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in the kitchen

Chef Michael Smith uses pizza stones to bake the flatbread – which can serve as plate, fork, spoon and napkin. Nina Linton for The Globe and MailThe Globe and Mail

All over the world, food brings people together. It can even bridge two completely different cultures from two sides of the globe.

This winter, the Grade 6 class of my local school read a powerful trilogy of books: The Breadwinner series by Deborah Ellis. The novels depict life in Afghanistan through the eyes of Parvana, an 11-year-old girl, giving an unflinching account of living in a war-torn region devoid of resources and so many of the things that we take for granted in Canada. They are powerful stories - and the children were so gripped by them that their teachers and parents began wondering what could be done to bring the tales to life.

Food, perhaps. Maybe even a chef. And while we're at it, how about a fundraiser for the charity Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan?

For the characters in the book, food is anything but bountiful: It's a daily struggle just to find resources. The ingredients are always local, sometimes fresh and usually boring and repetitive. And every meal includes nan-i-Afghani, a traditional bread.

Oftentimes, the bread is the entire meal - and also the plate, the fork, the spoon and the napkin. Nan-i-Afghani is a small, oval flatbread that can be made with few supplies. The dough is flexible and easily shaped, slapped around and then stuck directly on the hot bricks of a tandoor oven for quick baking. Once cooked, it is torn into pieces that are then used to pick up and eat the rest of the meal.

At least, that's how it's described in the book. The kids wanted to experience it for themselves - and that's where I came in.

We filled the school gym with tables and piled them high with flour. The students formed wells in the centre of the heaps of flour, poured in warm water and began stirring and kneading. One volunteer chef. Fifty kids. By hand. There were lots of sticky fingers and laughs and - as the dough came together - a closer connection with the book. When the bread was ready, we all sat on blankets and shared a meal of a simple Afghani rice stew, using the nan to scoop it up.

The experience was a new one for many of the students, most of whom had never made bread before. But it was a reassuring one as well. It showed us how universal the bonds of humanity are when we pause and enjoy a simple meal together. In Canada and Afghanistan.

Nan-i-Afghani

Ingredients

2 cups of Robin Hood Best for Bread Multigrain Blend flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon instant dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup warm water

Method

Preheat your oven to its highest setting. For best results, place a pizza stone in the oven as it heats (you may also use a large sauté pan or baking sheet).

Form a tight pile of the flour in the centre of your work surface. Sprinkle the salt, yeast and sugar over the top of it. Make a well in the centre of the flour and carefully pour in the water. Stirring gently, gradually incorporate the flour from the edges, forming a soft, moist dough that can be handled easily. Knead the dough for 5 minutes or so by folding it in half, rolling it into a ball and repeating again and again. Roll the dough into a tight ball, cover with a towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour or so.

Punch the dough down, then divide it into 2 equal parts. Drop each ball into a bag of flour to coat. Remove and flatten with a rolling pin into an oval shape, 6 to 7 inches long and 1/2 inch or so thick.

Place the dough on the pizza stone or cookie sheet and bake in your preheated oven for five minutes. Makes 2 small nan.

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