Dinner
I had dinner with a colleague yesterday. He came over to the house where I am housesitting and made a feast. He is from Afghanistan, so he made a mountain of food the names of which I can not pronounce. There was a yogurt/sourcream/noodle soup, a spinach and lamb dish and a browned rice with chicken and vegetables (browned with burned sugar). (Normally I do not eat meat, but I made an exception) It was fabulous!
Haider, my colleague that was cooking, says that he feels most comfortable in the kitchen and it has been five months since he has been able to cook. Indeed, he is very serious about the kitchen (there is an Afghani expression: the kitchen makes the meal, the cook gets the credit), and he insisted on coming over to look over the place before agreeing to cook. What he found on his visit would determine what dishes he could make.
He was not very happy with the pot and pan selection. There was nothing big enough, we would have to limit the number of people. Then he decided that he would have to buy some more pots for the meal to be a success. He headed out but a few minutes later I discovered the stash of canning pots and other huge dishes. He came rushing back and declared while not perfect, the dishes would do. Still, we would have to limit the number to six.
We invited two additional colleagues, whose company I also really enjoy, so there was a total of four of us, a comfortable number considering the limited kitchen facilities.
We sat out in the back yard, a small brick patio surrounded by flowers and ate and talked. After the sun set, we broke out candles and continued to eat. Eventually the candles burned low, we turned into plump round content balls of Afghani food and retired for the night.
(As a side note, we had easily enough food for 20. We barely made a dent in the vast quantities and I have been eating it as left over for days!)
Haider, my colleague that was cooking, says that he feels most comfortable in the kitchen and it has been five months since he has been able to cook. Indeed, he is very serious about the kitchen (there is an Afghani expression: the kitchen makes the meal, the cook gets the credit), and he insisted on coming over to look over the place before agreeing to cook. What he found on his visit would determine what dishes he could make.
He was not very happy with the pot and pan selection. There was nothing big enough, we would have to limit the number of people. Then he decided that he would have to buy some more pots for the meal to be a success. He headed out but a few minutes later I discovered the stash of canning pots and other huge dishes. He came rushing back and declared while not perfect, the dishes would do. Still, we would have to limit the number to six.
We invited two additional colleagues, whose company I also really enjoy, so there was a total of four of us, a comfortable number considering the limited kitchen facilities.
We sat out in the back yard, a small brick patio surrounded by flowers and ate and talked. After the sun set, we broke out candles and continued to eat. Eventually the candles burned low, we turned into plump round content balls of Afghani food and retired for the night.
(As a side note, we had easily enough food for 20. We barely made a dent in the vast quantities and I have been eating it as left over for days!)
posted by JNA | 6:16 PM
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