Sabrina Ghayour has gone from running a supper club to inspiring them. Her first cookbook, Persiana, a selection of recipes from the Middle East and beyond, was based in part on what she cooked at her gatherings in west London, but the reaction since it was published in May has floored her: On any given weekend I get up to 200 tweets, Facebook messages and emails from people around the world picturing whole feasts of Persiana dishes, she says. When it first happened it was overwhelming. I was like, OK, I think I need to lie down.
Persiana was on the bestseller lists for nine weeks, with Ghayour putting its success down to the recipes being rooted in what Id been doing at home making Middle Eastern food accessible to me. I didnt want to write the traditional Middle Eastern book. Its been written a million times before by more authentic people, with experience that I cant match.
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