Sunday, June 19, 2011

Hajji Pizza

I had an interesting culinary experience last night. The Systems team got invited to participate in DISO-A’s Hajji Pizza Night. You start with a round piece of Afghan flat bread, or Hajji bread. Then top it with sauce that we bought from Pizza Hut on-base, and a variety of toppings, mostly from the sandwich bar, removed from the DFAC in take-out containers.

Set the pizza on a piece of foil, and park it on the grill. Close the lid, and 15-20 minutes later, you’ve got Hajji Pizza! All things considered, it was pretty good. The Afghan bread is excellent all by itself, and a great base for the pizza. I have sliced provolone on mine, a little Swiss cheese, jalapeño and torn up slices of ham. The cheese tasted pretty generic, but the sauce was good and the jalapeño made it. And it certainly beat the hell out of whatever the DFAC was dishing up.

It didn’t take me long to put in a request for a care package with pizza fixin’s. Pizza sauce, canned mushrooms, anchovies, and spices are already flying to me via the postal system. By next Saturday, we’ll be taking our game to a new level. And since there is nothing here that can be confused with real or authentic food, I might help myself to a to-go container of canned pineapple rings and some bacon, and go Hawai’ian!

On another food-related note, I broke down Friday night and had a steak. It was cut from the rib, but the steak was about one-third the normal thickness of a rib-eye. There was the slightest hint that it might have once been pink inside. In yet another indication that I’ve lowered the bar for food quality since being deployed, I actually thought it tasted decent. Maybe the fact that I haven’t had a steak in over four months skewed my perceptions. Either way, I know a couple butchers who will be providing me with Prime NY Strips soon after I get home. We’re gonna do this right.

The data center is coming along nicely. Got some switches configured by the Army signal battalion here, and we’re running fiber to them today. We should have no problem reaching IOC by the end of the month. I’m stoked!

And finally, this little gem from the Washington Times. I always knew mullets were bad ju-ju, but now we have empirical evidence ... “As Iran attempts to become a nuclear power with global reach, at home the Ayatollahs are mounting a fashion offensive. In an effort to blunt the ‘invasion’ of western culture, Iran has implemented a ‘moral security plan’ that bans men from wearing necklaces, short pants, and ‘glamorous hairstyles’ such as ponytails and the mullet.

70,000 ‘morality police’ have been deployed in Tehran and other cities to enforce the edict.  “It’s hard to understand why the Islamic Republic considers gold chains and mullets to be key emblems of western culture, but when you add the pre-existing ban on disco dancing it is clear that Iran has declared total war on the 1970s. They just never got over the Carter administration.”

2 comments:

  1. "They just never got over the Carter administration.”


    Count me in on that.

    ~~~~~~~

    Ham? Bacon? Pork products in country? Really?

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  2. Really. We went to the BBQ tent tonight for dinner. Ribs and Polish sausage. A veritable pork-fest. Could have had chicken, but when the ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender, why bother? And local boys serving it up. I especially love going to breakfast and asking Hajji to load my tray up with bacon.

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