Afghan National Dish

When I worked in Sunnyvale, California, there was a fabulous restaurant that we used to frequent for lunch. It was called Kabul, and it served delicious Afghan food full of lamb and sweet spices that still makes me salivate just thinking about it. In reading The Kite Runner, I was reminded of those dishes and felt a certain connection with Hussain as he described enjoying the same rich stews and rice dishes I remembered enjoying. I often wonder about the restaurant owners and staff of Kabul and whether their history is close to those of the families in the book.

In last month's issue of Saveur, Jennifer Bourguignon traveled to Afghanistan and found among the people a longing for the familiar foods of their childhood to reconnect them with their heritage and the national pride that had been thwarted during decades of strife and oppression first by the Soviet Union and then under the Taliban. Many families who had fled Afghanistan returned to their homeland after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, and they, like most of us, find that sharing a meal of simple, but delicious comfort foods gives them the sense of togetherness they crave. I am going to make the Quabili Pilau this week and share it with my own family.