Women in Panjshir teach Afghan cuisine

Published Oct. 7, 2008
By 1st Lt. Lory Stevens
Task Force Warrior Public Affairs Office

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan -- The Panjshir Director of Women's Affairs, Miriam Panjshiri, and her sister, Nasrene, hosted the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Woman's Affairs team for a time of fellowship and an Afghan cooking class Oct. 2.

The Woman's Affairs team works closely with Panjshiri and Nasrene, who cooks for all the meetings.

"A few months ago I asked Nasrene if she could teach us how to cook some normal everyday Afghan food, and both she and Miriam loved the idea," said Maj. Jillian Torango, Panjshir PRT Woman's Affairs Liaison.

"The important thing to note about this day of fellowship is that it was during Eid," said Torango, explaining the honor of being invited into an Afghan home during one of the biggest celebrations of the year.

Eid, the Festival of Fast-Breaking, occurs at the end of the month of Ramadan. Muslims throughout the world observe a joyous three-day holiday and celebration, visiting family and friends and giving gifts.

Staff Sgt. Michelle Cooper, services superintendent, and Tech. Sgt. Dawn Tiemann, a medical technician, accompanied Torango to the home of Panjshiri for the special holiday meal.

Expensive rice, not found in Panjshir, but found quite a distance away, as well as roma tomatoes and jalapeno peppers were prepared and served, impressing Cooper, who has no access to these items in her position at the PRT.

Nasrene walked the Soldiers through her backyard and garden where she grows many of her own vegetables. Cooper said he was fascinated to learn Afghanistan has a version of the American pumpkin, sweet like a pumpkin, yet resembling the appearance of a huge zucchini.

"We used beef with a hard-boiled egg and fried it in a mini-wok over a propane tank," said Cooper, who had never thought of cooking beef this way, but found it very tasty.

A side-salad dish contained tomato, onion and cilantro in a vinegar base. Most dishes contained tomato, oil and onion base. Another popular staple in Afghanistan, a cheese sauce formed by adding water to a hard rock cheese, is used for flavoring a variety of foods.

"We used the tomato base and cheese sauce over the rice and beans, with a beef bone added for extra flavor," said Cooper.

"Tomatoes were used on squash, which tasted sweet and, surprisingly, very good," she said.

Afghans cook with pressure cookers, although they are different from the American version of a pressure cooker.

"The cover seals into the pressure cooker like a cork into a bottle, and sits atop a fire where food is cooked very quickly," said Cooper.

Cooper sensed the Afghan women were a little intimidated by her presence, knowing she was a cook.

"They kept apologizing for not having a cleaner kitchen," she said, "and they took measures such as ensuring any meat was fully cooked in order to make me feel comfortable."

"Afghan women are very hard working, making everything from scratch and cleaning their sink immediately after use," said Cooper.

"Nasrene is very detailed in her cooking process, using a grater to slice up tomatoes, where I would simply get mine from a can," she said. Cooper attributed some of the Afghan cooking techniques to the fact they have limited silverware and utensils, therefore using a few utensils for many different uses.

The Woman's Affairs Team spent most of the day at Panjshiri's home.

"It was surprising how blunt and open the Afghan women were," said Cooper.

The level of comfort, trust and closeness between the women can only be attributed to the hard work and relationship built by the PRT.

"It was refreshing how easy it was to speak with them, and also challenging in knowing how to respond to some of their questions," said Cooper.

The Afghan women were curious about issues affecting American women, one of which was being a single parent and how one becomes a single parent, she said.

"The people in Panjshir have made us feel like family numerous times, but none more than this," said Torango.