ORDERING some soya milk from her Iranian husband Jamshid to complete her decaf tea, flame-haired Sally Butcher settles into the battered sofa of her Persian food shop’s tiny office.

Above her colourful, patchwork-dungareed figure is a map labelled Veggiestan, stretching from the Middle East into Asia, the region that has influenced her cooking.

For the past 10 years, the Essex-born cook turned retailer has been exploring Persian cooking (and beyond) with help from her long-suffering mother-in-law Afsaneh.

“It’s taken perseverance to learn these lessons,” Butcher explains.

“She’s quite a reluctant teacher. I have to stand next to her and bombard her with questions.”

Her second cookbook Veggiestan is an ode both to this journey and her deep love of vegetables.

“In Iran, they’re very happy to make a dish out of one vegetable and not overcomplicate it. They’ve also got different ways of cooking them – and in general I find they work better,” she explains.

In Middle Eastern cooking, meat is regularly saved for special occasions, meaning that everyday veg preparation can often be more interesting.

Butcher’s recipes use eye-popping ingredients such as dried limes, rose water and harissa paste to blow life into her food.

“I’ve always eaten broccoli crunchy, al dente style," she says, recalling her first Iranian cooking revelation.

“I was merrily cutting up the florets and lobbing the stems into the bin, and my mother-in-law was horrified.

“She got them out of the bin, washed them off, and peeled the outside off, leaving the core to be served with salt. Apparently we throw away the best bit!”

Over the years, Butcher’s role in helping her customers buy the right ingredients at her London-based shop Persepolis has given her an insight into modern cooking habits.

“The core spices are turmeric, cardamom, cumin, coriander and saffron, which is very expensive at the moment but fairly important.”

Find some of Sally’s recipes below and visit foratasteofpersia.co.uk if you need to buy any ingredients.