The book includes some of her own recipes, too.

“When I talk about the ratatouille that I made in Paris," she says, "it was also a natural transition from describing how nervous I was that my father was going to come and visit me in Paris, and I wanted to show off really what I had learned, and I bungled the whole thing.”

Bijan is a regular customer of the date farmer who comes weekly to the farmers’ market in San Francisco. She uses his dates to make Cinnamon Date Bars.

“I remember that there was a similar cookie that my mother would buy for me," she says. "She was a member of parliament and the district was in the center of Iran where they specialize in these date cookies. She would go away to visit her district and I would miss her so much. And she would come back, slowly take this box out of her purse and hand it to me. Everything was forgiven in that moment. Her absence was forgiven.”

Bijan, who hopes readers will try some of the recipes, says Persian dishes are not as difficult to make as they might seem. All it takes is patience and practice.