Claudia Roden (née Douek; born 1936) is an Egyptian-born British

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (food), course (appetize ...

writer and

cultural anthropologist Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The term s ...

of Sephardi/ Mizrahi descent. She is best known as the author of

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

ern cookbooks including ''A Book of Middle Eastern Food'', ''The New Book of Middle Eastern Food'' and ''Arabesque—Sumptuous Food from Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon''.

Early life

Roden was born in 1936 in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Kingdom of Egypt The Kingdom of Egypt () was the legal form of the Egyptian state during the latter period of the Muhammad Ali dynasty's reign, from the United Kingdom's recognition of Egyptian independence in 1922 until the abolition of the monarchy of Eg ...

, the daughter of Cesar Elie Douek and his wife Nelly Sassoon. Her parents were from prominent Syrian-Jewish merchant families who migrated from

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

in the previous century; she grew up in

Zamalek Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...

, Cairo, with two brothers, the surgeon Ellis Douek, and Zaki Douek. She was Egypt's national

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

swimming champion at the age of 15. In 1951 Roden moved to Paris and went to boarding school for three years. In 1954 she moved to London where she studied painting at

St. Martin's School of Art Saint Martin's School of Art was an art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's became part of ...

. She shared a flat with her brothers Ellis Douek and Zaki Douek. In the London flat Roden, while preparing the meals for her brothers, started to experiment with cooking. She remembered family recipes from Alphandary, pies with aubergine and spinach, and mint and lamb. Both were foods not often cooked in London in that period and so finding ingredients in London was an adventure. She did not return to Egypt for a quarter of a century, well after her family and most of Cairo's Jewish community had been expelled; many of her books reflect her longing for the close communal culture that was lost, especially as expressed in the culinary arts and social occasions associated with them.

Career

Her first cookbook, ''A Book of Middle Eastern Food'', was published in 1968, and issued in the US in 1972. It presented the cuisine of her childhood in Egypt to a Western audience unfamiliar with Middle Eastern food. The book, which has been updated several times, has influenced food writers and chefs such as Yotam Ottolenghi and Melissa Clark, who have credited her with playing a large role in introducing the food of Egypt in particular and the Middle East in general to Britain and the United States. Paul Levy classes her with such other food writers as

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David ( Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and books about Europea ...

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...

, Jane Grigson, and Sri Owen who, from the 1950s on, "deepened the conversation around food to address questions of culture, context, history and identity." Her many cookbooks, Clark writes, have "produced a genre of works that is at once literary and deeply researched while still being, at heart, practical manuals on how to make delicious meals." Besides her numerous cookery volumes, Roden has also worked as a food writer and a

cooking show A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a Television studio, studio set, or at the host's p ...

presenter for the BBC.

Roles

* President (previously co-chair) of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery (2012 – present) * Honorary Fellow of University College London (2008) * Visiting Fellow Yale University, USA (2010 – 2011) * Honorary Fellow of the School of Oriental and African Studies (2012)

Personal life

In 1959, she married Paul Roden, a clothes importer, and they separated after 15 years. They had three children. She has lived in Hampstead Garden Suburb since the early 1970s.

Activities and awards

* 1997 - The

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1943, is an American organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. The goal of the council, as stated on its website, is "to promote the reading, writing and publishing of qual ...

in the Sephardic and Ashkenazic Culture and Customs category for ''The Book of Jewish Food'' * Roden is a

Patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of London-based HIV charity The Food Chain. * 1999 - Prince Claus Award "in recognition of her exceptional initiatives and achievements in the field of culture." from the Prince Claus Fund, an international culture and development organisation based in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. * 2005 - André Simon Memorial Fund Food Book Prize for non-fiction for The Book of Jewish Food. * 2005 - Glenfiddich Best Food Book award for Arabesque. * 2019 : Observer Food Monthly Awards: Lifetime achievement * 2022 - Roden was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to food culture. Harlan Walker on eggs

Publications

*1968: ''A Book of Middle Eastern Food'', (reprint) *1970: ''A New Book of Middle Eastern Food'', (reprint) *1978 ''Coffee'', (Faber & Faber 1978) New updated edition Pavilion (1994) *1981: ''Picnic: The Complete Guide to Outdoor Food'', (reprint) *1986: ''Middle Eastern Cooking'', *1987: ''Mediterranean Cookery,'' accompanied The BBC TV series ''(BBC Books 1987, newly enlarged edition Penguin Classic 1998)'' (reprint) *1990: ''The Food of Italy'', (reprint) *1992: ''Claudia Roden's Invitation to Mediterranean Cooking: 150 Vegetarian and Seafood Recipes'', (reprint) *1995: ''Everything Tastes Better Outdoors'', (reprint) *1996: ''The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand and Vilna to the Present Day'', (reprint) *1999: ''Coffee: A Connoisseur's Companion'', *1999: ''Tamarind and Saffron: Favourite Recipes from the Middle East'', (reprint) *2000: ''The New Book of Middle Eastern Food'', *2001: ''Picnics: And Other Outdoor Feasts'', (reprint) *2003: ''Claudia Roden's Foolproof Mediterranean Cooking'', *2003: Foreword to ''Traditional Moroccan Cooking'' by Madame Guinaudeau, (reprint) *2004: ''The Arab-Israeli Cookbook: The Recipes'', with Robin Soans, *2005: ''Arabesque - Sumptuous Food from Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon'', *2006: ''Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon'', *2007: ''Simple Mediterranean Cookery'', *2011: ''The Food of Spain'', *2021: ''Claudia Roden’s Mediterranean'',

References

External links

Claudia Roden
entry by Joan Nathan in ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia'' (

Jewish Women's Archive The Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to document "Jewish women's stories, elevate their voices, and inspire them to be agents of change." JWA was founded by Gail Twersky Reimer in 1995 in Brook ...

), 20 March 2009. Retrieved January 5, 2010
Claudia Roden interview
by Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire (Oxford Oral History Project)
Take the Spice Route
- article by Roden

at Penguin Books
Capsule biography
at the BBC
Staff page at SOAS, the School of Oriental and African Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roden, Claudia English food writers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century Egyptian Jews 1936 births Living people Jewish cuisine Middle Eastern cuisine Cookbook writers British women food writers Egyptian emigrants to England Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art Writers from Cairo James Beard Foundation Award winners Egyptian female swimmers Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Egyptian people of Jewish descent British Jews British people of Syrian-Jewish descent British people of Syrian descent British people of Egyptian-Jewish descent Egyptian people of Syrian descent