felt when I was a child walking thru the streets of Teheran.
Something about the tree-lined streets that gave a tranquil shade to a combination of both modern and Arabesque-style homes with their unassuming concrete walls and decorative iron gates took me back to Teheran, the city where I was born and spent the first four years of my life.
The smells of gasoline fumes and floral cleaning products mixed with that of onions and garlic frying and would waft into my nostrils as I headed out in the mornings to enjoy a cortado at a local cafe. I found myself back in the streets of Teheran, holding one of my parent’s hands as they walked me to preschool, stopping to get me a Persian orange-cardamom muffin (Cake Yazdi) on the way.
I also noticed that the architecture, graphics, posters and the overall design + creative vibe of the city reminiscent of the youthful and optimistic brilliance I saw in the pre-revolutionary design/art movements happening in Iran in the 1960’s and early 70’s.
I started to wonder if there were also any similarities in the foods and flavors of Persian and Mexican cuisine. Mexico has a long history of “Middle Eastern” culinary influence brought over first by the Spanish Conquistadors who colonized Mexico and whose own food was influenced by the Moors and Arab cultures; and then later with the immigration of Lebanese and Syrians in the 19th and early 20th century, resulting in some iconic dishes such as “Taco Al Pastor.”
But Persian cuisine is not the same as Arabic cuisine, though they share some similar cooking styles and ingredients. As far as I could tell, there had been minimal immigration or influence of Persian food and culture in Mexico and yet, everywhere around me I saw examples of how these two cultures would be a culinary and cultural marriage made in heaven.
And so, a couple years later, in the thick of the pandemic, I decided to take this time to make my tiny kitchen in the studio apartment I now called home my “spice lab” and start experimenting to figure out what the perfect marriage of spice and herbs from Mexican and Persian cultures would taste and look like.
My new home, which came to me as an unexpected blessing thanks to a dear friend who lives upstairs and gave me first dibs on her highly coveted rental unit, is in a highly Mexican/Latinx immigrant neighborhood of Highland Park in Los Angeles. I do not think this juxtaposition of me creating Persian food culture out of a Latinx neighborhood is a coincidence but instead, a nod and blessing from the culinary and culture goddesses and gods above.
The creation ofPÉRXICANspice mix allowed me to flex my culinary, design, art and storytelling muscles. The process of creating this layered seasoning that looks like art and has a label worthy of a designer perfume bottle is another talk show and I will write about that at another time.
For now what matters is that I birthed this gorgeous, aromatic, culturally-fluid food art project and now it is available for you to try and play around with in your own cooking. I call it an all-purpose seasoning because folks have been messaging me saying they literally use in all their dishes to boost the flavors of their cooking. I can tell you that I use this one bottle of seasoning as my own go-to for almost all of my everyday dishes as well.
What makes this so delicious and universally appealing? I have created an old-world, savory, aromatic blend that brings iconic Persian flavors like fenugreek, sumac and turmeric and enhances it with more smokey and peppery flavors of Mexican cuisine such as ancho chile peppers and smoked paprika. There are also herbs + spices that both cultures have in common such as cilantro and cumin, along with other spices that make this the most layered, delicious seasoning blend out there.
It has been a little over a year since I launched my Persian-Mexican, culturally-fluid spice blend! I love receiving messages and photos from folks who have given PÉRXICANa try and are sharing their feedback and rave reviews with me!
If you are curious to try my hand-crafted spice blend for yourself, I now offer it both in its original layered bottle form and a new pre-mixed refill bag. I make these aromatic spices to order and infuse my love of culture and connection into each bottle and bag.
You can order your spices right here in my online shop and you can always message me here with any questions.
