Book Excerpt: Was Idi Amin Dada really a cannibal as rumoured?

With most dictators, as with a large number of ordinary people, what one ate as a child remains the food of contentment. Tito was happiest eating a slice of warm pig fat. Portugal’s dictator António de Oliveira Salazar loved to eat sardines. It reminded him of his impoverished childhood when he had to share a single sardine with a sibling.

In some providential ways, ours is a small world and there can be unintended connections that establish a link of sorts between dictators. For example, Putin’s grandfather, Spiridon Putin, worked as a chef for both Lenin and Stalin.

In his younger days as a Bolshevik revolutionary, Stalin took a liking to the prized Russian nelma freshwater fish. Sometimes he cooked too—making shashlik was one of his specialties. He was a foodie and occasionally hosted all-night banquets that served Georgian sweet wines, pickled cheese and savoury meats. These large get-togethers at his dacha were usually a buffet with home-cooked bread, beverages, starters, salads, soups and hot dishes. The staff would serve the food and leave the room. Stalin and his guests would then help themselves with everything they wanted to have, without any servants. Such dinners could last for six hours or longer.17 Often, he used these all-night bacchanalias with a purpose: ‘Getting his guests drunk and listening to what they had to say in a state of extreme intoxication was an old trick of Stalin’s…’

Even though it was widely believed that Napoleon died of poisoning, a recent autopsy reveals he might have died from stomach cancer. Experts attribute it to his diet which probably included salt-preserved foods, roast meats and a few fresh fruits and vegetables, all of which were Napoleon’s standard fare during long military campaigns.

But Napoleon ate only if he was hungry when on campaign. His preferred meal was a simple fare consisting of beef, beans and white bread, washed down with cheap Chambertin wine. He feasted on roast chicken when it was available. However, his austere food habits might have had something to do with the rigours of military campaigns. After he was exiled, he did indulge in rich foods, which contributed to his weight gain.

In contrast, Saddam was a foodie and he relished eating good stuff as if to make up for the deprivation he suffered in his childhood. Some of his staples were sides of lamb and beef with the fat trimmed off, fresh shrimps, live lobster and olives from the Golan Heights. He particularly liked traditional Bedouin dishes. While a glass of Mateus Rosé sometimes accompanied his main meals, camel’s milk with bread and honey was his usual breakfast. He was partial to the Old Parr whisky and Quality Street sweets.

Since very little is known to people about the type of food dictators eat, the talk about their food habits often takes a gossipy turn. There were, for instance, persistent rumours during his lifetime that Idi Amin ate his military rivals. But once when asked if he was a cannibal, he replied, ‘I don’t like human flesh; it’s too salty for me.’

In fact, his favourite food was roast goat, cassava and millet bread, and he would eat as many as 40 oranges a day, because of their claim to be ‘nature’s Viagra’. It is a matter of speculation whether that enormous daily consumption stood up to its claim, but this practice did earn Idi Amin the nickname Mr Jaffa.

None of the dictators I have listed above displayed a particular affinity for food in the way that some people crave designer clothes as a means to make a fashion statement, and assert their place in society. They ate what was suggested to them as good for their health or in continuation of their largely simple childhood offerings. It is also true that cares of office hardly leave most dictators the time to plan the next meal carefully. Yet, like everyone else, they too must eat. As Luciano Pavarotti said, ‘One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.

Excerpted with permission from Autocrats: Charisma, Power, and Their Lives by Rajiv Dogra @2024RupaBooks