At noon on a typical weekday, groggy students coming from their morning classes have formed a slow line in front of the Leo’s wrap counter. On Tuesday, in Copley Formal Lounge, however, a full room of students was snaked around the room in line for Moby Dick catering, chatting enthusiastically—presumably because the wraps contained real meat and were free.
This Tuesday, Chris Fair, author of Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and Other Irritating States: A Dinner Party Approach to International Relations spoke to a large group of students about international relations through the lens of a foodie. While listeners munched on gyros, Fair, an associate professor in the Security Studies Department, gabbed about her culinary and romantic escapades in India, China, Pakistan and Israel. Instead of a stiff and wonky lecture about international relations and gastronomy, Fair gave a talk that was casual, candid, and raised many an eyebrow in the audience.
Each chapter of Fair’s book focuses on a specific nation’s foreign policy and government and how they affect the way its people eat. They all include recipes for national dishes. Guilty parties include the “Axis of Evil” states—North Korea, Iran, and Iraq—the “Dashers of Democracy,” like Cuba, and “The Great Satan Barbecue,” or the good ol’ U.S. of A.
According to Fair, states define their national identity by creating dictionaries to define their language and define their culture by creating a national theater. Cookbooks, Fair says, act like dictionaries by specifying the culinary style of a specific region. Food appeals to different tastes, but also carries the cultural baggage of the place it comes from.
Take, for example, the gastronomic identity of Israel. Fair said that the while falafel is often identified as Israel’s national food, some Israelis see it as an unfortunate appropriation of Arab culture. Israel and Lebanon have recently battled-over which state can make the largest plate of hummus. And to defy their culinary ties to the Arab world, Israel has tried to create a national cuisine based on foods found in the Torah.
According to Fair, though, the culinary differences between nations may be what divide us most. Fair presented her inability to make pita bread as the biggest issue in her romantic relationships in India. Eating dog in China is not easy if you worship man’s best friend, and ox penis might not be easy to keep down for, well, almost anybody.
But there is no need to worry about your ability to stomach Fair’s recipes. Fair’s book does not recommend foods she herself would not eat—meaning there aren’t any dogs. And minimal ox penis.
