Not surprisingly, his firecracker of a wife doesn’t take well to this attitude and eventually cracks, snapping his beloved tar in two and sending Khan to his bed, where he grows gloomy and frets. A man of taciturn demeanor and moodiness, Khan believes himself too much of an artist to perform non-creative labor he barely contributes to the household upkeep with either work or money.

Set for the most part in Tehran circa 1958, this graphic memoir tells the story of Nasser Ali Khan, a renowned master of the tar, an Iranian stringed instrument. It's still wickedly simple and good.Satrapi ( Embroideries, 2005, etc.) recalls the tragic final days of her great-uncle, an Iranian musician who died of a broken heart after his wife destroyed his favorite instrument. Just throw together some couscous and a simple salad, and my friends, you have a meal-even if it's not the Chicken with Plums dish that Marjane Satrapi writes about.

Otherwise, this is something you could make for dinner tonight.

One small surprising note, and one you might consider: if you use red-fleshed plums, rather than say green, the chicken will turn a little pinkish-purple. She simply slowly sautees chicken fillets or pieces, then adds the plums until they are softened, and serves with a plum jam sauce. (I used boneless breasts and bone-in thighs and a nectarine-plum jam.) This dish is more traditionally made with a whole chicken seasoned with crushed garlic, salt and pepper and then flattened with a weight however, Roden simplifies this recipe into one you can easily make on a weeknight (before a round of board games as we did with a pair of friends). Georgia, which borders Turkey in the northeast, is famous for its plums and its sour plum sauce ( tkemali). Instead, this particular offering of chicken with plums, according to Roden, is a Turkish speciality of Georgian origin. Indeed, this dish from Roden's cookbook does not have the same spices or tomatoes, so Satrapi may scoff that I mention this dish in the same sentence as the one written about in her own book.

Which is a shame because this particular dish is not the Iranian version, which I confess, I have scoured my current cookbooks and cannot find a recipe (a challenge: let me know if you know where to find Satrapi's version!).

Chicken with plums novel