On Thursday 2 February, cookbook writer Claudia Roden was interviewed by Hanneke Groenteman at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. As part of the exhibition 'Judaism: A World of Stories', the Prince Claus Fund and the Nieuwe Kerk organized this evening with Claudia Roden shared stories of her quest for Jewish dishes around the world. Widely admired as both a great cook and a fine writer, she has written classic works on Middle Eastern,  Mediterranean, Italian and Spanish food. The Book of Jewish Food was granted 8 awards. The book which besides giving recipes, tells the story of the Jewish people through their food.

Claudia Roden 

Claudia Roden was born in Egypt. She started out as a painter, but was drawn to the subject of food partly through a desire to record her lost heritage when her family had to leave the country. The way people in Egypt enjoyed food, the light, the colors and scents and the special hospitality, warmth and humor, made a lasting impression on her. With the publication of the bestseller ‘The New Book of Middle Eastern Food’ in 1968 Claudia Roden brought a revolutionary change in Western appreciation of the cuisines of the Middle East. Since then, Roden wrote numerous cookbooks, including the acclaimed The Book of Jewish Food. In 1989 she won Italy's two most prestigious food prizes, the Premio Orio Vergani and the Premio Maria Luigia, Duchessa di Parma. She has also won six Glenfiddich awards and several Amercian awards. In 1999, Claudia Roden was granted a Prince Claus Award.

The Prince Claus Awards Committee wrote: ‘Claudia Roden (1936, Cairo, Egypt; currently based in the UK) is both the originator and the leading exponent of research into the culinary cultures of the Middle East and North Africa. She practices a form of culinary anthropology and history in which there is room both for the scientific approach and for the personal experience of chefs, consumers and herself. She creates a space for the culinairy culture within the cultural heritage of the Mediterranean region from which she comes.’

Hanneke Groenteman

Hanneke Groenteman (1939) worked from 1962 to 1973 for newspaper the Parool. She presented various VARA radio programs and for VPRO television she presented De Plantage, the arts program on Sunday afternoons and the NPS program Books on Sunday. The first book by Hanneke Groenteman, Doorzakken bij Jamin (2003), about the role that food plays in her life and how she deals with it, was a great success. More than 75,000 copies sold and in 2007 an audio book edition, read by the author, was published. She continued to explore the theme of eating and the body in among other The fat lady (2006), in which she describes the life of Henk van Beurden, who as "fat lady" performed at fun fairs throughout the country. What motivated him from his adolescence on to dress like a woman and present himself as a curiosity at fairs? Again Groenteman analyses the dilemmas surrounding food and fat,  and she interweaves beautiful memories of the Fat Ladies and her own experiences, her shame and her desires. (Source: www.debezigebij.nl)

The Jewish Kitchen

A history of the Jewish people according to the Jewish kitchen, in two different sections in this book, Claudia Roden describes the flavors and the development of the Ashkenazi and Sephardi cuisines. The 800 recipes, many never before published, are treasures that Claudia Roden accumulated from the diaspora through nearly 15 years of traveling around the world. She tasted the dishes and talked to cooks, market vendors and recipes from people who know the tradition. The result is these magnificent stories and recipes in this monumental book.