Penguin Cookery Library

Claudia Roden was born and brought up in Cairo. She finished her education in Paris and later studied art in London. Starting as a painter, she was drawn to the subject of food partly through a desire to evoke a lost heritage – one of the pleasures of a happy life in Egypt. The local delight in food, like the light, colour and smells and the special brand of hospitality, warmth and humour, has left a permanent impression.

With her bestselling classic, A Book of Middle Eastern Food (Penguin 1970, revised edition A New Book of Middle Eastern Food, 1985), first published in 1968, Claudia Roden revolutionized Western attitudes to the cuisines of the Middle East. Her intensely personal approach and her passionate appreciation of the dishes enchanted readers, while she introduced them to a new world of foods, both exotic and wholesome. The book received great critical acclaim, and the publication of the enlarged edition was enthusiastically welcomed.