How to Feed a Dictator
Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Enver Hoxha, Fidel Castro, and Pol Pot Through the Eyes of Their Cooks
(Sprache: Englisch)
Amazing stories . . . Intimate portraits of how [these five ruthless leaders] were at home and at the table. Lulu Garcia-Navarro, NPR s Weekend Edition Sunday
Anthony Bourdain meets Kapu ci ski in this chilling look from within the kitchen at...
Anthony Bourdain meets Kapu ci ski in this chilling look from within the kitchen at...
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Amazing stories . . . Intimate portraits of how [these five ruthless leaders] were at home and at the table. Lulu Garcia-Navarro, NPR s Weekend Edition SundayAnthony Bourdain meets Kapu ci ski in this chilling look from within the kitchen at the appetites of five of the twentieth century's most infamous dictators, by the acclaimed author of Dancing Bears and What s Cooking in the Kremlin
What was Pol Pot eating while two million Cambodians were dying of hunger? Did Idi Amin really eat human flesh? And why was Fidel Castro obsessed with one particular cow?
Traveling across four continents, from the ruins of Iraq to the savannahs of Kenya, Witold Szab owski tracked down the personal chefs of five dictators known for the oppression and massacre of their own citizens Iraq s Saddam Hussein, Uganda s Idi Amin, Albania s Enver Hoxha, Cuba s Fidel Castro, and Cambodia s Pol Pot and listened to their stories over sweet-and-sour soup, goat-meat pilaf, bottles of rum, and games of gin rummy. Dishy, deliciously readable, and dead serious, How to Feed a Dictator provides a knife s-edge view of life under tyranny.
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SnackThe first time I saw Brother Pol Pot, I was at a loss for words. I was sitting in his bamboo hut in the middle of the jungle, gazing at him. And I was thinking: what a beautiful man!
What a man!
I was very young then, so don't be surprised that's what I was thinking, brother. I was there to report to him on how people were feeling in the villages I'd passed through on my way to his base, and I was waiting for him to speak first. But he didn't say anything.
Finally, after a long time, he smiled gently at me. And at once I thought, what a beautiful smile he has!
What a smile!
I couldn't focus on what we were meant to be talking about. Pol Pot was very different from all the men I'd ever met before.
We met in the jungle, at a top secret base for Angkar, the organization we belonged to. In those days everyone still called Pol Pot Brother Pouk, which in Khmer means "mattress." For ages I wondered why he had such a strange nickname. I asked several people about it, but no one could tell me.
Many months later, one of the comrades explained to me that he was called Mattress because he always did his best to calm things down. He was soft. And that was his strength. When other people argued, he'd stand in the middle and help them to reach an agreement.
It's true. Even his smile was gentle; Pol Pot was pure goodness.
We had only a very short conversation that time. And when we were done, his adjutant took me to one side and said that Brother Pouk badly needed a cook. He'd had several, but none of them was right for him. So he asked if I'd like to give it a try.
"Yes," I said, "but I don't know how to cook."
"Surely you know how to make sweet-and-sour soup?" asked the adjutant,
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amazed, because it was the most popular soup in Cambodia.
"Give me a pot," I said.
And when he took me to the kitchen, I found that I knew perfectly well how to make that soup. You get some Chinese long beans, sweet potato, pumpkin, marrow, melon, pineapple, garlic, some meat-chicken or beef-and eggs. Two or three. You can add tomatoes, too, and lotus roots if you wish. First you boil the chicken, and then you add sugar, salt, and all the vegetables. I'm afraid I can't tell you how long you have to cook it for, because we didn't have watches in the jungle and I did everything by feel. I think it's about half an hour. To finish, you can add some tamarind root.
I also knew how to make papaya salad. You cut the papaya into very small pieces and then add cucumber, tomatoes, green beans, cabbage, morning glory, garlic, and a dash of lemon juice.
But the first time I made it, Pol Pot didn't eat it. Only later was it explained to me that he liked it prepared the Thai way: with dried crab or fish paste and peanuts.
I also knew how to make mango salad, how to bake fish, and how to roast chicken. Clearly as a child I'd watched how my mother did the cooking. Brother Pouk didn't expect any more than that. I was fit to be his cook.
I went into that kitchen and stayed there until nightfall. I made the lunch, then the supper; then I tidied up and washed the pots and pans.
And that's how I became Pol Pot's cook. I was very pleased that I could help. I wanted to stay at the base for the revolution. And for him, gentle Brother Mattress.
Breakfast
Thieves' Fish Soup
The Story of Abu Ali,
Saddam Hussein's Chef
One day, President Saddam Hussein invited some friends onto his boat. He took along several bodyguards, his secretary, and me, his personal chef, and we set off on a cruise down the river Tigris. It was warm-it was one of the first spr
"Give me a pot," I said.
And when he took me to the kitchen, I found that I knew perfectly well how to make that soup. You get some Chinese long beans, sweet potato, pumpkin, marrow, melon, pineapple, garlic, some meat-chicken or beef-and eggs. Two or three. You can add tomatoes, too, and lotus roots if you wish. First you boil the chicken, and then you add sugar, salt, and all the vegetables. I'm afraid I can't tell you how long you have to cook it for, because we didn't have watches in the jungle and I did everything by feel. I think it's about half an hour. To finish, you can add some tamarind root.
I also knew how to make papaya salad. You cut the papaya into very small pieces and then add cucumber, tomatoes, green beans, cabbage, morning glory, garlic, and a dash of lemon juice.
But the first time I made it, Pol Pot didn't eat it. Only later was it explained to me that he liked it prepared the Thai way: with dried crab or fish paste and peanuts.
I also knew how to make mango salad, how to bake fish, and how to roast chicken. Clearly as a child I'd watched how my mother did the cooking. Brother Pouk didn't expect any more than that. I was fit to be his cook.
I went into that kitchen and stayed there until nightfall. I made the lunch, then the supper; then I tidied up and washed the pots and pans.
And that's how I became Pol Pot's cook. I was very pleased that I could help. I wanted to stay at the base for the revolution. And for him, gentle Brother Mattress.
Breakfast
Thieves' Fish Soup
The Story of Abu Ali,
Saddam Hussein's Chef
One day, President Saddam Hussein invited some friends onto his boat. He took along several bodyguards, his secretary, and me, his personal chef, and we set off on a cruise down the river Tigris. It was warm-it was one of the first spr
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Autoren-Porträt von Witold Szablowski
Witold Szab owski is the author of What s Cooking in the Kremlin and Dancing Bears. When he was twenty-four he had a stint as a chef in Copenhagen, and at age twenty-five he became the youngest reporter at one of Poland s largest daily newspapers, where he won awards for his features on the issue of immigrants flocking to the EU and the 1943 massacre of Poles in Ukraine. He lives in Warsaw.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Witold Szablowski
- 2020, 288 Seiten, 1 Schwarz-Weiß-Abbildungen, Maße: 12,8 x 19,6 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Übersetzer: Antonia Lloyd-Jones
- Verlag: PENGUIN BOOKS
- ISBN-10: 0143129759
- ISBN-13: 9780143129752
- Erscheinungsdatum: 23.04.2020
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
Winner, Gourmand World Cookbook AwardsA very accomplished piece of historical journalism and brilliant story-telling . . . Just an outright pleasure to read. Bill Buford, bestselling author of Heat and Dirt
Fascinating . . . Moving . . . Reveal[s] the complicated web of feelings (and morals) involved in cooking for a despot . . . A chilling read. The Washington Post
Lively . . . Szab owski . . . devoted three years to tracking down and personally interviewing the cooks . . . [and] provide[s] historical context for the worlds in which these tyrants operated and makes sure we remember how evil they were, even as we read about their fondness for grilled cheese with honey or refusal to eat dried elephant meat. The Wall Street Journal
I loved the book because it hit my personal sweet spot food and history. . . . I kept turning the pages . . . with the same gape-mouthed shock I got from reading The Orphan Master s Son. Joel Stein, Air Mail
Anecdotal and easy-going . . . Throughout, the chefs are rendered as compelling and complex characters. Szab owski s skill is to hang back from judgment . . . Like his compatriot, the literary non-fictioneer Kapu ci ski . . . Szab owski lets his subjects speak for themselves . . . [offering] behind-the-scenes glimpses of hypocrisies, capriciousness and bullying . . . [and] posing . . . universal questions about collusion and responsibility. . . . Szab owski is a limpid and gently brilliant storyteller. Financial Times
A fascinating journey through four continents . . . Szab owski paints a gripping picture of the autocracy seen through the eyes of tyrants personal chefs. It s delicious and devastating at the same time. Karolina Wiercigroch, quoted in National Geographic
A piquant food travelogue with dimensions that are both comic and Faulknerian, with court intrigue and
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betrayal so sudden that the book may as well have been titled In the Kitchen With Machiavelli . . . [The] moral ambiguity . . . is both the fascination and the horror of the book. . . . Chilling. Bloomberg
Fascinating. Minneapolis Star Tribune
Reveal[s] the capricious and often banal underbelly of power. The Economist
Riveting, and utterly convincing . . . Viscerally transports us to an alien time, an alien place . . . The dictators are reanimated, transformed from creatures of mythology back into flesh and blood. . . . Exceptionally juicy. The Sunday Telegraph
Winning . . . Szab owski s dogged pursuit across continents was rewarded. . . . This book tells all that we know about the power of good suppers, whoever they are fed to. The Spectator
Fascinating . . . A beguiling mix of the dark and the comic, combining fancy cuisine with torture and genocide. Its tone is reminiscent of Armando Iannucci s recent movie The Death of Stalin, in which the absurd and the monstrous, the funny and the horrifying are so entwined as to be indivisible. The Mail on Sunday
A very special book . . . We need a new word to describe the uncomfortable hunger one feels reading this book. Maclean s
These are the tales from Hell s Kitchen the real kitchens, in presidential palaces and retreats, where food was prepared for men so evil they seemed to be the Devil in human form. Al Bawaba
Food and history buffs will find these firsthand accounts irresistible. . . . Throughout, Szab owski entertains with disturbing rumors, such as [Idi] Amin eating human flesh (whatever the case, his chef never cooked it for him), and strange obsessions ([Fidel] Castro preferred the milk from a single cow named Ubre Blanca, or white udder ). . . . These are the kinds of stories only a chef could know. Publishers Weekly
Its originality and topicality in a world increasingly governed by political strongmen [are] intriguing. . . . The author shares intimate historical insights into the meaning of life under dictatorship. Kirkus Reviews
Fascinating . . . A new perspective on horrible people . . . Interesting anecdotal revelations . . . The chefs biographical narratives . . . present variations on the themes of rare opportunity, terrifying pressure, and lives permanently warped by proximity to power and cruelty. Booklist
A great book . . . Really a fascinating idea. It s kind of like Chicken Soup for the Soul, except with vicious, bloodthirsty dictators. Stu Does America
A quick read, but tense. I was surprised at how fast my pulse was going when reading. Victoria Irwin, FangirlNation
An interesting combination of politics and food . . . It hit the spot. Reading Envy
Who can resist a title like this? . . . Every good cook knows how to blend meats, vegetables and spices into a tasty meal. On a literary level Szablowski can do the same with a story. Moose Jaw Today
A very profound meditation on the relationship between food and power. Larry Wolff, New York University
A startlingly intimate portrait from the palace kitchen . . . It blew me away. Krishnendu Ray, New York University
Unique and startling an amazing book. Here s Abu Ali, describing the fish soup with tomatoes, almonds, and apricots that was Saddam Hussein s favorite. And here s Otonde Odera, reminiscing about the steak and kidney pie that won him a huge pay raise from Idi Amin. These accounts of killers at table, delivered in the cooks own words and placed in historical context by Szab owski, are all the more hair-raising for Szab owski s matter-of-fact prose. He isn t writing about monsters, but monstrous human beings and that s the scary part. Laura Shapiro, author of What She Ate and Julia Child: A Life
Fascinating. Minneapolis Star Tribune
Reveal[s] the capricious and often banal underbelly of power. The Economist
Riveting, and utterly convincing . . . Viscerally transports us to an alien time, an alien place . . . The dictators are reanimated, transformed from creatures of mythology back into flesh and blood. . . . Exceptionally juicy. The Sunday Telegraph
Winning . . . Szab owski s dogged pursuit across continents was rewarded. . . . This book tells all that we know about the power of good suppers, whoever they are fed to. The Spectator
Fascinating . . . A beguiling mix of the dark and the comic, combining fancy cuisine with torture and genocide. Its tone is reminiscent of Armando Iannucci s recent movie The Death of Stalin, in which the absurd and the monstrous, the funny and the horrifying are so entwined as to be indivisible. The Mail on Sunday
A very special book . . . We need a new word to describe the uncomfortable hunger one feels reading this book. Maclean s
These are the tales from Hell s Kitchen the real kitchens, in presidential palaces and retreats, where food was prepared for men so evil they seemed to be the Devil in human form. Al Bawaba
Food and history buffs will find these firsthand accounts irresistible. . . . Throughout, Szab owski entertains with disturbing rumors, such as [Idi] Amin eating human flesh (whatever the case, his chef never cooked it for him), and strange obsessions ([Fidel] Castro preferred the milk from a single cow named Ubre Blanca, or white udder ). . . . These are the kinds of stories only a chef could know. Publishers Weekly
Its originality and topicality in a world increasingly governed by political strongmen [are] intriguing. . . . The author shares intimate historical insights into the meaning of life under dictatorship. Kirkus Reviews
Fascinating . . . A new perspective on horrible people . . . Interesting anecdotal revelations . . . The chefs biographical narratives . . . present variations on the themes of rare opportunity, terrifying pressure, and lives permanently warped by proximity to power and cruelty. Booklist
A great book . . . Really a fascinating idea. It s kind of like Chicken Soup for the Soul, except with vicious, bloodthirsty dictators. Stu Does America
A quick read, but tense. I was surprised at how fast my pulse was going when reading. Victoria Irwin, FangirlNation
An interesting combination of politics and food . . . It hit the spot. Reading Envy
Who can resist a title like this? . . . Every good cook knows how to blend meats, vegetables and spices into a tasty meal. On a literary level Szablowski can do the same with a story. Moose Jaw Today
A very profound meditation on the relationship between food and power. Larry Wolff, New York University
A startlingly intimate portrait from the palace kitchen . . . It blew me away. Krishnendu Ray, New York University
Unique and startling an amazing book. Here s Abu Ali, describing the fish soup with tomatoes, almonds, and apricots that was Saddam Hussein s favorite. And here s Otonde Odera, reminiscing about the steak and kidney pie that won him a huge pay raise from Idi Amin. These accounts of killers at table, delivered in the cooks own words and placed in historical context by Szab owski, are all the more hair-raising for Szab owski s matter-of-fact prose. He isn t writing about monsters, but monstrous human beings and that s the scary part. Laura Shapiro, author of What She Ate and Julia Child: A Life
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