Dad + Me in Afghanistan

Dad and Me in Afghanistan (2007) – Yesterday I posted about the influence that the onion has had on my culinary journey, and it made me reflect on my absolute greatest culinary influence, my dear father (or Babba Jaan), Mohammed Hasan Nusratty. Here we are during his last trip to Afghanistan. We had an amazing trip to Band-e-Amir, Afghanistan’s first national park in which six contiguous deep-blue high-altitude lakes (~3000m / ~10000ft) are located. Described by some as Afghanistan’s Grand Canyon, Band-e-Amir is absolutely breathtaking. Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, and I am lucky to have experienced it with my father.

My father’s skills in the kitchen were remarkable, and his love for the food of his native Afghanistan and for cuisines from all over the world was really extraordinary. This love for food was indelibly passed on to me, my mother, and my siblings, and it shaped our passion for food, hospitality, generosity, family, friends, and our general merrymaking ways. Ain’t no party like an Afghan party!