A tribute to gurbandi almonds

by Abdulrab Qasimi, Afghan refugee from Ghorband, arrived in Denmark in the spring of 2001

TEXT: I was 13 years old when, after a very bad traffic accident, I was badly injured. Like my grandfather to Kabul and brought me home to Ghorband where I was born.

He thought it would be good for my health to live close to nature and eat well and fresh, as one did in Ghorband.

So after I was discharged from the hospital, I moved to Ghorband with my grandfather.

The possibilities of a young man like me were very limited in Ghorband, so I was bored very much. So they gave me this rubab (musical instrument). It's one of my oldest friends.

And then I got a whole lot of fresh fruits in Ghorband, which is known throughout Afghanistan - and especially for our almonds:

Gurbandi almonds Contains lots of the healthy fat (unsaturated fatty acids). We also have some wild almonds that grow in the mountains. They taste a little bitter and have more fat than the sweet almonds we grow in the plantations.

When I had a skull fracture, they massaged my head with almond oil and then made the different dishes with almonds that I ate daily. And this was because you thought almonds were good for bone fractures.

I stayed in Ghorband for 3 years until I was completely healthy again.

And when I saw these almonds from Warfair today, all my memories of Ghorband were refreshed. They say the almonds come directly from Ghorband.

Now I just want to taste them to see .... hmm yes, yes, they are real gur bandi almonds.

We still have some almond plantations left in Ghorband. The best almonds in Afghanistan come from Ghorband. They also have good almonds in the balkh province, but theirs are very dry. Ours has lots of the good fatty fabrics. Simply the best. Waw ...

Thanks to Tahmina Salik and Edris Qasimi for help with video and translation.