Vol. 26 — Bread, Tea and the Long Table
Afghanistan
From Kabul to the Hindu Kush
Standfirst
A cuisine built on hospitality and slow hours — kabuli palaw crowned with raisins and carrots, mantu dumplings blanketed in yoghurt, and a small glass of green tea always at hand.
Chapter One
A table set for hospitality
To be a guest in an Afghan home is to be handed tea before you sit down and fed before you have finished asking about the family. The dastarkhan — the long cloth spread on the floor — fills quickly: warm rounds of naan, small dishes of chutney, yoghurt, and the great platter of kabuli palaw in the middle, scented with cumin and cardamom, crowned with jewelled carrots and raisins.
It is a kitchen shaped by trade routes and long winters — Persian spice, Central Asian dumplings, Indian warmth — and by a deep, unshakeable code of generosity.
In an Afghan kitchen, the tea is on before the guest is at the door.
— Maison Maps journal
Chapter Two
Kabuli palaw and the long lunch
A whole afternoon can unfold around one platter of rice — mantu dumplings to start, palaw at the centre, and endless refills of green tea to finish.
Poster — Kabul
Poster — Herat
Tea towel — Mazar
Vol. 26 — Bread, Tea and the Long Table — the pieces
Shop the Afghanistan pieces
Everything photographed in this issue that is currently in the studio.
Afghanistan · Apron
Afghanistan Food Apron
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Afghanistan · Blanket
Afghanistan Food Blanket
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Afghanistan · Food poster
Afghanistan Food Poster
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Afghanistan · Kids poster
Afghanistan Fun Explorer Kids Poster Black
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Afghanistan · Food poster
Afghanistan Food Poster Terracotta
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Afghanistan · Kids poster
Afghanistan Fun Explorer Kids Poster White
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Afghanistan · Food poster
Afghanistan Food Poster White
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The Collection
The Afghanistan Collection
Kabuli palaw, mantu, ashak, bolani, chapli kebab and cardamom tea — the generous Afghan table, illustrated in one composition.
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