Paula Wolfert & The Food of Morocco

When I embarked on my culinary career, I had one mission in mind: to do for Egyptian cuisine what Paula Wolfert has done for Moroccan cuisine. For years, I've revered Paula as being the person who introduced Americans to Moroccan cuisine the way that Julia Child introduced us to French cuisine. With her latest book, The Food of Morocco, however, Paula proves to have done much more than that. 

Unlike French cuisine which had already been preserved in countless cookbooks, promoted by culinary ambassadors like Escoffier, and categorized by 19th century chefs like Careme, Moroccan cuisine (like many others in North Africa and the Middle East) was once accessible to those who ate it and prepared it on a daily basis, ie., the Moroccans.

Decades ago, Paula Wolfert set out to change that. She painstakingly recorded and interpreted recipes which were normally transmitted orally.  She researched not only the cultural relevance of the dishes, but how Americans could make them in their homes. It is thanks to Paula that we have couscous on our supermarket shelves and tajines in our kitchens.  With The Food of Morocco, she gives us even more incentive to use them.

Receiving this book in the mail made me feel like shutting myself off from the world and taking an armchair tour of one of the world's most resplendent countries with Paula as my guide. The Food of Morocco sets a new standard for cookbooks. With beautiful photographs of food, people, and places, one can find inspiration just by flipping through the pages. I particularly love the proverbs and artwork which help to align the reader with the Moroccan psyche before they begin cooking.

Paula's foresight in creating a Moroccan culinary map is ingenious. Surely groves of foreigners will use Paula as a guide when conducting their own food pilgrimages to Morocco. They will also benefit from learning about each of the land's cultural groups (Berbers, Jews, Muslims, and Arabs) and how they created such a fascinating culinary landscape.


The well researched and unique collection of recipes transform "ethnic" Moroccan cuisine into "what's for dinner".  Good cookbook authors tell readers what they know. Great cookbook authors tell them how they learned it. Reading Paula's headers which describe how she learned to create the dishes and perfect them...it's as if she's passing on 40 years of knowledge directly to me....and I can pick up where she left off.  The only thing missing from The Food of Morocco is a two week vacation which I would use to immerse myself in it.