Donia Bijan

Author/chef Donia Bijan talks about her book Maman’s Homesick Pie on May 6

by Roberta Roth on May 4, 2012

Maman's Homesick Pie by Donia Bijan

Menlo Park author and chef Donia Bijan will discuss her book, Maman’s Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen on Sunday, May 6, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at the Menlo Park Council Chambers, 701 Laurel Street.  Part memoir/part cookbook, Ms. Bijan uses the language of food to tell her story, and to honor her mother from whom she learned to cook and to follow her dreams.

The author shares her memories of growing up in Iran, her family’s departure due to the Iranian Revolution of the 1970s, her teenage years in the United States, her culinary studies at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and her life as a successful chef in the San Francisco Bay Area. No matter how far she traveled from home, it was her mother who helped her find her way.

“I’ll be talking about my mother and the ways in which she gave me the courage to chase my dreams, take chances, and make my work,” says Donia. “I’ll also talk about her role in the women’s rights movement in Iran prior to the Islamic regime and how many, like her — unheralded heroes of an entire generation of Iranian American women — lost everything and built a new sense of place for their children. To conclude, I’ll use examples such as the film A Separation to view Iran through the lens of culture and history rather than war and aggression as a means to bridge the divide and override the rhetoric of politicians.”

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing after the talk.  Donia plans to prepare sweet pleasures from her own original recipes for the event.

The program is free and open to the public — no reservations are required. Free wheelchair accessible van service is available for Menlo Park seniors and people with disabilities.  Call 330-2512 for van reservations.

Photo by Gillian Bostock

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Donia Bijan: Chef turns writer with publication of Maman’s Homesick Pie

by Linda Hubbard Gulker on October 4, 2011

Donia Bijan holding her new book, Maman's Homesick PIe

Locals who remember Donia Bijan best from her decade at the helm of L’Amie Donia in downtown Palo Alto might be a bit surprised to hear two of the three things that sustain her now that she’s been away from the restaurant business seven years.

“To stay balanced, I have to swim, I have to cook, and I have to write,” she said, recently over a lunch at her Menlo Park home.

Swimming happens in the company of other people early in the morning under the auspices of Tim Sheeper’s Menlo Masters program at Burgess Pool. “With Tim, every workout is new,” she said. “It keeps me sane.”

The cooking she does today is mainly for husband Mitchell Johnson and their son Luca. “I shop almost daily because I don’t necessarily have the vision to know what I’m going to make days ahead,” she said. “Both Mitchell and Luca are meat lovers, so I think of creative ways to use meat but in very small qualities.”

But we hadn’t come to her home to talk swimming or cooking. Instead, over a shared meal, we were there to learn about her first book Maman’s Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen due out October 11, which will coincide with an appearance at Kepler’s that evening at 7:00 pm. While we enjoyed lunch, she talked about how writing wasn’t really new to her:

“Any time I wrote a menu, I was writing. The menus were far more than a list of ingredients in a particular dish. I wanted the daily menu to read like poetry without being overly sentimental or floral.  A well thought out dish considers everything, just like a well thought out sentence.

“I always wanted to write. I may have put it on the back burner for a long time. When my Mom died, it gave me the impetus to start. I was writing because I was flocked with memories. For me it was a way of having her stay a little bit longer.”

Lunch served by Donia Bijan

Donia’s parents fled Iran with their children during the Islamic revolution in 1978. “I had to imagine a bit what it felt for them to be exiled and start from square one,” she said. “The recipes I found in my Mom’s home were what we would think of as American food — brownies, casseroles, banana bread. It made her anxious not being tuned into the flavors of this nation.

“But she never really left behind the Persian culture, which values food and bringing family together. Everything revolves around your meal time. You have to always be ready for a party.”

Donia admits that her parents weren’t initially supportive when, during her junior year at Cal, she changed her major from pre-med to French and began to think of a career heading a kitchen. “I knew way before that I was going to be chef,” she recalled. “But I couldn’t say the word. My mother was the kind of person who believed if you’re going to do something, do it right. So after graduation, off to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris I went.”

Maman’s Homesick Pie mixes remembrances and recipes from her Mom, her French training, and her years at L’Amie Donia. “I started out just putting the memories down, thinking about my parents and what they had been through” Donia said.

Later in the fall, on Nov. 16, Donia will be holding a cooking class at Draegers centered around Thanksgiving. “The beginning of the book alludes to the importance of Thanksgiving,” she said. “It was so important to my Mom to do it right.”

Photos by Gillian Bostock

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