These sometimes harrowing, frequently funny, and always riveting stories about food and eating under extreme conditions feature the diverse voices of journalists who have reported from dangerous conflict zones around the world during the past twenty years. A profile of the former chef to Kim Jong Il of North Korea describes Kim's exacting standards for gourmet fare, which he gorges himself on while his country starves. A journalist becomes part of the inner circle of an IRA cell thanks to his drinking buddies. And a young, inexperienced female journalist shares mud crab in a foxhole with an equally young Hamid Karzai. Along with tales of deprivation and repression are stories of generosity and pleasure, sometimes overlapping. This memorable collection, introduced and edited by Matt McAllester, is seasoned by tragedy and violence, spiced with humor and good will, and fortified, in McAllester's words, with 'a little more humanity than we can usually slip into our newspapers and magazine stories.'
Eating Mud Crabs in Kandahar
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"In this riveting collection, correspondents share war stories through the lens of food and drink."--Mother Jones "A fascinating read."--San Francisco Chronicle "An exceptional choice for those who enjoy finding out the hidden culinary lives of the people whom we read about in the daily press... Highly recommended."--Indiana Food Rev
About the Author
Matt McAllester is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and a contributing editor at Details magazine. He is the author of Bittersweet: Lessons from My Mother's Kitchen, Blinded by Sunlight: Surviving Abu Graib and Saddam's Iraq, and Beyond the Mountains of the Damned: The War Inside Kosovo. He is also Visiting Professor of Journalism at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism, where he teaches international reporting. His website is www.mcallester.com.
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Fascinating essays
1 April 2012
By asiana
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
These short essays by gifted journalists are a real "find." I learned more about what is going on in the world, not only what these writers ate, but what world events they covered. For example, the milk scandal in China which was not told to the world until AFTER the Olympic games for fear of embarrassment. And, although I have read a lot about Benazir Bhutto, I was delighted to see a recipe for Barfi at the end of the article about her and Pakistan.
The writing is great, but that is to be expected. I hope that the editor puts together another collection in the same vein.
The writing is great, but that is to be expected. I hope that the editor puts together another collection in the same vein.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eating under fire.
23 Mar 2012
By Victoria H
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
An army runs on its stomach, and so, apparently, do journalists. In this book, journalists in war zones from the early 1990s through 2010, describe with a great deal of detail what they ate (or not) and the circumstances behind their meals during those wars. Or at least that is the premise.
There are a few non-war stories. Eating as a foreigner in a hostile China, and the meals of the future leader of North Korea, while his people are dying around him. Although these lapses detract from the premise, this book is nevertheless a fine read.
The stories are largely first-person, with the words beautifully woven to put you in the wars in Bosnia, Serbia, Rwanda, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Georgia, and more. Some of the journalists ate better than any of the locals, because they had money in a situation where the locals were being systematically starved. Some of the journalists hardly ate at all, because they could not find food, and they had not brought enough with them. Being in a war zone for an extended period apparently requires a bit of planning. And some were treated to fabulous meals by locals, even though those locals had little to give: they shared what they had.
I enjoyed especially reading these stories in their well-written journalistic style. The editor obviously chose the best of the war reporters and photographers to write these stories. I am delighted to have spent the past few days with these professionals.
There are a few non-war stories. Eating as a foreigner in a hostile China, and the meals of the future leader of North Korea, while his people are dying around him. Although these lapses detract from the premise, this book is nevertheless a fine read.
The stories are largely first-person, with the words beautifully woven to put you in the wars in Bosnia, Serbia, Rwanda, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Georgia, and more. Some of the journalists ate better than any of the locals, because they had money in a situation where the locals were being systematically starved. Some of the journalists hardly ate at all, because they could not find food, and they had not brought enough with them. Being in a war zone for an extended period apparently requires a bit of planning. And some were treated to fabulous meals by locals, even though those locals had little to give: they shared what they had.
I enjoyed especially reading these stories in their well-written journalistic style. The editor obviously chose the best of the war reporters and photographers to write these stories. I am delighted to have spent the past few days with these professionals.
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