What if you could step into a story… not just by reading it, but by tasting it?
This rich, slow-cooked Persian stew—called fesenjān (fes-en-JOON)—has been served for centuries. With its deep pomegranate flavor and velvety walnut base, it’s the kind of dish that feels like it carries stories in every bite.
And in this case… it actually does.
Featured in the novels New Star and Survival Secrets by Lana Christian, this beloved dish plays a small but meaningful role in the life of a character named Akilah—adding depth, culture, and a sense of home to her story.
A Dish Rooted in History
Fesenjān is a traditional Persian stew that originated in the lush Gilan province of northern Iran—a region known for its abundance of pomegranate and walnut trees.
Those ingredients aren’t just background details. They are the dish.
- Walnuts create a rich, velvety base
- Pomegranate molasses adds a deep, tangy sweetness
- Duck or poultry brings savory depth
The result? A slow-cooked stew that feels both comforting and complex—much like the stories it accompanies.
More Than a Meal: A Celebration
This dish is often served during Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which marks the first day of spring and begins on the vernal equinox (March 20 or 21).
Nowruz is a time of renewal, reflection, and fresh beginnings.
Which makes it especially fitting that this stew appears in stories centered on perseverance, faith, and transformation.
A Dish with Many Stories
Like a good novel, fesenjān has many variations.
Some cooks use:
- Chicken, turkey, or even quail instead of duck
- A touch of tomato paste (a more modern twist)
- Slight adjustments in sweetness or tang
Every version tells its own story—just like every reader experiences a book a little differently.
Bring the Story to Your Table
If you’re the kind of reader who loves to fully immerse yourself in a story, this is your invitation.
Step into Akilah’s world.
Savor the flavors she loves.
And experience a small, meaningful piece of Persian culture right from your own kitchen.
There’s something quietly beautiful about gathering around a meal—whether in a novel or in real life. It reminds us that stories aren’t just meant to be read… they’re meant to be lived, shared, and remembered.
Or at the very least… eaten. 😉
Read the Books (click on book cover images to purchase on Amazon)
A star rises. Faith is tested.
In ancient Persia, knowledge is power, and Akilah has spent his life earning both. As a respected priest-scholar among the Magi, his future is secure, his reputation unquestioned. Then a star appears where no star should be.
It isn’t recorded in any Persian almanac.
It isn’t explained by Magi doctrine.
It appears only in Jewish prophecy.
Drawn into forbidden texts and unsettling truths, Akilah finds himself standing at the intersection of science, faith, and politics, where asking the wrong question can cost everything. When whispers of an eternal king ignite fear within Persia’s ruling powers, Akilah becomes a liability. Branded a threat, imprisoned for crimes he did not commit, and hunted by those desperate to preserve control, he is forced into a journey far beyond the safety of his charts and calculations.
As danger follows him across borders and belief systems collide, Akilah must confront a truth that will dismantle everything he thought he understood—about God, about power, and about himself. The knowledge he carries could upend Magi society forever… but believing it may cost him his career, his freedom, and his life.
Read the first 3 chapters for FREE
Faith is tested in the wilderness.
Hunted by Herod’s forces and others who fear what the Magi know about Yeshua, Akilah and his companions flee into the Wilderness of Paran—a land as merciless as the enemies pursuing them. To reach Egypt’s safety, his caravan must survive the elements and the strain of maintaining their anonymity while protecting the many secrets that jeopardize their lives.
But the greatest danger isn’t the wilderness.
Bound by their shared knowledge of Yeshua, the group carries a truth powerful enough to upend empires yet tenuous enough to fracture their resolve. When calamity tears one Wise Man away from the others, the group’s newfound faith start to crumble. Faith once sparked by wonder is now tested by hardship and the silence of unanswered prayers.
Farther from their goal of returning to Persia than ever before, Akilah encounters Yeshua’s family again. Its ramifications raise the stakes for the Magi’s cost of belief in the Hebrew God.
Meanwhile, two thousand miles away, Akilah’s estranged cousin Farzaneh begins her own dangerous search for truth, uncovering secrets her husband carried to the grave after embracing the Hebrew faith.
Survival Secrets is a gripping continuation of the Magi’s journey. As they struggle to return home while facing an uncertain future, costly obedience replaces the early awe of their belief—underscoring that faith doesn’t travel in a straight line, endurance is often learned in the wilderness, and trust rests with an unfathomable, sovereign God.
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