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Listen to the Podcast“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, founder of World Central Kitchen
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One of the underreported casualties of any war is culinary culture. It's not just family recipes that might get lost; when you recognize the importance of food to our essential humanity, you can quickly see how the loss of culinary traditions can lead to an erasure of cultural and identity. This is the terrain author and human rights investigator Michael Shaikh explores in his new book The Last Sweet Bite: Stories and Recipes of Culinary Heritage Lost and Found.
Raised in Cleveland and Karachi, Shaikh has worked for nearly two decades in the field of human rights, spending extensive time in conflict zones mostly in Asia and the Middle East. Shaikh's book explores the impact of conflict on the most essential of human traditions--what we cook and how we nourish ourselves and our souls. From a refugee camp in Bangladesh to the legacy of Nazism and Soviet rule on Eastern European traditions, Shaikh unpacks what might have been lost if not for the resilience of diasporic communities and the amazing activists, home cooks, and chefs who have kept traditions alive.
Join us for a conversation moderated by chef and Marine Corps veteran Ben Bebenroth of the nonprofit Spice Field Kitchen.
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Photo © Krista Kowalczyk 2025
Online ticket sales for this forum will conclude on Wednesday, September 3rd at noon. For more information regarding ticketing/registration, contact Stacy Roper at (216) 621-0082.
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The livestream will be available beginning at 12:00pm. Have questions for the Q&A? Text them to 330.541.5794.
Production and distribution of City Club forums in partnership with Ideastream Public Media is generously provided by PNC and the United Black Fund.
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