Author Naz Deravian was just eight when she left Iran with her family during the Iranian Revolution. In the process of bouncing from Rome to Vancouver over the following decade, the family sought comfort in Persian meals that conjured memories of home, including aash (a soul-warming soup made with herbs, legumes, and grains), pomegranate and walnut chicken, and tahdig (the prized crunchy crust that forms on the bottom of the rice pot). Later, as an aspiring actress in Los Angeles, Deravian would call her mother to walk her through re-creating the dishes at home. Deravian went on to create an award-winning Persian cooking blog called Bottom of the Pot and recently published her debut cookbook of the same name. She’ll share stories and cooking secrets (perhaps how to achieve that perfectly crisp rice crust?) at Book Larder. by Julianne Bell