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For years, Michael Shake worked investigating war crimes in conflict zones around the world, places like Afghanistan and Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

And he writes about how violence can destroy human culture like art and music.

But he was surprised to see how it could even

target what people prepared and ate, how subjugation and repression could just wipe out

ingredients and dishes from deeply held food traditions.

This realization came to him during a meal in Kabul in 2007.

This is one of my last nights in Afghanistan after having lived there for several years.

And I was incredibly exhausted.

My body ached from putting my life into bags and suitcases.

I really just kind of wanted to get on a plate.

And that afternoon, a dear friend of mine,

Timme had called me and he had ordered me over to dinner.

It was going to be one of my last meals in the country.

I remember standing outside of Tameen's house that evening,

and snow had just blanketed cobble.

And there had been a bombing, and it had kind of rattled the city.

And the snow had just kind of put the city in this kind of moment of peace.

It felt like it had erased a little bit of the tragedy that the city had gone through that day. When I got there, there was this incredible meal spread out on the table.

And there was a dish in particular that I hadn't seen before.

This beautiful stew of chickpeas.

It was golden and it was thickened with this really garlicky yogurt. Cumin, turmeric,

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