Standard issue for all women. Oh, hello and welcome to the Tuesday podcast. It's Mickey, and I guess I better tell you about what else is happening before we crack on with this episode's feast.

Jen's chat with Poet Lenn Penny is already available and is a delight, so do get that in your ears.

Tomorrow, we all just want to dance as we rate or date Billy Elliot.

And on Thursday, Hannah and I will be bringing you the news in the Bush Telegraph. God, help us.

But right now, let's chat food, glorious food. Not only does it sustain and nourish us as individuals,

it also has the power to bring together

communities, cross borders and merge cultures. When Atusa's Sapaer fled an abusive marriage in

Iran, she found herself alone and lonely in London, and then she started cooking, the Persian

dishes she created, providing an anchor to the home she missed and forging

friendships in the one she was creating. In the play My English Persian Kitchen, a twosar

story is brought to the stage by writer Hannah Khalil, chronicling one woman's quest to start

again. But unlike most theatre, it's not just food for thought. It's food for faces too, because during the one woman show, actress Isabella Nafar cooks Arsh, a Persian noodle and herb soup, hugely popular in Iran, and then shares the dish with the audience.

I caught with Atusa and Hannah to talk about the power and joy of food, finding community,

and how the hell you fit a recipe into a stage play.

My English Persian Kitchen is on at Soho Theatre from September 30th to October the 11th

before travelling to Bristol, Dublin and Belfast.

Tickets available from the Soho Theatre website.

Hello, I'm joined by a double whammy of excellent women.

Welcome to standard issue, cookery author Atusa Sapir.

Hello, Atusa.

Hi, hello.

And welcome back, award-winning playwright Hannah Kalil.

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