Claudia Roden

Claudia Roden (née Douek; born 1936) is an Egyptian-born British cookbook writer and cultural anthropologist of Sephardi/Mizrahi descent. She is best known as the author of Middle Eastern 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, Kingdom of Egypt, the daughter of Cesar Elie Douek and his wife Nelly Sassoon.

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. It presented the cuisine of her childhood in Egypt to a Western audience unfamiliar with Middle Eastern food.

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)

She has lived in Hampstead Garden Suburb since the early 1970s. Roden is a Patron 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. 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 for services to food culture. 2026 - elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL)

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,