Barbara Kafka

Barbara Kafka (August 2, 1933 – June 1, 2018) was an American food columnist and cookbook author.

Biography Born Barbara Joan Poses in Manhattan, she was the only child of Lillian Shapiro Poses and Jack I. Poses. Her mother was the first woman to graduate from the New York University School of Law who worked for several New Deal agencies under FDR. Her father was one of the founders of Brandeis University, the founder and president of perfume manufacturer Parfums D’Orsay and the vice chair of the New York City Board of Higher Education.

She died at her home in Manhattan due to complications from Parkinson's.

Career She has been described as a “sometimes pugnacious cookbook author.’. Despite never using a microwave until 1984, she championed their use. Her first book on the subject, The Microwave Gourmet was published in 1987. Other titles included The Opinionated Palate: Passions and Peeves on Eating and Food in 1992, in 1995 Roasting: A Simple Art and in 2011, The Intolerant Gourmet: Glorious Food Without Gluten & Lactose.

Awards and honors The James Beard Foundation bestowed upon her the Cookbook Hall of Fame award as well as its Lifetime Achievement Award.