Among dog-eared volumes on The Detourist’s crowded kitchen shelf none has suffered more wear and tear than
Food Without Borders,
a slim menu of healthy recipes using mostly proteins and vegetables
compiled by French foreign correspondent, military analyst and
adventurer
Gerard Chaliand.
Now nearly 80, Chaliand is an expert in armed-conflict studies and in
international and strategic relations, especially in what are known as
asymmetric conflicts, as for example in the fight in Afghanistan between
the powerful military of the United States and the diffuse, lightly
armed Taliban.
In 40-plus years as a freelance journalist and academic, Chaliand has
traveled to more than 60 international hotspots from Vietnam,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Nagorno-Karabakh and Sri Lanka to Chechnia, Peru,
Chiapas and Kurdistan. Even at the time he published this cookery, in
1981, early in his career, he had already
spent time in various parts of the Middle East, South-East Asia,
Africa, Europe and the Americas. Along the way, he came to the
conclusion that there are, in his words, no “such things as national
cuisines. In fact there are only regional cuisines or cuisines with
local variations which cover a vast geographical area.”
In that spirit,
Food Without Frontiers divides the world
into geographical/historical regions with “cuisines which seem to me
outstanding or worthy of special attention.” From each of these Chaliand
presents foods that he found most appealing during his travels. Though
its author has had long career as a social scientist and his interest in
what people eat springs from a desire to understand the cultures he
visits*,
Foods Without Frontiers is anything but pedantic.
Instead, it is a highly enjoyable visit to the kitchen of an opinionated
Frenchman as he whips up meals that are exotic at the same time that
they are well within the ken of most American cooks (Chaliand includes a
list of substitutes for ingredients that may not be available in your
neighborhood, although these days it is unusual for an urban supermarket
not to devote a row or two to ethnic foods and fixings).
Food Without Frontiers is parceled into seven sections:
Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans (lamb dishes are typical);
East and South East Asia (steamed duck); India, Pakistan and South Asia
(Mulligatawny Soup); The Americas including the Caribbean (Chicken Sauté
à la Creole); Black Africa (Bobotie – Cape Malay-style meat loaf);
Northern, Central and Eastern Europe (Hare in the Pot); and Western
Europe — the Latin Countries (Blanquette de Veau). Although only 120
pages including an index, I’ve used it for 30 years without tiring of
it. Most of the recipes are easily adapted to US kitchens. As with many
regional cookbooks, it will lead the adventurous cook to experiment with
new flavors and ingredients.
*Regional cuisines “and probably also music,” Chaliand says, writing
before cable tv, the internet and Putumayo Presents, “are the most
accessible parts of a culture and, at the same time, the most resistant
to outside influence. They are the first points of real physical contact
with a different society. Part of knowing how to travel is to have an
appreciation of other cuisines: this is the very essence of the pleasure
of traveling.”
Food Without Frontiers
by Gerard Chaliand, long out of print, is available used from Amazon
and other booksellers. He is also the author of such works as
The Art of War in World History: From Antiquity to the Nuclear Age;
The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to al Qæda (with Arnaud Blin); and
Nomadic Empires: From Mongolia to the Danube.
