#145 Always in the Mood for Great Food - Masha Darabi, Moody Chai

Meaningful Marketplace Podcast

In the late 1980’s Mahsa Darabi’s family made the big immigration jump from Iran to Lake Oswego, Oregon, USA. That’s the real beginning of her company, The Moody Persian, because it was Mahsa’s heritage from Iran that she learned to fall back on and from which to draw both strength and happiness. As a Middle Easterner dropped into a very Western culture, she endured the slurs and laughter sent her way by those who saw her as different. At first this was humiliating to her, but then she found that clinging to her culture and background made her proud that she had a different point of view on life and that her point of view was warm and beautiful. And much of that culture revolved around succulent food shared at a big table with family, friends, singing and dancing. As Mahsa began cooking and sharing her Iranian dishes with others, the heckling and cat calling started to die down and the cultural gap began to evaporate. Once again, the power of sitting down together and sharing a meal broke down previous cultural barriers. Mahsa had another talent as it turned out. Starting at about 14 years old, she began acting in TV commercials and launched a budding modeling career. Yet again, she found her background “differences” – her facial and body features – that made her feel like an ugly duckling were considered exotic and exactly what modeling agencies look for. Then COVID rocked her life, cutting off her work and leaving her in terror for the health of her family, including the recent birth of their third child. This is where Mahsa turned again to the power of cooking and sitting down to a meal together. She didn’t want her daughters to Zoom away their day, so she started teaching them science, math and culinary arts. She had them all in the kitchen cooking and preparing meals and that made sitting down together afterward an even richer experience. Mahsa has always found the kitchen as the place where she could concentrate, and it was there that the idea for her company was born. She always liked being in front of the camera so she decided to share recipes on Instagram. Then, when assembling recipes to write a book, Mahsa remembered that there was usually some person who inspired her to create that recipe and put her into the mood to create that dish. The Moody Persian name was born. Also part of her Iranian/Persian culture is tea, and she drinks lots. Too much as it turned out, as she was getting the jitters from too much caffeine. So she looked for decaffeinated tea but did not like the taste and longed for the spices and richness of her home tea but without the caffeine. Back to the kitchen, Mahsa took a year of experimenting and came up with Moody Chai, which is available on her website. Mahsa has been a finalist on Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen. She’s also been a real estate agent, private chef, accidental influencer, and has enjoyed an enduring career as a model and actor in the Portland area for over 20 years. Website: https://www.moodypersian.com/. Social media: @moodychai @themoodypersian. Our hosts: Twitter - @sarahmasoni and @spicymarshall, Instagram - @masoniandmarshall.