The Halfghan Chef

CDMX – Mexico City, where have you been my entire life? I know I’m very late to the party here, but why did it take me so long to come to you? Lo siento mucho. You are one of those massive, marvelous missing pieces — or places — that I finally discovered relatively late in life, after having traveled throughout this world. And now, I feel much more fulfilled as a result of experiencing you. Thank you.

What isn’t there to say about CDMX? The history, the people, the warmth, the architecture, the art and museums, the impressive (and heart-wrenching) ruins, the vibrant public spaces, the music, la lucha libre (yes, I took that in as well), the life — and of course, the food. Oh my goodness...

The food is incredible. Few cities offer such culinary deliciousness. One can essentially throw a rock in any direction and hit an eatery — street food, restaurants of all levels, cafés, etc. — that is appealing and goes above and beyond to delight its patrons. I was floored.

There are too many delicious spots to list, and I didn’t even begin to scratch the surface (although my al pastor and overall taco consumption was quite respectable). Needless to say, I’ll be going back — again and often. I suggest you all do the same.

Muchísimas gracias, CDMX. Hasta la próxima vez…

Nowruz Mubarak!

Wishing everyone a very happy new year filled with peace and prosperity!!

It’s been a particularly challenging period, both on the macro and micro levels, so I decided to put together a Haft-Seen (هفت‌سین) (7 “S’s” or ۷ س) table to help usher in the springtime and a joyous Afghan (and Persian) new year.

Here is what our Haft-Seen (هفت‌سین) table features (pictured) and a brief description of what each item represents:

1. Garlic (Seer (سیر)) - Health and healing
2. Apple (⁠Seeb (سیب)) - Beauty and well-being
3. ⁠Sprouting wheat (Sabzeh (سبزه)) - Renewal and growth
4. ⁠Vinegar (Serkeh (سرکه)) - Wisdom and maturity
5. ⁠Wheat germ paste (Samanu (سمنو)) - Affluence and fertility
6. Sumac or Sumagh (سماق) - Dawn and the triumph of good over evil
7. Hyacinth (Sonbol (سنبل)) - Love and affection
8. Coins (Sekeh (سکه)) - Prosperity and wealth

I also went ahead and prepared a Nowruz mashup meal (also pictured). This culinary mashup featured the seafood element of Teriyaki Salmon, as a symbol of life, as well as cumin and dill infused Afghan Challow (long-grain parboiled seasoned rice) and some Tahdig to honor our Persian brothers and sisters who are also celebrating Nowruz today / tomorrow.

Nowruz Mubarak everyone! Hope springs eternal…

My uncle, Mohammed Hussein Nusratty (top center), passed away yesterday in Fremont, California. He was 102. The last remaining of the 45 children born of my grandfather and the eldest child of my grandmother (pictured middle of the bottom row), who was my grandfather’s 4th wife. My uncle took over the role of father figure to my father Mohammed Hasan Nusratty (top left), who was the last of the 45, and the other siblings after their father died in 1938. The last of a great generation and the end of an era. RIP Kahkah Hussein Jaan. You will be very much missed.

Mohammed Hussein Nusratty
16 January 1922 (Kabul, Afghanistan) - 13 March 2024 (Fremont, California)

Peperoni Verdi Ripieni (Puglia, Italy) (Recipe in comments) – Springtime arrives in the Bay Area after what has been a longer, colder, and wetter winter than is normally expected in California. Not complaining, of course; we desperately needed the water..

With the cessation of winter and the coming of Cali’s warm weather, I begin to conceptualize upcoming summer holidays whilst reflecting on holidays of summers-past. Of course meals and culinary delights regularly permeate and flood my mind like the deluges (i.e. Atmospheric Rivers) that inundated California these past many months.

One delectable culinary recollection that effortlessly comes to mind was something I prepared in Puglia the summer before last, Peperoni Verdi Ripieni (stuffed green peppers sautéed in tomato sauce) (pictured).

Stuffed peppers (and vegetables) are common in other cuisines, like Dolma in Afghan and Turkish cuisines and Dolmades in Greek cuisine. The filling ingredients used in these cultures’ stuffed vegetable dishes may be different, however, in my experience the result is often similar; delicious and extremely gratifying.

The Pugliese version is particularly tantalizing, incorporating breadcrumbs, parmesan and pecorino cheeses, garlic, capers, and parsley.

For me Peperoni Verdi Ripieni, like their Afghan, Turkish, and Greek cousins (Dolma and Dolmade), readily evoke wistful thoughts of the rapturous days of summertime and the Mediterranean. Cannot wait to return and experience the deliciousness once again..

Bali, Indonesia - Difficult not to pour enough praise on Bali, where I recently took a holiday with my family. My only regret is that I had not visited sooner. My dear friend was proselytizing Bali 25 years ago right after university; I just wish I had experienced it earlier. Better late then never, I suppose..

The people, the history, the beauty, the water, the volcanoes, the swarming motor scooters, and of course the food. All incredible. All exciting. Nothing but effusive praise for Bali.

I ate a lot during my time there. It was delicious. Rendang, Nasi Goreng, Babi Guling, Satay, Bakwan / Perkedel Jagung (corn fritters - pictured), and of course incredible fresh fruit (also pictured), just to name a few heavy-hitter favorites that I consumed frequently and en masse. The many local Warung were particularly enticing. Delicious.

As an aside I also had the best surfing and snorkeling days of my life there and rode an elephant for the first time ever. Will never forget it. Deeply grateful to Bali.

I will definitely be going back..

Restaurant Lists - Best-of-Nairobi - Open House () - I’ve had the great privilege and pleasure to spend a lot of time in East Africa throughout my adult life, particularly in Kenya and its capital, Nairobi. It’s a place very near and dear to my heart, where many of my friends and colleagues live and/or are from originally. No doubt I always feel very much at home in Nairobi, and for that I am truly grateful.

Besides the surrounding natural beauty, incredible climate, history, and of course the warmth of its people, Nairobi also has a very diverse and excellent food offering.

One of my go-to restaurants in Nairobi is Open House, an institution that offers what I believe is some of the best Indian food I have ever had. Whenever I travel to Nairobi, usually for brief work trips these days, I will always hit up Open House within the first couple days I am in-town. In fact on this most recent trip to Nairobi, I went twice it’s that good. I was just jonesing for it and couldn’t help myself!..

Although Open House’s menu offers deliciousness across the board, my go-to dishes typically comprise a combination of the following:

Starters: Chicken Malai Tikka, Ginger Fried Prawns, and Paneer Chili Fry

Mains: Chicken Makhanwala, Mutton Rogan, Dal Maharani, and Palak Paneer

And of course I cannot speak more effusively about their Chicken Biryani and Garlic Naan, which are simply divine.

I miss their food already. Looking forward to my next trip to Nairobi when I can taste that deliciousness yet again.

New England Return - Great to revisit Massachusetts after so many years. The state where my mother and her siblings grew up and my maternal grandparents are buried. My dear aunt and uncle still live there, and I have visited many times throughout my life. No doubt I have much love for Massachusetts, a place that means a lot to me and my family.

Whenever I return there are a few obligatory New England food items that I absolutely must eat, namely the lobster roll and clam chowder.

I had the privilege of stopping into The Lobster Stop in Quincy, MA before my departure for NYC to enjoy an incredible lobster roll (prepared two ways, one doused in warm butter and the other garnished with a light mayonnaise-based dressing). The buns were light and grilled to perfection and the lobster rolls were simply exquisite. Hadn’t enjoyed one in years and these definitely brought me back to a nostalgic happy place of yesteryear.

Besides the lobster rolls I enjoyed some excellent clam chowder (not pictured), which was delicious and thankfully heavy on the clam meat, as well as a bowl of (additional) lobster meat served with warm butter (pictured). Admittedly I could not finish the bowl of lobster meat after demolishing the lobster rolls and chowder, so I enjoyed it later for leftovers.

My heart and stomach were (and remain) full, and I was a very happy man. Love Massachusetts. Always will..

Restaurant Lists: Best-of-San Francisco – Live Sushi (): Over the years I’ve taken deep pleasure in generating Best-of Restaurant lists for many of my favorite culinary cities around the world, which I’ve shared with family and friends (who in turn have shared on with their peeps).

For those who know me, compiling these Best-of Restaurant lists, which are essentially color-coded spreadsheets, and then sharing them via WhatsApp or (heaven forbid) email is one of my favorite hobbies. One that I really love to indulge.

In this vein, I’ve been meaning to feature dining experiences from some of those same restaurants here. Something akin to sharing a shortlist of culinary experiential intellectual property from special spots from around the world. Not restaurant reviews per se, but more like showcasing some great dishes from my go-to-spots. I’ve compiled a lot of material on this over the years, so why not feature them at times?

The first of such restaurant experiences I wanted to share was at Live Sushi () in San Francisco, which was recommended by close friend and fellow gourmand, Nidhi Dutt (). I love sushi, particularly sashimi and well-engineered / original rolls (maki, uramaki, temaki, you name it), and the San Francisco Bay Area (and California for that matter) does sushi very well (and oftentimes for reasonable prices, at least for sushi standards).

The fish quality at Live Sushi is excellent, as are the technique, aesthetics, and overall deliciousness of its roll game. Two rolls that impressed were the DJ Roll and the Chef Roll (both pictured / featured):

DJ Roll - avocado, cucumber, shrimp tempura, topped with escolar, jalapeno, tuna seared with a creamy sauce

Chef Roll - seared wagyu beef, fried avocado, crab, and scallions

Could eat both of those rolls (and many Live Sushi items) any day. Frickin’ delicious..

Afghan Focaccia (or “Afghanaccia’) – As much as I dislike the term “fusion” when applied to gastronomy, there are moments when it is indeed the most expedient way to describe culinary pursuits. (Apologies in advance to anyone who finds the word as irritating as I do when applied to food!)

In this vein, although I acknowledge how trite breadmaking and particularly sourdough became in recent years, admittedly I too went fairly deep down that rabbit hole. I first embarked on the sourdough journey in London during that much-maligned period of restricted movement that many of us are now trying to forget, then in California since moving back last year.

I was obliged to abandon my London-based sourdough starter and start anew (pun very much intended here) in Cali. Thankfully I’ve been able to reinvigorate the process with renewed enthusiasm and churn out some delectable bread (and particularly sourdough) creations since moving.

One such recent breadmaking creation was a Focaccia I made that was partially influenced by Afghan Naan making techniques, which typically uses a sourdough starter. For the Focaccia I used a fairly standard recipe one finds in Puglia and other parts of Southern Italy, considered by many to be the provenance of the exquisitely light and airy bread. For my raising / leavening agent I used my Cali-based sourdough starter then garnished the bread with the same Nigella Seeds, Sesame Seeds, and coarse salt often used Afghan Naan. I even added some Za’atar for good measure (although Za’atar is not typically used in Afghan cuisine, many of its elements are).

The “fusion” result worked out well (sorry again for the use of that word here), and it totally complemented the Afghan feast I created the same night as the Afghan Focaccia, or Afghanaccia.

I will never be able to abandon good bread..

La Tajedda Salentina (Puglia, Italy) – Back in the Bay Area after spending the lion’s share of summer in Europe. Great to be home in California, though I do miss summertime life in Europe. I suppose the age-old adage that the grass is always greener is particularly apropos in this situation.

One thing for certain is the food in Europe and Cali is tip-top. I ate a lot of great food in a lot of great spots during my summer in Europe, and I’ve been continuing the trend since returning to Cali (though with a bit more prudence as I try to shed some of the calories from those copious European feasts).

Before I dive back into my Calfornia culinary adventure, I want to revisit some of the dishes and feasts I had the privilege of eating (and preparing) over the past months in Europe. I’m a sucker for gastronomical nostalgia. Perhaps something akin to some low-level masochism? Who knows?!

One dish that I feasted on when I was recently in Puglia was la Tajedda Salentina (pronounced thai-yay-jah), a typical dish from the Salento region in Puglia. La Tajedda is a baked dish prepared with layers of sliced onions, potatoes, zucchini, halved mussels (cooked separately, mussel cooking water retained for la Tajedda), rice (washed, soaked, drained), tomatoes, parsley, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and generous glugs of olive oil applied at different layering stages.

Absolutely delicious and comparatively lighter than some of the carb-heavy dishes one happily encounters in Italia (one must learn to be culinarily strategic during a protracted European summer sojourn with a lot of dining).

I actually learned to prepare la Tajedda the summer before with cooking maestra, Anna Maria Chirone (becomeanapuliancook) who has a cooking school in Lecce as well as a cookbook on Apulian cuisine (Il Gusto del Tacco) that I highly recommend.

Mouthwateringly good. Needless to say I was delighted to revisit la Tajedda Salentina for the second consecutive summer. Thankfully California offers excellent versions of all the same ingredients as in Puglia, so I am looking forward to preparing it here as well. Absolutely delish!

November 12th evening in Cali. Sunset overlooking the Bay with my family and a dear friend. Life can be truly beautiful..

Afghan lunch medley on my birthday with a view of the Bay - enjoying these four Afghan classics, kofta korma (meatballs), daal (lentils), challow (cumin-infused rice), and garlic and mint-infused yogurt from my backyard on my first birthday in California since moving back. Been an incredibly challenging year on so many levels to get here and settle in but slowly but surely life renders her generous bounties. Lovin’ it..