The women spread supper—a large bowl of cheese melted in butter, into which we dipped our maize bread, and very good it was. ~ Edith Durham, High Albania
Cornbread in its essence — flour, cornmeal, and butter — already qualifies as a world-champion comfort food. When you bite into a piece of it, just out of the oven — aah, yes — it tastes like home.
So how, you may be asking, could a gal improve on that?
You might try making some Pispili.
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“There is no sight on earth more appealing than the sight of a woman making dinner for someone she loves.”–Thomas Wolfe
Are you happy they’ve invited you to make a dish for your next home group meeting but haven’t a clue what to make?
A small group gathering is an ideal occasion to introduce your crew to Qabili Palao, the national dish of Afghanistan.
For one thing, Qabili Palao packs big flavor and portions hearty enough to satisfy a small crowd. And for another, it’s likely a dish that no one in your crowd has tasted before.
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Food is more than what we put into our bodies… It’s the feel of a place, something language can’t get at, the memory of a place as it forms. Wherever I am, food is what takes me there. —Jessica Fechtor, Stir
You say Kabuli, I say Qabili. Whatever we end up calling it, we’ll likely agree that Afghanistan’s national dish, Qabili (Kabuli) Palau, is delicious.
The secret to Qabili Palau’s allure is Afghanistan’s unique geography and history. The country lies along what was once THE crucial trade route between Persia and India.
As a result, for thousands of years, caravans from these two great empires traveled through this mountain country. And Afghan cuisine, in a very literal sense, soaked up Persian and Indian culture.
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