Caryn Giles Lawson was a Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan in the late '70s and loves Afghan food for sentimental reasons and simply because it's delicious!
A culinary trip to Afghanistan
By Kim Boatman
Mercury News
You can go home again. Or at least back to that favorite diner you frequented in the 1970s. Or even back to your Peace Corps days.
As regular Plates readers know, that's a recurring theme for this column and its readers. Even Karen Yao's request for dishes she enjoys at Afghan restaurants triggered memories for some readers.
``I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan in the late '70s. I love Afghan food for sentimental reasons and simply because it's delicious!'' e-mailed Caryn Giles Lawson of Los Gatos.
Lawson included a recipe for firni, an Afghan custard that she says has a looser consistency than ``American-style'' puddings. She eats the pudding cold or slightly warm, and she recommends grinding your own cardamom seeds. While the pudding may be poured into individual serving dishes, a communal serving dish is more Afghan-style, Lawson explains. ``Enjoy, or as Afghans would say, `Nosh-I Jahn!' ''
Zoe Banchieri of Union City sent several recipes from a cookbook she recommends, ``Afghan Food and Cookery'' by Helen Saberi. You'll find it at www.amazon.com, Banchieri says. ``I have made a lot of recipes from this cookbook,'' Banchieri e-mailed. I've included the cilantro chutney recipe she sent.
SECOND HELPINGS: Lila Naimark was pleased to see a ``treasure from my younger years'' in a recent column. But she took me to task for not offering a boiled frosting alternative for red velvet cake, especially because some readers and I fretted over the fat content of the cake and frosting.
``The best thing about boiled frosting is that it produces a big, beautiful, very white and very stable frosting. But it's also zero fat (tons of sugar, but they all have that), and what fun it is to drizzle the steaming hot liquid sugar into the delicate egg white peaks and watch it turn into luscious, swirling mounds of easy-to-work-with frosting!'' Naimark e-mailed.
She found several boiled frosting recipes at http://southernfood.about.com. I've included one with this column.
Request line
• Cassie P. misses the raisin cookies made by the Polly Prim Bakery in Los Gatos in the '60s and '70s. She'd love a recipe for the original or a reasonable substitute.
• Penelope's days as a canner have come to an end after 35 years. She wonders now if there's an organization that would want her canning jars.
• This request comes from my two boys, who were so captivated by the coming attractions notice on the table at Sweet Tomatoes that they could hardly eat last week. They'd like a recipe for warm chocolate lava cake. I suspect any warm, meltingly chocolate cake recipe will do.
Send your recipes, food tips and queries to Home Plates, San Jose Mercury News, 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95190. Or e-mail homepl8s@aol.com. Contributions must include name, address and phone number. Recipes are not tested by the Mercury News.
