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Deployed Barksdale Airman brings Southern cooking to Afghanistan

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Sean Mateo White
  • Provincial Reconstruction Team Panjshir
PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan --  Members of Forward Operating Base Lion didn't have to travel to the Deep South to enjoy an authentic Cajun meal; they just had to show up at their local dining facility where a Barksdale warrior was preparing a special treat.

In a province in north-eastern Afghanistan, Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Louk, a native of Petal, Miss., deployed here from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., home of Air Force Global Strike Command, volunteered his downtime to cook a Southern meal his family had perfected through many generations.

"My grandmother was the first one to write the recipe down on an index card in 1981," said Sergeant Louk, Provincial Reconstruction Team Panjshir engineering superintendent of construction and development. "I remember seeing the card as a child; it was covered with food stains."

Sergeant Louk often cooks his specialities for friends and co-workers when he is at his home station.

"I enjoy getting together and cooking. It's a little bit easier back home though," he said. "My shop built a 7-foot-long grill on a trailer, and we fire it up as often as we can."

FOB Lion consists of a mixture of servicemembers, civilians and Afghan local national personnel. The FOB doesn't have a 7-foot-long grill, but that didn't stop Sergeant Louk from creating a 23-ingredient dish including: chicken, shrimp, lobster and crab meat along with a mixture of 15 different spices and seasonings.

"I chose gumbo because very few people know how to cook it," the sergeant said proudly. "From start to finish, it took me just under ten hours to cook this meal."

Sergeant Louk wasn't born with these cooking skills. He said he learned them over time by hanging out in the kitchen, watching and studying the techniques his family used, and then trying them in his own kitchen.

"The key to gumbo is the base, the roux," he said smiling. "You have to baby it; it needs to be nurtured."

Members assigned to FOB Lion are grateful for Louk's pursuit of perfection.

"It had just the right combination of spice and flavor," said 1st Lt. Holly Hess, PRT Panjshir Public Affairs Officer and York, Pa., native. "I'm not from the South, but his gumbo is amazing. The best I have ever had. Hopefully I can get his recipe, it's sure to be a hit at home."

"If you're from the South you'll like it, if you're from the North, you'll want it," Sergeant Louk said in his thick-southern accent.

When asked why he would spend his one day off a week cooking for the FOB, he replied, "I love cooking. I love to see the happy faces that my food creates; imagine telling someone that the best gumbo you've ever eaten was in Afghanistan."

In the future, Louk hopes to attend a formal cooking school with the ultimate dream of opening his own restaurant.