Afgan Food

[gamine]

Can anyone recommend a wine to have with Afgan food. I'm going to an Afgan restaurant that is BYO.

Thanks

[Jason Perlow]

If we are talking kebabs and such, I would go with a gewurztraminer or an off-dry reisling.

Or I would bring some ouzo. :) The turks have a drink thats basically the same as ouzo but I forgot what its called. afghans being muslim generally stay away from hard liquor.

[Fat Guy]

I'd have to cast my vote for beer. You can shoehorn wine into most any meal, but some food is just more beer-appropriate than it is wine-appropriate. I too am assuming you're talking about highly spiced, charred, robust food of the kebab variety -- in which case beer seems the ideal candidate. That of course is not the full extent of Afghan cuisine, but it's what most self-described Afghan places serve.

Jason I'm confused about the whole Islam-and-alcohol situation. Is there a distinction made between different percentages of alcohol? I thought it was all or nothing -- you either drink or you don't. But periodically I hear of Muslims who cite religious reasons for drinking wine but not hard liquor. What's the deal?

[Jason Perlow]

Beer would make a good choice as well.

I really don't know enough about islam to make an informed statement about why they don't drink hard liquor. In general its all or nothing, but I have seen people of various muslim cultures drink beer and wine. I think it depends how religious they are.

Either way, its usually ok to bring alcohol into a muslim owned restaurant -- most moraccan places I have eaten in around the country were BYOB.