Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and Other Irritating States: A Dinner Party Approach to International Relations

by Chris Fair

Chris Fair has dined with soldiers in the Khyber Pass and with prostitutes in Delhi, rummaged for fish in Jaffna, and sipped Taliban tea in Peshawar. Cuisines of the Axis of Evil is a sophisticated, fun, and provocative cookbook with easy-to-follow recipes from both America's traditional enemies in foreign policy―including Iran, Iraq, and North Korea―and friends of the U.S. who are nonetheless irritating by any measure. In addition, each country section includes all the smart, acerbic geopolitical nuggetry you need to talk the talk with the best of them. Recipes include Iranian chicken in a walnut pomegranate stew, Iraqi kibbe, and North Korean spicy cucumber, as well as special teas, mango salads, beverage suggestions, and much more.

Genres: Food, Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Politics, History, Culinary, Cooking

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Melody · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think Anon. says it best:

'The written word
Should be clean as bone,
Clear as light,
Firm as stone.
Two words are not
As good as one.'

This book does not hew to this maxim. Painfully veers from same, in fact. I'll give you a taste:

"This plan of attack presumes you are feeding a crowd of eight esurient diners."

"If all of this were not enough to eviscerate the sanctity of..."

There's a lot of high-falutin' language here, in other words. And in several instances, high-falutin' language abused, thusly:

"The lore of Dear Leader's nascence is shrouded in absurdity. ... The short, stocky Elvis impersonator's parturition took place in an army camp in Siberia..." Um, no, that was his mother's parturition.

Also: "I eat pork, drink booze, and think vegetarian cuisine is best left for ruminates."

There's plenty more, but a sample will suffice.

I love my language and do my best not to abuse it. When I find it flayed and bleeding in the gutter, I take umbrage at its abuse. Even in a cookbook. Further, deponent saith not.

[Philippe Lazaro · Rating 1 out of 5]

"This plan of attack presumes you are feeding a crowd of eight esurient diners." .
–Chris Fair

Oh man… I really wanted to like this book! In theory, it seemed to have all the markings of a book I’d enjoy. Food as a tool of understanding some of the most difficult nations to get our heads around! Cooking as diplomacy! Maybe those raised my expectations way too high, because I was severely disappointed.

Unfortunately, this book suffers from a pretty big identity crisis. Instead of coming across like an experience or firsthand account, each chapter reads like an overambitious textbook that tries to cram an entire nation’s history into five or six pages before abruptly turning into a cookbook. The book jacket talks about the author sharing meals with Delhi prostitutes and Talibs in Peshawar. The book itself shares none of those stories, instead going for information that could be easily found online and flat attempts at humor.

There were also so many points where Chris Fair’s writing got so distracting as I would read over sentences and think of how each one could have been better written. I don’t know if it’s her academic background, or what, but she never chooses the clearest way to say something when there are million dollar vocabulary words available. If only big words made for good writing. Her excessive vocabulary and lack of filters for what details to include resulted in sentences like the above quote.

I will point say that I did learn something new– that in India you can hire a coach to help you cheat on exams. And I have yet to actually try out her recipes, so perhaps there’s room for redemption there.

[Happyreader]

Finally, an international relations approach that I can embrace. Korean and Persian food is very tasty so I hope President Obama will consider me as an international taster diplomat. I'd like to do my part for world peace.

[else fine]

It seems inappropriately flippant and overly folksy so far. Also, spell check is not an actual substitute for editing - three typos in 30 pages does not give me hope for the rest. I'm in it for the food.

Edit: never mind. Can't finish this.

[Martina Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was in Afghanistan, in 2007, I was introduced to one of the most amazing women I've ever met - Chris Fair. She was there as a consultant in her capacity as a political scientist focused on counter-terrorism and South Asian topics.
We met at the top floor restaurant of the hotel where we were all staying. A hotel that would later be bombed, but that is another story entirely.
The first thing I noticed was that she was concentrated on work I'd assumed was work-related for her stint with the UN there in Kabul, but, in fact, she was editing her book. Her cookbook.
Once we started chatting, she explained that she wanted to make expert commentary on the myriad of countries being labeled by the US government (in 2007) as parts of the Axis of Evil but that doing so was proving very difficult. So, she cleverly devised a cookbook wherein she could give the reader a better understanding of the geopolitical situation relating to each given country and then extend the chapter to include a series of recipes - appetizers through to dessert - to couch the hard-hitting, meaty, juicy introductions.
What resulted was a fabulous book on international relations and a quirky, wonderful cookbook on some delicious cuisines. Specifically, she covers North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Israel, India, Pakistan, Cuba, Burma, China, and the United States.
Fair's dedication reads as follows:
To everyone who is hungry for justice, peace, and security.
And, really, that's all you need to know. In these troubled times, this book is a work of art. It was published in 2008 but remains relevant today.
Bon politique! I mean, bon appétit!

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm actually on the last chapter, about the Great Satan, aka the good ol' US of A, but I'm going to go ahead and rate the book a 3. Some of the recipes look very good, but most seem very complicated and not that easy to follow. There are tons of parentheses following many of the ingredients, and they just aren't clean-looking recipes, in my opinion. Plus, the information about the countries themselves is peppered with phrases like, "as everybody knows"--well, perhaps I'm showing my ignorance, but I didn't know most of that stuff! It just seemed to be overwritten. Some of the things I learned were very interesting, but considering how much I was looking forward to reading this book, I think I was more disappointed than if I had just kind of wanted to read it. However, one thing I'm very excited about is a Burmese recipe that I have been wanting for years, literally, and could never find. Those of you who are smarter than me (Jess) will no doubt find it easier to read...

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great. Fair writes in a wonderfully lucid and sardonic style that is quite pleasant to read. She gives good facts without getting bogged down in detail and pedantics. She doesn't try to hide her biases. She just write what she knows and thinks about these countries who have "Dossiers of Perfidy" (Iraq, Iran, North Korea, China, Burma, Cuba, and...yes, she included it...the USA). I felt like I learned enough about each of these countries to be able to follow what people are saying about them at one of Fair's inspired dinner parties. Some things I have heard on NPR make more sense now.

And the recipes! I am sad because this book has to go back to the library and I don't have time to cook almost every darn thing in the book! It all sounded fabulous, and we will have to re-new this book or just buy a copy so that we can make Evil Food any time we want to.

[Unwisely · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is part cookbook, part politics. As you might imagine, it doesn't do either part super-in depth. On the other hand, I did read the entire thing (albeit slowly, in fits and starts).

The recipes are heavily meat-centric, and while a couple of them sounded pleasant, I didn't actually try any of them, so I can't tell you how they were.

I guess this is the perfect book for the semi-progressive carnophile who doesn't want to read in-depth reporting? (Wait, maybe this would be perfect for a boy just out of college? She does tell you in detail how to prepare the whole dinner party, as in do this a day or two in advance, this the morning of, this when your guests get here, *and* is pretty good about telling you where to get more obscure ingredients and plausible substitutes...)

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard Chris Fair on NPR this fall and as I was laughing so hard we almost drove off the road, I wanted to check out the book. The intro comically sets up her culinary thesis, and each chapter (on one of the evils) briefly and, again, humorously, describes the relevant atrocities. The recipes look tasty (now I finally know what Burmese food is like!) and not overly complicated. Admittedly, I didn't get all the way through this one as it's not ideal bedtime reading, but I love the idea of cooking my way through the book. Maybe some day...

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure who this book is for. Regular readers of the New York Times are not going to learn much from the descriptions of the countries and their politics. And her flippant tone is rather off-putting. Some of the recipes look interesting, but there are no pictures. I don't think I'm going to finish this one.

[MaryJane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this while browsing the new books at the library. What a hoot! And I love to read cookbooks!! This is such a commonsense approach to international politics - we should send a copy to everybody in the State Department. And our President, who is a reader ( what a relief to have someone in charge who reads and writes!!)

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, so Chris Fair knows a lot and has a right to be a bit glib about it -- and most of the governments that she's deriding deserve her derision -- but sometimes she gets a little too glib. Even so, I loved this book and I loved the food and I am hoping to cook a lot of it some time soon.

[Schmerica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style definitely tries a little too hard sometimes, but i still enjoyed it a lot.

[michaelben · Rating 1 out of 5]

The snark was fun in the beginning. Then it quickly wasn't.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok book of unfrendly countrys

[Giselle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the concept of this book but really only wanted it for the recipes. The recipes look great! I might just copy them and get rid of the book as it takes up shelf space.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this, but then I'm a politics geek.

I'd like to read it again but I have misplaced my copy. :(

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author's tone really turned me off, even if the recipes looked tasty.