Product Description

For the inhabitants of the damp little Irish town of Ballinacroagh, the repertoire of gastronomic delights has never extended farther than the limp meals of the local inn's carvery. But things are about to change when the beautiful Aminpour sisters - Marjan, Bahar and Layla - arrive, determined to share the magic of their kitchen with the friendly locals. Opening Babylon Cafe, right in the heart of town, they begin serving up traditional Persian dishes and soon the townsfolk is lured to the new premises by the tantalizing aroma of fresh herb kuku, lamb abgusht and elephant ear fritters, washed down with gallons of jasmine tea from the old samovar. Not everyone welcomes the three women with open arms, though. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, as they say, and the women of Ballinacroagh want their men back. Filled with recipes, mouth-watering fragrances and mysterious spices, "Pomegranate Soup" is a heart-warming tale of romance, friendship and exotic food.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75631 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Synopsis
For the inhabitants of the damp little Irish town of Ballinacroagh, the repertoire of gastronomic delights has never extended farther than the limp meals of the local inn's carvery. But things are about to change when the beautiful Aminpour sisters - Marjan, Bahar and Layla - arrive, determined to share the magic of their kitchen with the friendly locals. Opening Babylon Cafe, right in the heart of town, they begin serving up traditional Persian dishes and soon the townsfolk is lured to the new premises by the tantalizing aroma of fresh herb kuku, lamb abgusht and elephant ear fritters, washed down with gallons of jasmine tea from the old samovar. Not everyone welcomes the three women with open arms, though. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, as they say, and the women of Ballinacroagh want their men back. Filled with recipes, mouth-watering fragrances and mysterious spices, "Pomegranate Soup" is a heart-warming tale of romance, friendship and exotic food.

From the Publisher
'Glorious, daring and delightful' -- Adriana Trigiani

From the Back Cover
'Glorious, daring and delightful ... Ireland has never been more beautiful, the perfect setting for this story filled with humour, hope and possibility' Adriana Trigiani

For the little Irish town of Ballinacroagh, the repertoire of gastronomic delights has never extended farther than the limp meals of the local inn’s carvery. But things are about to change when the beautiful Aminpour sisters – Marjan, Bahar and Layla – arrive, determined to share the magic of their kitchen with the friendly locals. Opening Babylon Café right in the heart of town, they begin serving up traditional Persian dishes and, soon enough, the townsfolk follows the tantalizing aroma of fresh herb kuku, lamb abgusht and elephant ear fritters, washed down with gallons of jasmine tea from the old samovar.

Well, most of the townsfolk. Not everyone welcomes the three women with open arms – some of the older matrons fear for their husbands; the mayor wants their property for a disco and his foul-mouthed son has his eyes on Layla ...
A heart-warming and hilarious tale of romance, friendship and exotic food, filled to the brim with recipes, mouth-watering fragrances and mysterious spices.

Customer Reviews

Truly Scrumptious
A tasty adventure in Iranian cuisine, cultural exchange and integration. The location of the Babylon Café in the story, is Ballinacroagh, County Mayo, Ireland. The three mysterious Aminpour sisters, Majar, Layla, and Bihar, take over and renovate a decaying Italian pastry shop in the Mall. Exotic eastern décor, samovars and tea, with tempting delicacies the like of which, the inhabitants of this backwater town have never seen or tasted before. The range of quirky Irish characters, is somewhat reminiscent of Gabriel Chevalier's satirical Chloshemerle novels, and even better for being different. The three sister's unexpected presence in the town, creates a stir of curiosity, assumptions, and gossip. This delightful frequently amusing story, presents a lively, truly scumptious read.

Persian/Irish Chocolat
This book is similar in style to Joanne Harris Chocolat. It is a delicious read! Through this story you meet three sisters who have escaped from the revolution in Iran in the days of the Shah. It deals with their "civilising" of the residents of a backwoods town in Ireland through their opening of The Babylon Cafe. There are a wonderful array of characters who fall under their charm through their delicious meals.

"giving flavor to yet another pot of pomegranate soup"
Set in 1986, Pomegranate Soup is a beguiling story of what happens when the exotic smells of the East meet the stodgy, suspicion-laden people of the West. When three Iranian sisters arrive in the small, sheltered village of Ballinacroagh, in Western Ireland, they are faced with almost insurmountable obstacles as they struggle to make a new life for themselves.

Marjan, Bahar, and Layla managed to escape the shah's religious revolution in 1970's Iran, "a revolutionary feast that had gone on far too long." After living in London for a couple of years they have come to Ballinacroagh to achieve one of their life's dreams and also to escape the ghosts of their past.

Using their cooking skills, along their ineffable desire to bring something of their heritage to the local townsfolk, the newcomers open the Babylon Café on a site that has been "deserted and collecting dust" since the death, five years before of Luigi Delmonico, the Italian baker who once owned it.

Having befriended Luigi's widow, Estelle, the sisters are invited to bring new life to the small bistro and soon the Main Mall, the center of the quaint little village begins to exude scents of cinnamon and rosewater, and onions cooking in tightly clenched fists and drops of blood blooming into full-blown roses.

Of course, not all the townsfolk are happy with the new arrivals. Although the local priest Father Mahoney immediately comes under the spell of the Aminpour sisters' delightful cooking, viscous gossip abounds, spread by the puritanical Dervla Quigley who views the new café as "a nasty streak of foreignness," producing wicked, tingling sensations that taunt the severely religious woman's ingrained sense of decency.

Thomas McGuire, the town's enterprising publican and local bully, is also full of animosity. He resents the Aminpours for taking over a prime piece of real estate he has coveted since the original shop closed. Obsessed with seventies disco music, Thomas wanted to turn the café into a dance club. He sees the sisters as devilish and thinks there's "something very wrong about a smell so strong."

Thomas had been suffering under the strains of unfulfilled dreams; he has wrongly compensated for his failures by steamrolling and manipulating everyone in his path. To him, the sisters are nothing but "fechin' foreigners, laying their filthy paws in what was rightful his."

The mistrust instigated by Thomas and Dervla initially reverberates throughout the town, but the gossip, if not silenced, is ignored; and the sisters find allies among the town's colorful residents. However, no sooner, are they open for business and doing well, than their traumatic past life in Iran threatens to come back and haunt them.

Unspeakable events have left indelible scars on the girls. Bahar is forever looking over her shoulder for fear that she stepped on cracks or wondered under a ladder, her nervousness escalating into a deeper malaise in recent years. She blames herself that they are stuck in some mean little village at the end of the world, "with nothing but cooking burns and the stink of fried onions to look forward to."

However, Layla is the inspiration for them all, encouraging lust in younger men and youthful dreams in their older counterparts. Marjan is also a pillar of strength for the women, working her magic over both men and women in a more practical, yet equally intriguing manner. One taste of Marjan's food and most "not only start dreaming but also actually contemplate doing."

Author, Marsha Mehran has written a delightful first novel full of the seductive qualities of food. Weaving elements of magical realism into the narrative, she shows that food cannot only bring cultures together, but also stem the evil tide of prejudice and mistrust.

The glint of the samovar and the sensuous wafts of cardamom, cinnamon and rosewater gradually seduce the people of Ballinacroagh, while giving the Aminpour sisters friends in the most unlikeliest of places and a home where they can finally feel safe. For them, the Babylon Café eventually becomes their own Hanging Gardens of Babylon, their own small slab of paradise. Mike Leonard August 05.