Matt McAllester

This was a really unique look at the role of food during wartime and much more varied than I initially considered it might be. My favorites include "Same-Day Cow (Afghanistan)," which includes the intricate politics of MREs; "A Diet for Dictators (North Korea)," detailing the extravagant culinary preferences of Kim Jong-Il despite his starved nation and how how personally revealing his tastes are beyond our initial assumptions; and "How Harry Lost His Ear (Northern Ireland)," in which a journalist trains for marathon drinking in order to learn more about the Provisional IRA. As usually plagues any collection of short pieces, some essays are much more engaging than others, but the good ones are really, really good. Some essays seemed only barely held together by the food premise, instead discussing the politics of the region. These often were still interesting, but I couldn't help but wonder how the author was going to manage a food tie-in. I liked the thematic groupings of "Survival Rations," "Insistent Hosts," "Food Under Fire," and "Breaking Bread," though some essays seemed like they belonged under headings different than the ones assigned. Overall, I liked and appreciated the essays detailing food in a more stereotypical war zone, where the danger was constant, the journalists, in the thick of conflict, getting to know their hosts, guides, aggressors well. I suspect the information I have learned in this collection will stay with me for quite a while.… (más)

I loved this book. It took me all over the world’s war zones of the past few decades through tales of local food, of eating and not eating during war. We are introduced to Benazir Bhutto, Kim Jong Il, and Ariel Sharon in fascinating and very personal ways that are not usually written about, namely, how they eat. The stories are chock full of history that’s we’ve just lived through but with a behind-the-scenes vantage point that doesn’t show up in the newspapers. Isabel Hilton’s Miraculous Harvest is a fantastic read about Mao’s cultural revolution and the largest mass starvation in history. It is wonderful how these writers have packed so much into these short stories. Tim Hetherington’s Same Day Cow about life with the American soldiers in Afghanistan had me laughing out loud. Farnaz Fassihi and Joshua Hammer really made me feel what it must be like to be a foreign correspondent. In Jeweled Rice, Fassihi takes us to a troubled Iran where she stays with her grandmother who wants to her to finish her dinner before she runs to cover the latest student riots. Hammer in Weighed Down by a Good Meal in Gaza and Israel walks us through some very hot water he found himself in resulting from a kidnapping and an offhanded comment he made about the food. Each story in this book is one you’ll want to retell to your friends. If you are a traveler, you will love the landscapes and odd corners of the world this book brings you to. I really enjoyed reading the 6 (of the 18) stories written by female foreign correspondents. These are not perspectives we get to hear enough of and they are absolutely delightful. Christina Lamb in Eating Mud Crabs in Kandahar takes us on her very first foreign assignment as a young woman in Afghanistan who has to dress as a man and ride horses without touching the guy she’s sitting behind. In Sugarland, Amy Wilentz takes us right into a makeshift home of a very hungry Haitian family during dinnertime. Through describing the local favorite foods she tells the colorful story of their culture, political history and post-earthquake living conditions. Many of the stories have the heart-wrenching aspects to them that are inevitable with war and that no food can comfort. Sam Kiley’s, Eau de Cadavre, in Somalia and Rwanda is just that. He makes you taste and smell genocide. The stories are not downers though as the reporters are witty and good-humored. You really can’t help but chuckle, even in dire situations, when you see them doing the most ridiculous things to get food, all the while smoking and drinking to excess.… (más)