To listen to more of Claudia Roden’s stories, go to the playlist:    • Claudia Roden (Food writer)  

Claudia Roden (b. 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 "The Book of Jewish Food". In this unique interview for Web of Stories, Claudia Roden is talking to her granddaughter Nelly Wolman about her life in food. [Listener: Nelly Wolman; date recorded: 2022]

TRANSCRIPT: I really loved my life in Egypt. But I didn't really want to become what women became in Egypt. Which was, in my background no woman ever worked. They weren't expected, nor allowed to work. Because if they did, they would shame their husband. And so... But the women did have a good life. They had money, because their husband's worked hard, as merchants. Most of the men in the family were merchants. And the wives, they didn't stay at home. They went to the club. They went to play cards at each other's places. They would do petit point, you know, embroidery. And so, they did have a good life, but I didn't find that appealing for me.