Claudia Roden (née Douek; born 1936) is an
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medite ...
ian-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 (appetizer, first cour ...
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 portman ...
of
Sephardi
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
/
Mizrahi descent.
She is best known as the author of
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
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 ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...
,
Kingdom of Egypt
The Kingdom of Egypt ( ar, المملكة المصرية, Al-Mamlaka Al-Miṣreyya, The Egyptian Kingdom) was the legal form of the Egyptian state during the latter period of the Muhammad Ali dynasty's reign, from the United Kingdom's recog ...
, the daughter of Cesar Elie Douek and his wife Nelly Sassoon.
Her parents were from prominent
Syrian-Jewish merchant families who migrated from
Aleppo
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in the previous century; she grew up in
Zamalek
Zamalek ( ar, الزمالك , ''al zamalek'') is an affluent district of western Cairo encompassing the northern portion of Gezira Island in the Nile River. The island is connected with the river banks through three bridges each on the east an ...
, 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 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 disadvantage of swimm ...
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. 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
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 studio set, or at the host's personal home. Ty ...
presenter for
the BBC.
Food writers and chefs such as
Melissa Clark and
Yotam Ottolenghi
Yotam Assaf Ottolenghi (born 14 December 1968) is an Israeli-born British chef, restaurateur, and food writer. He is the co-owner of seven delis and restaurants in London and the author of several bestselling cookery books, including ''Ottolengh ...
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,
Julia Child
Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, '' ...
,
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."
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
Hampstead Garden Suburb is an elevated suburb of London, north of Hampstead, west of Highgate and east of Golders Green. It is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations. It is an example of early twent ...
since the early 1970s.
Activities and awards
* 1997 - The
National Jewish Book Award
The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.[Patron
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...]
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 ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
.
* 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 (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 celebration ...
for services to food culture.
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 Pavillion (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), 20 March 2009. Retrieved January 5, 2010
Claudia Roden interviewby
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
Egyptian Jews
1936 births
Living people
Jewish cuisine
Middle Eastern cuisine
Women cookbook 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 Egyptian-Jewish descent