Credit: Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Paula Wolfert: From Flatbush to Fez
I'm surprised that our paths never crossed, or perhaps they did. We were both raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn and Paula attended Erasmus Hall HS, as did my neighbor Barbra Streisand.
But, we actually did meet in the early eighties. I was on my way home in San Rafael, CA and stopped off at the then Emporium Dept. Store (now Macy's) where Paula was wrapping up a demo in support of her book COUS COUS AND OTHER GOOD FOOD FROM MOROCCO. Being Moroccan on my mother's side I was very interested and we chatted at length, and I, of course, bought a book.
The very next evening I preapred her chicken mechoui that my family demonstrated as being finger licking good.
Over thirty years later I had a delightful lunch with Paula's daughter in Paris
In UNFORGETTABLE: Bold Flavors from Paula Wolfert's Renegade Life Emily Thelin tells the incredible life story of a culinary legend.
The gripping narrative traces the arc of Paula Wolfert's career, from her Brooklyn childhood to her adventures in the farthest corners of the Mediterranean. Anecdotes and adventure stories come Paula's extensive personal archive, from over 50 interviews with Paula herself, and from dozens of interviews with food writers and chefs whom she influenced and influenced her-from Alice Waters and Thomas Keller to Diana Kennedy, André Daguin, and Jacques Pépin.
Author Emily Kaiser Thelin's affection for Paula powers this book, and shared in the cooking of the recipes as Paula battles early Alzheimers and strives to retain her memory.
This book is Thelin's gift to those of us who have cooked Paula's recipes and will be a perpetual reminder of the joy of cooking and traveling to exotic locales that has marked her career.
Terrance
