Chefs of former dictators, including Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein, reveal the secrets of the job

They were some of the most brutal dictators in the world - and they killed for a good meal.

The personal chefs of ruthless despots have revealed what it was like to work for them in a new book.

Men - and one woman - who cooked for Idi Amin, Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot and former Albanian President Enver Hoxha have all spilled the beans.

They said that they lived in constant fear of being murdered for cooking a bad dish or for accidentally poisoning their boss.

But the rewards were great and they were gifted with new cars and given huge salaries as their countrymen starved or were executed.

Polish author Witold Szablowski traveled from the savannahs of Kenya to the Cambodian jungle to find each chef.

It took him four years to write How to Feed a Dictator: Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Enver Hoxha, Fidel Castro, and Pol Pot Through the Eyes of Their Cooks because some didn't want to talk. Saddam's chef needed a year of convincing.

In the book, which is out later this month, Szablowski admits that he was fueled by a morbid curiosity about his subjects.

He writes: 'What did Saddam Hussein eat after giving the order for tens of thousands of Kurds to be gassed? Didn't he have a stomach ache?'

SADDAM HUSSEIN

Abu Ali was working as a cook for the Ministry of Tourism in Iraq when he was told to report to a palace on the outskirts of Baghdad. To his horror he was brought before Saddam Hussein who told him: 'Make me a tikka'. 

Ali bowed and went to the kitchen and made the dish. Saddam said he liked it and gave him 50 dinars, worth about $160 in today's money. 

The Butcher of Baghdad asked Ali if he wanted to work for him and of course he said yes. Ali said: 'Could I have refused Saddam? I don't know, but I preferred not to try'.

Workers at Saddam's home called it 'the farm' because it had such large grounds and a real farm with hens, goats, sheep and cows. 

The butcher - the actual butcher, not Saddam - had four assistants and slaughtered a lamb and several chickens each day so they could have fresh meat and a little lake to catch fresh fish. There were six cooks, two of whom worked exclusively for Saddam's wife Sajda.

Ali said: 'No I wasn't afraid he'd harm me. But on a bad day he might insist that I give back the money for the meat or the fish to the administration bursary. It happened often. He'd eat something, it was too salty and summoned me'. 

Saddam would say: 'Abu Ali, who the hell adds that much salt to tikka?' It was the same complaint with omelettes or okra soup, which was one of his favorites. 

Each time Ali had to repay 50 dinars. The next day Saddam would give him 50 dinars because he liked the lentil soup. Ali said: 'Those soups were probably identical but that's what Saddam was like'.

Twice a year the cooks were given new clothes specially made in Italy such as aprons, hats and caps and two suits with waistcoats. A tailor would come from Italy and measure all the chefs. Once a year Saddam bought each of them a new car - Ali had a Mitsubishi, then a Volvo then a Chevrolet Celebrity and Saddam's aides took away the old one.

During the Iran-Iraq War Saddam would visit the troops on the front lines and liked to make a show of cooking for them. Ali would parboil rice and leave it in a stove for Saddam to finish off. But he got talking to soldiers and usually let it burn. Or he would put far too much salt in and the poor soldiers had to eat it all.

Ali had to learn how to make Saddam's favorite soup - a fish soup from Tikrit - from his wife. Saddam called it 'thieves' fish soup' because apparently they were the people who made it. The ingredients were very oily fish, onion, tomatoes, parsley and almonds, put in layers inside the pot.

For breakfast Saddam usually ate eggs, fish or soup - lentils or okra. For lunch they always made six to eight dishes; two soups, two kids of chicken, fish and something from the barbecue. 

At least once a week they had mazgouf, or baked fish, for supper which Saddam 'loved'. One of Ali's colleagues Kamel Hana had to taste all the food before it went to Saddam in case it was poisoned. If he wasn't around, another of the cooks had to do it.

Ali recounts how one day Saddam took them on a boat cruise of the Tigris river in Baghdad and offered to cook. As a trick he put Tabasco sauce on the lamb kebabs and didn't tell anyone. Ali's mouth exploded when he tasted the meat. He said: 'I was terrified. 'Poison?' I thought. 'But why? What For? Or maybe someone was trying to poison Saddam, and I've eaten it'. He called for water and asked himself: 'Am I still alive' - he was.

Ali told an aide that if he cooked like that Saddam would have 'kicked me in the butt'. The aide told this to Saddam who summoned him immediately and said: 'I hear you didn't like my koftas' in a very serious tone. Ali writes he was 'getting more and more afraid' and began praising the food. 

He writes: 'I started thinking about my family. Where's my wife now? Are the children home from school?' Suddenly Saddam began to laugh, as did everyone else on the boat - in relief. It was all a joke.

Ali left his job shortly before 9/11 when George W. Bush invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq. When Saddam was hunted down to a hideout he still had some of the beef that Ali prepared for him, hanging on a palm tree.

IDI AMIN

Otonde Odera originally worked for the administration of Milton Obote, the former prime minister of Uganda when it declared independence from the British in 1962. Obote was overthrown by Idi Amin in 1971 and knew the drill. He said: 'As long as you have something good for them to eat, there's a chance they won't kill you'.

In fact Odera became a source of pride for Amin and when British Army officers came to visit one of them thought that the meal was so delicious he must have a 'white chef'. Amin tripled Odera's salary and gave him a brand new Mercedes Benz. While the entire country was being persecuted, Odera was richer than he'd ever been. He admits: 'I'd be lying if I said I didn't like that'.

Amin insisted that everyone who prepared food for him and served be circumcized, apparently because of his Islamic faith.

Amin grew close to Odera and gave him advice, such as: 'You should have more women'. At his nudging he took a second wife followed by two more. Amin always carried a briefcase of cash with him. If he saw Odera talking to a young girl he would give him the money and say: 'The President wants you to have fun with the lady'.

Odera said: 'Amin was obsessed with women. He was always having affairs, he had lots of lovers, he was always hanging around women.

It was impossible to refuse him; if a woman rejected him she had to flee the country, or else Amin would take revenge. On occasion if he wanted to conquer a married woman his bodyguards killed her husband'.

With near unlimited resources Odera excelled as a chef and brags that he invented the whole roast goat. They removed its innards, cut off its beard and stuffed it with rice, potatoes, carrots, parsley, peas, herbs and spices. They brought it onto the table in a standing position 'as if it was alive', Odera said. He said: 'Everyone was surprised to see a goat looking as if it had come straight from the pasture'.

The threat of violence was never far away and Odera says that everybody knew somebody who had been killed. The bodies turned up with the hands, feet, ears and tongues cut off.

Odera said: 'You ask how I could cook for a monster? Well, I had four wives and five children. Amin had tied me to him so that I couldn't leave. I couldn't have coped without his money. I was entirely dependent on him and he knew that'.

Things got worse after the 'pilaf incident'.

Odeara made a sweet pilaf rice with raisins which Moses Amin, Idi's 13-year-old son, wolfed down so much he had severe stomach pains. Amin decided his son had been poisoned and screamed: 'If something happens to him I'll kill you all'. 

Fearing the worst, Odera secretly took Moses to hospital and called his father who was screaming: 'Poison! Poison!' Odera later found out that Amin was holding the phone in one hand and using the other to point his pistol at the heads of the cooks. 

The doctor pressed on Moses' belly until he let out a giant fart and felt better. He had simply overeaten and the panic was over.

Odera's time came when he was suspected of trying to kill Amin and was arrested. He was thrown in prison and then deported to his native Kenya, thankful to have escaped with his life.

ENVER HOXHA

Mr K - who didn't want to give his real name out of fear of reprisals - said that working for the Communist former Prime Minister of Albania involved intense scrutiny. 

He was put under 24 hour watch even and he visited his hometown two agents from the secret police followed behind him. 

The fishermen who went to catch the food for Hoxha were accompanied by two agents to check up on them. Two security men accompanied the farmers when they milked cows to make sure nothing was added to the milk.

Hoxha, who ruled with an iron fist for four decades and sent 200,000 people to labor camps, loved the food of Gjirokaster, the city where Mr K. was born which is why he got the job as his personal chef. He was not allowed to tell anyone, even his wife, who he was cooking for. N

Hoxha had diabetes which meant he couldn't eat more than 1,500 calories a day. Mr K. knew that if Hoxha died he would be blamed - and executed. 

Hoxha was 6ft 5in tall so it was hard to give him his daily nutrients on such a restricted diet and he often went hungry which contributed to his bad moods.

For breakfast he had a piece of cheese with jam. For lunch he had vegetable soup and a small piece of lamb, or fish. For desert he ate sour plums and for supper he ate yogurt. If Hoxha was in a bad mood Mr K had a supply of extra desserts - made with diabetic sugar. 

He writes: 'On those days Hoxha needed something sweet. It'd be better for all of us, for the entire country, if he was served something sweet'.

Hoxha and his wife were 'stingy' and counted every penny before spending it even though it was state money. To spruce things up Mr K decorated the food such as putting a hat on a roast suckling pig with a lit cigarette in its mouth. Apparently he loved the joke.

Mr K said that he 'lived in a constant state of fear' and everyone was afraid that 'one day Enver would get up in a bad mood and have us all sent to a camp or killed'. Hoxha's first cook had killed himself and another disappeared mysteriously

Mr K decided to speak to Hoxha's sister to learn how their mother prepared food when they were young as a way to keep himself alive. It worked and he survived the regime.

FIDEL CASTRO

Working for Fidel Castro, Erasmo Hernandez cooked for countless heads of state including former President Jimmy Carter. 

He witnessed two of the 50 estimated assassination attempts on Castro's life and believes he has an 'angel' guarding over him. 

The Cuban dictator's favorite food was Hernandez's vegetable soup and despite subjecting his entire country to decades of Communist rule, he had perfect manners and was 'sweet like a father'. 

Hernandez still supports Castro to this day and he thinks that 'no one ever did as much good for Cuba as Fidel'. 

They were so close that when Castro retired he would call Erasmo and ask him to make vegetable soup. 

According to the book, on the rare occasions Castro did eat meat it was mutton with honey or in coconut milk. He also liked suckling pig, or lechon asado, an animal that has only been fed its mother's milk.

Another of Castro's chefs was named Flores. He said that Castro had eggs for breakfast every day - best of all quail's eggs - with some beans and rice. Castro loved ice cream and could eat 10 scoops or more with his dinner. 

But he could be demanding. One time Castro requested an elver salad, which is a kind of eel.

Flores drove all night until they found a fisherman who might have some but he refused. Flores told him: 'F*** you man, you're taking us out there right now'. 

They sailed off, got the elvers and later that day with no sleep Flores served up the salad with lettuce, tomatoes, oregano, chopped parsley, onion and carrots. 

Despite such treatment Flores was dedicated to Castro and said that if he asked for his heart he would let him cut it out of his body.

POL POT

To Cambodia he was the brutal leader of the Khmer Rouge who massacred millions of his own people.

To Yong Moeun he was 'not a murderer' and was just a 'dreamer' - even if he was picky about his salad. 

Moeun, who cooked for the dictator for years, remains loyal to him even now and her only grumble is that it took her some time to figure out what he liked. 

They met at a top secret base for Angkar, the Cambodian ruling organization they belonged to and her first meal was a sweet-and-sour soup with a papaya salad. 

Pol Pot didn't eat it because he liked it done in a Thai style, with dried crab or fish paste and peanuts. 

So Moeun won him over with baked fish and roast chicken. Moeun also cooked delicacies like turtle eggs and sometimes the soldiers slaughtered an elephant. 

Nowadays Moeun spends her days watching British Premier League soccer on cable TV and likes seeing the 'healthy young men' running around. 

She said: 'I've spent my whole life with men like that: in the guerillas they were extremely muscular. If I were younger I'd buy a ticket and fly to England to see Chelsea or Arsenal live'. She still yearns for Pol Pot and admits she loves him. Moeun gushed: 'How could anyone fail to love him?'