The Last Sweet Bite

“Michael Shaikh knows what our mothers and grandmothers have known for generations: that our recipes tell the stories of who we are so that we never forget. The Last Sweet Bite tells the powerful and personal stories of the heroic home cooks fighting to keep their food—and their identity—alive.”—José Andrés, World Central Kitchen“An examination of the role political violence plays in shaping culinary traditions around the world … Shaikh travels the world to portray loss and recovery … A revealing inquiry at the intersection of food, culture, war, and power politics.”—Kirkus Reviews“Shaikh’s sources speak to the human spirit encouraging persistence when hope is not in abundance.”—Booklist“The power of food cannot be underestimated! Whether it’s children eating together at school or parents preserving a cherished family recipe in a refugee camp, The Last Sweet Bite beautifully demonstrates how a cuisine can not only hold communities together but also help them rebuild after a crisis.”—Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse and New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Simple Food “Thanks to Michael Shaikh the world will now be able to further appreciate and amplify the food, culture and resilience of the Rohingya, Uyghur, Tamil, Quechua and many others buried behind the front page.”—Michael W. Twitty, James Beard Award-winning author of The Cooking Gene and Koshersoul“Countless cultures around the world, past and present, endure the destruction of their identities and foodways. It’s important we learn how to celebrate and protect these diversities globally, by taking the time to learn from those cultures who have survived atrocities and attacks on their food systems.”—Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota and award-winning chef, author and founder of The Sioux Chef and NATIFS“Michael Shaikh takes readers on a vivid journey of cultural and culinary discovery. With the same care and curiosity he employed as a human rights investigator, he uncovers how food nourishes not just the physical body but how it enlivens memories, shapes identities, and carries hope from one generation to the next.”—Rachel Martin, award-winning journalist and host of Wild Card on NPR“A rare and brilliant examination of the abuses of state power against marginalized cultures through the destruction of their culinary heritage.”—Grace M. Cho, author of the National Book–award nominated Tastes Like War“Through intimate stories of community and resistance, Michael Shaikh shows us how violence is erasing beloved food traditions and how people are risking it all to save them.”—Nathan Thrall, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Day in the Life of Abed Salama“Michael Shaikh … shows us how communities facing repression not only lose their political freedoms but also parts of their culture.”—Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and author of Righting Wrongs

Michael Shaikh is a writer and human rights investigator who has worked for twenty years in areas marred by political crisis and armed conflict. He has worked at Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group, the Center for Civilians in Conflict, the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice. Michael is on the board of Adi Magazine. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, he lives in New York City.