Afghan National Army cooks hand out meat, potatoes, salad and bread to soldiers at a base in Laghman province. The staff in the one-room kitchen prepares food for more than 500 soldiers every day. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)
LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Many foreign servicemembers who served in Afghanistan may have been used to regular steak-and-seafood nights at their base’s dining hall. But at the former American bases now used by Afghan forces, the new inhabitants stick to a more traditional menu.
At the headquarters of the Afghan National Army’s 1st Brigade, 201st Corps in Laghman province, eastern Afghanistan, Capt. Mohammad Aqa leads a team of three cooks who prepare daily meals for more than 500 soldiers.
Flatbread is baked on-site, while supplies like beans, meat and potatoes for other traditional Afghan meals are trucked in from Jalalabad city in neighboring Nangarhar province.
Aqa follows precise quotas when planning his food service. Each soldier is allocated one piece of bread, 140 grams of meat, 25 grams of beans, and on down through a list of various possible fixings that include rice, squash, potatoes and vegetables. Morning breakfasts often feature bread with one egg per soldier.
The meals are cooked over wood fires in large cauldrons, then spooned into bowls. Vegetables are handed out wrapped in the bread, and soldiers use their hands to break pieces of bread and sop up the food.
Afghan soldiers also have a version of takeaway, with food piled into buckets to be taken back to offices or to the men manning guard towers.
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Afghan National Army cooks hand out meat, potatoes, salad and bread to soldiers at a base in Laghman province. The staff in the one-room kitchen prepares food for more than 500 soldiers every day. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)
Afghan National Army soldiers pick up their dinner at a base in Laghman province. The bread is baked on site while other goods like meat and beans are trucked in from Jalalabad city and cooked over wood fires. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)
Afghan soldiers line up for dinner outside a dining hall on an army base in Laghman province. More than 500 soldiers eat in shifts at the facility every day. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)
An Afghan army cook drags a bucket full of vegtables to be washed before serving them to soldiers for dinner. The cooking staff prepares a certain amount of food based on specific calculations. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)
Afghan army cooks dish out bowls of beans, meat and potatoes from large cauldrons heated over wood fires. Three cooks prepare food for more than 500 soldiers. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)
Afghan army Capt. Mohammad Aqa holds a list detailing the equations he uses to calculate the exact amount of food to cook for the more than 500 soldiers at a base in Laghman province. The list lays out quotas such as 140 grams of meat, 25 grams of beans and specific quantities of other foods that each soldier is allocated per meal. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)
More than 500 Afghan soldiers eat in shifts at this dining hall on a base in Laghman province. The meals usually consist of traditional Afghan foods like flat bread and beans. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)
Afghan soldiers use their hands to eat traditional Afghan food at an army base in Laghman province. Each soldier is allocated a specific ration based on standardized calculations. (Josh Smith/Stars and Stripes)
