{"id":1774,"date":"2012-05-06T20:39:51","date_gmt":"2012-05-07T01:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/?p=1774"},"modified":"2012-07-07T11:46:56","modified_gmt":"2012-07-07T16:46:56","slug":"a-is-for-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2012\/05\/a-is-for-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"A is for Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Recently, I said to my guy that I think that it would be cool to go through\u00a0list of countries<\/a> and cook food from each of these countries, in alphabetical order. He did not look at me like I am from a different planet. I love that man.<\/p>\n

Anyway, it seemed to me like this might be a way to indulge a few things that make me happy like cooking, trying new things, and doing a little research. This isn’t the kind of project I think will happen in a year, but a more long-term thing.<\/p>\n

Part of the point of this exercise is to think about what comes to mind when I think of different places in the world. I’ve never, clearly, been to Afghanistan<\/a>, nor have I wanted to go, nor have I had any particular interest in the place, but thinking about trying to cook some Afghan food made me realize that, yes, there are things that come up when I open my mental Afghanistan file.<\/p>\n

Of course, the war in Afghanistan comes to mind. Taliban is probably the second word that just pops up in my mind.\u00a0The Kite Runner<\/a>\u00a0is right up there. Then I think I’m done until I remember that there is a group called the \u00a0Afghan Whigs<\/a>. There is the famous\u00a0National Geographic<\/a>\u00a0photo of a young afghan girl taken in Pakistan. And finally, I think about an\u00a0article I read somewhat recently about opium<\/a>, again, from National Geographic.<\/p>\n

There is something about this, that both of the pair of things that I read come from National Geographic that stands out here. I don’t know just what I feel about it. \u00a0Maybe it’s just that there’s something about National Geographic that feels intrusively voyeuristic to me. How is it, though, that we are to learn about the world that is outside of our own? Here, I have decided to try to learn something about the world through cooking food that originates or is inspired by places around the globe.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of the first things I needed to learn was the proper way to refer to food from this region. How humbling it is to start a project confronted with the knowledge that I didn’t know the answer to the afghan v. afghani<\/a> question. So, I looked it up. Then I learned that the answer is afghan.<\/p>\n

As a part of Project Afghanistan, I decided to make Chicken Kabuli Pulao<\/a>, Potato Slices with Chutney<\/a>, and for dessert Cardamom Pistachio Fudge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Naturally, when trying this food, I was reduced to comparing this to food with which I was already familiar. \u00a0I was reminded of a Pakistani biryani<\/a>, I recently made when I made the main dish. The other thing that I noticed right away was that linguistically, the word pulao reminded me of the word pelau. I am familiar with pelau as a West Indian rice dish. I decided to investigate further, reaching for my handy The New Food Lover’s Companion<\/a>\u00a0after I found a pretty bare bones Wikipedia <\/a>\u00a0article on the topic.\u00a0However, the food companion didn’t lead me to a straight answer. Then I found this<\/a>, and concluded that pilaf, pelau, pilau, pulau, etc. are all cousins.<\/p>\n

This food was simultaneous like and \u00a0unlike other foods I’m familiar with. I was reminded of Indian food, but have eaten nothing that tastes exactly like this in an Indian restaurant except the chutney that went with the potatoes. That very much reminded me of the chutneys \u00a0I can’t get enough of when I go to eat Indian food. Then I think to myself that I should make some, then I never do. Projects make you grow, people!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, there was the fudge. I am not sure that I executed this recipe properly. My fudge appeared to set up nicely, however, it was very messy when I tried to cut it into squares. This triggered a food memory as well. It made me think of the pecan candy that my Louisiana grandma \u00a0(well, both of them are Louisiana grandmas…) used to make. I think that it is the combination of the sugar and nuts that made me think of her pralines. That was an interesting experience, making food from an unfamiliar part of the world to ultimately finish it reminded of my own grandma.<\/p>\n

Trying new things can be funny like that.<\/p>\n

I look forward to seeing what Albania<\/a> has to teach me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, I said to my guy that I think that it would be cool to go through\u00a0list of countries and cook food from each of these countries, in alphabetical order. He did not look at me like I am from a different planet. I love that man. Anyway, it seemed to me like this might… Continue reading A is for Afghanistan<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13],"tags":[188,186],"class_list":["post-1774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cooking","tag-afghanistan","tag-world-cooking","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p33KTw-sC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2280,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2013\/04\/cooking-this-weekend\/","url_meta":{"origin":1774,"position":0},"title":"Cooking this weekend","author":"admin","date":"April 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1839,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2012\/07\/andorra\/","url_meta":{"origin":1774,"position":1},"title":"Andorra","author":"admin","date":"July 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I never dated an Andorran. 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The quiet, unsung magazine in my collection, though is Cooking Light. These are tasty, yet reasonable recipes. You pretty much know when you peruse the pages that you won't be in a situation where you feel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "cooking"","block_context":{"text":"cooking","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/category\/cooking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/DSCN1623-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":360,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2010\/02\/in-the-kitchen\/","url_meta":{"origin":1774,"position":4},"title":"In the kitchen","author":"admin","date":"February 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes something happens in the kitchen that etches itself on your mind never to be forgotten. Like, you know, hypothetically, you make risotto in someone's kitchen for the first time. And your masterpiece turns out just as you hoped it would. 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