My biggest mistake of the Edinburgh fringe wasn’t mixing up its many venues, or underestimating the time to hotfoot between them. It was arriving at My English Persian Kitchen (Traverse, ★★★★) on an empty stomach. I regretted it as soon as I saw Isabella Nefar chopping and perfuming the air with onion, garlic and heady herbs.
Food transports you. Not always to places you want to go. As a woman prepares her beloved Iranian dish ash reshteh, she is ambushed by memories of the home she left to flee an abusive relationship. Recipe instructions such as “focus” and “timing is everything” become an escape plan, as she races to get out of the country before her partner cancels her passport.
