Cobra stew. Hallucinogenic root bark. KFC.
These were the favorite meals of some of the most ruthless dictators of the 20th century.
In “Dictators’ Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants,” Victoria Clark and Melissa Scott offer insights into dictators’ table manners, food vices, and fears of poisonings. They also include recipes for some of the meals.
We selected several leaders from the book and highlighted their favorite foods – and some of their horrifying dinnertime eccentricities.
Korea’s Kim Jong Il loved shark-fin soup and dog-meat soup.
Foods of choice: Kim Jong Il's favorite foods were reportedly shark-fin soup, salo, and dog-meat soup, which he believed gave him immunity and virility. He was also said to be Hennessy's biggest customer.
Source: Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants
He had a team of women make sure all the rice grains served to him were identical.
Dinner etiquette:He reportedly had a sizable team of women make sure every single grain of rice that was served to him was identical in size, shape, and color.
Source: Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants,Britannica
Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian and by the end of his life ate only mashed potatoes and broth.
Foods of choice: Hitler's vegetarianism has been attributed to ideological reasons, but it also may have been motivated by his belief that a meatless diet would relieve his chronic flatulence and constipation. By the end of WWII, Hitler ate only mashed potatoes and clear broth.
Source: Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants
He had a team of 15 food tasters. If none of them dropped dead after 45 minutes, then the food would be considered OK to eat.
Dinner etiquette:Hitler was so paranoid of being poisoned by his food that he had a team of 15 food tasters. Only if none of them dropped dead after 45 minutes would the dictator eat.
Source: Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants
Joseph Stalin loved traditional Georgian cuisine.
Foods of choice: Stalin was fond of traditional Georgian cuisine, which features walnuts, garlic, plums, pomegranates, and wines.
Source: Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants
One of Stalin's personal chefs was Vladimir Putin's grandfather, Spiridon Putin.
Dinner etiquette:He enjoyed power-play drinking games and elaborate six-hour dinners prepared by personal chefs, one of whom was Russian President Vladimir Putin's grandfather, Spiridon Putin.
Source:Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants, Business Insider
Benito Mussolini loved garlic and thought French food was "worthless."
Foods of choice: Mussolini preferred a simple salad of roughly chopped garlic drenched with oil and fresh lemon juice. He thought French food was "worthless."
Source: Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants
Mussolini liked to eat at home with his family. Everyone had to be seated before his arrival.
Dinner etiquette: Mussolini preferred to eat his meals at home with his wife, Rachele, and their five children. A typical meal in the Mussolini household was punctual, with everyone seated and served at the table before his arrival.
Source: Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants, Business Insider
Idi Amin reportedly ate up to 40 oranges a day and enjoyed KFC while in exile in Saudi Arabia.
Foods of choice: Idi Amin loved roast goat, cassava, and millet bread. He reportedly ate as many as 40 oranges a day, believing they were "nature's Viagra." There were also rumors of Amin being a cannibal.
Later, when he was living in exile in Saudi Arabia, he reportedly loved to feast on pizza and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Source: Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants
For a while, Amin loved all things British, including afternoon tea.
Dinner etiquette: For a while, Idi Amin loved all things British and reportedly enjoyed afternoon tea.
Source:Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants, Business Insider
Pol Pot liked cobra stew.
Foods of choice: Pol Pot enjoyed venison, wild boar, snake, fresh fruit, brandy, and Chinese wine. He also reportedly liked cobra stew.
Source: Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants
Nicolae Ceaușescu liked vegetarian lasagnas and simple salads. Ceaușescu would throw the food served to him at formal events onto the floor and kick it as far as possible.
Dinner etiquette: Ceaușescu notoriously avoided eating food that was not properly screened. He would throw the food served to him at formal events onto the floor and kick it as far as possible.
Source:Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants,Britannica
Francisco Macías Nguema liked tea made out of the female cannabis plant and root bark with hallucinogenic properties.
Foods of choice: He liked bhang, a tea made from the leaves of the female cannabis plant, and iboga, a root bark with hallucinogenic properties.
Source: Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants
Haitian ruler François "Papa Doc" Duvalier's wife had to spoon-feed him by the end of his reign because of his many ailments.
Foods of choice: Nothing hearty.He was already diabetic and had heart problems and arthritis by the time he was in power in the late 1950s. By his last year, 1971, his wife had to spoon-feed him.
Source: Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants
Duvalier's "idea of after-dinner entertainment involved a descent to a dungeon ... to watch through a spy-hole while his enemies were being tortured."
Dinner etiquette: "His idea of after-dinner entertainment involved a descent to a dungeon whose walls were painted a blood red, to watch through a spy-hole while his enemies were being tortured," according to Clark and Scott.
Source: Dictators' Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants, Time
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