Welcome to NurtureNosh, I’m Hasti!🌻
NurtureNosh is my food blog where I share wholesome, from-scratch, family-centred, nutritious recipes.
I live in Sydney, Australia with my lovely husband, where we take care of our little backyard homestead. I started this blog in the final year of my philosophy PhD as a way to share my passion for cooking cultural dishes from my Persian heritage and my husband’s Balkan (Serbian) heritage, baking from-scratch desserts, making nourishing soups, and quick and easy weeknight dinners (it amazes me how creatively I can whip up a speedy dinner when I’ve been studying all day and lose track of time!).
I also love to share sourdough recipes and traditional foods, as well as homestead kitchen skills like fermenting, eating nose-to-tail, and using bioavailable, whole food ingredients.
Watching my mum cook with her heart and soul when I was young, with what little we had, and cooking incredibly delicious feasts for our family showed me what it means to nurture others with food. But one thing was a constant – we always ate healthy, nourishing food.
Often my mum (and my dad) would chase me and my older brothers to eat something purely because it was good for us (bokhor, badbakht!). And often, that would be followed by them listing the health or nutritional benefits (It’s good for your hormones! It’s good for your thyroid! It’s good for your digestion!)😅
But as these things usually turn out, I have fully become my parents, since I now chase my husband around spouting off the nutritional benefits of bone broth, beef tallow, organ meats, or fermented goods. I truly believe food can be the cause, prevention, and cure for many health problems we face today.
That’s why I’m a big fan of cooking nutrient-dense foods. This means avoiding ultra-processed ingredients, and seeking whole foods and ancestral sources of nutrition that contain essential amino acids, healthy fats, bio-available sources of protein, and all the vitamins and minerals that form the building blocks of strong, healthy bodies!
This is one of the reasons I adopt an animal-based, nose-to-tail way of eating most of the time. However, I used to be strict carnivore, high-fat keto, and at one point was vegan – but I’ve created recipes to cater to all. That’s because everyone deserves to create something beautiful and delicious, regardless of food choice!
When I’m not working on my latest recipe, I’m either whittling away at my PhD project, or teaching philosophy at university. I also love hiking with my husband (pictured above is me VERY high up on a hiking trail at Mimosa Rocks in New South Wales), camping, hitting the gym, and gardening (I’m a certified horticulturalist)! I wanted to be a musician when I was younger (now I just host one-woman concerts in the comfort of my kitchen😎), love burying my face in a book, and am utterly obsessed with The Lord of the Rings. I could probably recite the entire trilogy screenplay and film score off by heart – just ask my husband!
I also love tending to our beautiful chickens, ducks, quails, and bees who provide us with delicious, free-range eggs and raw honey. I’m happy that we can give these gorgeous creatures a good life, where they can forage for bugs, dust-bathe, and enjoy the sunshine!
What You’ll Find On NurtureNosh
On my blog, you’ll find traditional recipes honouring my Persian heritage (many of which I learned from my mother – whose cooking should be world-famous, I think!), and my husband’s Balkan (Serbian) heritage. Some of the recipes will be useful during various seasons in the Eastern Orthodox fasting calendar like Lent, as well as Christmas, Slava (a Serbian holiday honouring your patron saint), or any mehmooni (a Persian word referring to any gathering or party!)
You’ll also find dishes with punchy, bold flavours, like this Lebanese lemon garlic chicken inspired by Al-Aseel…
…or these sticky coconut chilli prawns that take just 20 minutes to make..
…or these Turkish poached eggs on a bed of garlic labneh, dusted with sumac, fresh mint and dill…
No bland food around here!
I share the basics of sourdough, from making your own sourdough starter…
…to your very first homemade loaf of sourdough bread…
…to making fluffy sourdough discard pancakes!
I also share traditional foods and homestead kitchen skills like how to render your own beef tallow, and how to make homemade beef bone broth.
And since I am a huge fan of nose-to-tail eating, I have created recipes using organ meats that are both nutrient-dense and delicious, like this Thai chicken larb with giblets!
Many of my recipe notes will relate to nutritional information, based off of my own personal research into nutrition, and gaining a deeper understanding of food and metabolic health.
In any case, I hope there is something here for you, and that you nurture yourself and your loved ones with good quality nosh made with your heart and soul! xxx
Meet Piccola and Kustard!
Oh, and here are our girls – Piccola (our sweet, gentle-natured chihuahua) and Kustard (our affectionate and quirky sphinx!). When Piccola is not sitting patiently by my feet waiting for a tasty morsel while I’m cooking, or Kustard isn’t burying herself under a mountain of blankets to keep warm, they are cuddled up together, playing, or making us laugh with their antics – and yes, they are the bestest of friends!
