When I decided to cook a full meal from every country in the world, I knew it would be a challenge. I just didn’t realize the hardest part would be the shopping.

Spoiler: it wasn’t quite chaos—unless you count GPS failures, miniscule parking lots, me navigating a too-large-for-city-streets pickup, and a very busy road… all of which happened while trying to find the second Afghan market (which, spoiler again, I never did find).

So… mild chaos.

The Spice Aisle

I usually keep a pretty well-stocked spice cabinet—but I still needed quite a few new things to pull off these Afghan recipes.

Green cardamom. Black cardamom. Cardamom pods.

Do I really need all three? At $9 a bottle?!

What if I just buy the pods, grind them myself, and pretend green and black are the same thing? That’s science, right?

The Afghan Market

I found the first Afghan market easily enough—tucked in between an adult video store and a sketchy “Cocktail & Lounge.” The parking lot was filled with dusty pickups, and I seriously questioned all of my life choices before bravely striding across the asphalt and into my destination.

Inside, the first thing I noticed was a distinct lack of a cash register.

Is everything free?

Obviously not. But the mystery of how to pay was something I’d just… figure out later.

And after wandering around and questioning everything I thought I knew about shopping, I finally found it—the tiniest little cash register, hidden behind piles of Afghan pastries and cookies.

It was like the universe was playing a joke on me: “Sure, you’ll get your ingredients, but first, you need to discover the secret register.”

Unfortunately, the market didn’t have the specific rice I needed, but I did manage to find the green tea for my pink Sheer Chai and the nigella seeds for my pitas.

Do not ask me how to pronounce nigella. I do not know.

However, upon inspecting the ingredients list once I got home, I did expand my spice vocabulary—turns out nigella seeds are just black caraway seeds. Do I know what caraway tastes like? No. But at least I’ve heard of it.

Trying to Forget

Since that market didn’t have my rice, I decided to try a second Afghan market just two miles down the road.

Please refer to the spoiler above and activate your imagination.

Let’s just say the experience in that parking lot is one I would very much like to erase. Many people were giving many looks.

At that point, I decided to give up on the elusive rice and go with basmati. The recipe said it was an acceptable substitute, and some things just aren’t worth the drama.

We’ll Just Use Whole Wheat Flour

Getting the basmati meant one final stop at one final store. I still had a few everyday things to grab, so it seemed reasonable.

Until I pulled into the parking lot, opened my shopping list, and realized:
I forgot the special flour.

THE flour. The one I went out of my way for. The one the first Afghan store probably had, but I was too busy deciphering the no-register situation to remember to grab it.

By this point, I was tired. And hungry.

The recipe said whole wheat flour would work, so… whole wheat flour it is.

The Ingredient Pile

Back at home, I laid everything out on the counter, realizing this was an extremely time-consuming and moderately expensive shopping excursion. Hopefully, at least, I got enough right for this Afghan adventure to come together.

But one way or another—we’re doing this.

Next time, I’m hoping my list is shorter… or Amazon starts looking a lot more appealing.

Coming Soon: Me vs. Actual Cooking

Stay tuned for the next chapter of Cooking the Atlas, where I attempt to turn this chaotic haul into something vaguely edible—and hopefully somewhat traditional.

If you hear screaming, it’s just me realizing I forgot another ingredient.