The beautiful aspect about Afghan culture
is the formation of family and community life as one of the most important
intrinsic values of the Afghan society. We love to be around family and value traditions
that have been passed down to us by our Afghan parents and grandparents and other elder members. The afghan people have settled in different
parts of the world and yet are very much connected through the culture of its
people who reside outside Afghanistan. One of the biggest ways, Afghans have
kept their identity strong and alive even while living elsewhere is practicing and living in a community where
these same traditions are taught and practiced daily by members. The most
favorable tradition is food, as cuisine is used to maintain the national identity of Afghans throughout the world as a staple of our culture and traditions. My favorite family tradition is that of always
being around Afghan food when visiting family or Afghan friends. I love our 4-5
course meals served in gatherings, whether for one guest or 100 guests!
The first course of the Afghan meal for
house gatherings starts off with a light refreshments, such as tea and dry
fruit or baked goods. Depending on the weather or affinity of guests, a nice,
cold juice with fruit will be served until the rest of the guests arrive for
the meal. The meal can be served at lunch time or dinner. Breakfast is another
wonderful event!
The second course is the buffet! We love
our different options and freedom to choose what we eat and how much. Most
every buffet in an Afghan gathering will include rice in different varieties
and some kind of meat, beef, lamb, chicken, goat, maybe some fish, seasonal
vegetables and something most of us love in any form, bread or nan. The main difference between afghan food from
neighboring countries and culture is the use of particular spices and the
cooking process for each dish. Cumin is widely used in rice and meats such as
lamb and beef are steamed in a pressure cooker and seasoned with fresh blended
vegetables.
After the main
meal, comes course number three with green or black tea, sometimes even milk
tea (Sho Do Chai) paired with delicious sweets of homemade rice pudding,
freshly baked gourmet cookies, dried fruits and nuts, cheesecake, paneer
(cheese) and raisins.
This is really the time to relax with the
guests and family members and usually it is accompanied by music, a favorite
tv, show, dancing (if its in all women gathering) and is really the social part
of the evening as the hustle and bustle of the main course is done with and cleaned up and both hosts and guests can relax
and enjoy the company and atmosphere. Afghan people love to be around music and
laughter and lots of food at family celebrations and gatherings.
The fourth course
consists of seasonal fruits, cut up and arranged beautifully on a platter and
served in large decorative dishes and passed around for guests to help
themselves to large portions. Afghan people have a tendency to offer and give
and will consistently offer more tea, food, sweets to their guests even after they have refused.
For the guests who
like to stay late when visiting an Afghan home , the fifth course of tea and
sweets is brought out one last time to say our good byes and prepare for the
journey back to where we came from and end the visit with how it started :
kindness. One thing my friends always loved, especially my best friend in high
school, was that she knew to come to our home hungry and leave extra full! It is through cuisine and hospitality that Afghans have used in generations past and still practice that brings us together as one. The great
thing about afghan culture and its importance on hospitality is that it extends
to all from every culture.
Written by: Afghan
Wife
Afghan Food Pictures: www.instragram.com/afghanwife
