‘A man of great appetites’: what’s it like to be a dictator’s personal chef? ^46.3%

The Guardian - By Andrew Lawrence - 6/9/2026, 10:00 AM

Negativity Bias 53% - Anecdotal 23.8% - Unattributed Quote 21.1%

Kim Jong-il loved pepperoni pizza. Saddam Hussein couldn’t resist a fish barbecue. Idi Amin reportedly had the capacity for an entire roasted goat. The menus may have differed, but the appetite was the same. For history’s most notorious strongmen, the dining table doubled as a stage for power. For the cooks who served them, every meal... more