October 5, 2010 by lonbud

A Travel Cookbook for Our Times

With 80% of Americans not in possession of a U.S. Passport and god-knows-how-few able to find Afghanistan or North Korea on a map, there’s never been a better time for a cookbook like Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and Other Irritating States: A Dinner Party Approach to International Relations.

Author Chris Fair is a military and political analyst by trade but has put together a tasty compendium of travel advice, foreign policy, tips on cultural etiquette, and evil dictator biography — alongside recipes for full course dinner parties including desserts and beverages — using the cuisines of North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Israel, India, Pakistan, Cuba, Burma, and China.

To be fair, Fair also devotes a chapter to presenting a traditional menu from her home in the American heartland, but the book seems especially provocative, and valuable in its offer of everything from background information on the race for nuclear weapons between Israel, India, and Pakistan, to practical advice for working in the kitchen to bring off some of the specialized dishes included among the recipes.

No matter how great the cultural divide among people of differing religions or those who hail from disparate spots on the globe, food unites us all. Wouldn’t it be great if one day someone finally discovered the secret to world peace at a dinner party?