Valley Persians greet their new year

For the past week, customers have streamed in and out of Anissa Obaidi’s grocery store in south Scottsdale to buy sweets, sour oranges, fish and anything else they need to properly ring in the new year — Persian style.

Monday marks the first day of norouz, the 13-day celebration of the Persian new year, an ancient holiday that honors the coming of spring.

“This is the first day after winter. The darkness is gone — that is norouz,” said Effie Stein, who helped Obaidi run the Rose Market, 2515 N. Scottsdale Road, during the busy week before the holiday.

“This is not about the religion or anything, this is Persian celebration about spring, flowers, life beginning and starting all over again,” said Maryam Manocheh of Scottsdale. “Jewish, Baha’i, Christian, Muslim, they all live in Iran and they all celebrate it.”

The holiday, with roots in a Zoroastrian festival for the vernal equinox, has been celebrated in the Persian region for more than 2,500 years.

“The interesting thing about this new year is that it is celebrated at the same time everywhere around the world, so it’s not like the new year here, where it is always at 12 o’clock,” said Nima Shahidi, an Iranian engineer who lives in Chandler.

Iranians in the East Valley will ring in the new year at exactly 11:25 a.m. Monday.

A few days before norouz, families decorate the “haft seen,” a table holding at least seven objects, all beginning with the letter “s” in the Persian alphabet, each with symbolic meanings for things like health and love.

“We make sure we sit around the table and take a picture at exactly the time they say is the new year,” Manocheh said.

Other customs include building small fires — her friends do one in their tennis court — and jumping over them, while saying a phrase that roughly translates to asking the fire to take away sickness and give health.

There are other traditions, too, like spring cleaning, giving brand-new money to children and buying new clothing.

CELEBRATING IN AMERICA

In the East Valley, hundreds of members of the Persian community attend celebrations in local parks in Scottsdale, Tempe and Fountain Hills.

More Iranians live in Scottsdale than in any other city in the East Valley, most in the northern stretches of the city, Obaidi said.

In the days before and after the new year, people visit family members bearing small sweets such as chickpea cookies and baklava.

Shahidi, whose family lives in Tehran, said he knows many Iranian co-workers at Intel with whom he will celebrate instead.

As will many local Iranians, he plans on dining at the Persian Room restaurant in north Scottsdale. Owner Nasser Nikkhahmanesh said this time of year is one of his busiest.

Many families come to eat sabzy polo with fish, a traditional meal of fried fish served with saffron rice and green herbs, he said.

“That’s customary for the night before the new year,” Nikkhahmanesh said. “But because I am a bit fanatical about healthy food, I put the same fish broiled, instead of fried.”

Want to try something Persian?

• Mashti Malone — Ice cream, sold in cartons or between wafers, includes such ingredients as rosewater, saffron and pistachios. One of the most popular items at the Rose Market, said owner Anissa Obaidi.

• Packages of cookies — Baked in Los Angeles, are made of saffron, chickpeas and pistachios. The tiny cookies go great with a cup of black tea, also available at the store, Obaida said.

• Mahi Sabzi Polo — A customary norouz dish of white fish and herbed rice, served in Scottsdale at The Persian Room, 17040 N. Scottsdale Road. A version with salmon is available at Scottsdale Kabob, 4233 N. Scottsdale Road.

The “haft seen”: Persian families display ceremonial tables with seven articles, each beginning with the letter “s” in the Persian alphabet. Each object has a symbolic meaning.

Wheat sprouts growing in a dish: Rebirth

Sweet pudding: Affluence

Dried lotus fruit: Love

Garlic: Medicine

Apples: Beauty and health

Sumac: Sunrise and goodness

Vinegar: Age and patience