The war was only the beginning, the inciting incident for all the adventures that followed.

Before I was a cookbook author, a culinary anthropologist, or an editor at a New York food magazine, I was a lost 20-year-old soldier freshly returned from the Iraq war. What began as a longing for chicken and tea in an Iraqi cafe evolved into a zigzagging, decade-long search for the flavors that brought me comfort in a warzone. Chasing Iraqi Chicken is the story of my journey from soldier to food writer.