In Russia’s arsenal the knife and fork have been powerful weapons

JOSEF STALIN understood the power of feasts. His chefs created sumptuous spreads which were designed to intimidate his guests. Witold Szablowski, a Polish author, suggests that when Stalin hosted Allied leaders for the Yalta conference in 1945, buckets of caviar and Crimean champagne helped him secure territorial concessions in eastern Europe.

Mr Szablowski argues that Soviet and Russian rulers have long fought with knives and forks. “What’s Cooking in the Kremlin”, his book, looks at their gastro-diplomacy. State dinners reached an apogee under Leonid Brezhnev (pictured left) in the 1970s. One chef recalls a roasted pheasant, perched on a pedestal of bread and decked with its own feathers.