Letters from Uzbekistan: Something Bizarre about the New Tsar

 

Arslan’s letter read something like this: ‘Our national cuisine remains the same over centuries (his English is pretty good here),’ and went on suggestively to say as I decoded it: ‘Putin’s grandfather was Stalin’s chef, and before that Lenin’s chef, and before that Rasputin’s chef!’ What was Arslan trying to tell me? This was the closest he had come to commenting on his heritage, and why when I typed in ‘Rasputin eating’ was this the only photo that came up?

Naturally I checked the information–and it’s true! Putin’s grandfather cooked for the last tsar, Rasputin, Lenin, and Stalin. What was Arslan trying to tell me? Should I cancel my flight?