Forthcoming Paula Wolfert Biography/Cookbook

[LindaK]

I thought folks here would be interested in this:

 

A recent post on Andrea Nguyen's blog Viet World Kitchen describes her collaboration on a new project: a biographical cookbook of Paula Wolfert, currently titled "UNFORGETTABLE: Bold Flavors from a Renegade Life."

 

As many of us here probably know, Paula Wolfert wrote some of our most influential cookbooks on the food of the Mediterranean region. If you've never read any of them, they're brilliant, both for the recipes and for her personal, immersive approach to researching her subject. Paula is also a Society member, and was very active here for a long time. Search for some of her topics and posts, they're good reads.

 

To the point: several years ago, Paula was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  A group of food writers, editors, and photographers is collaborating with Paula on a book that is both biography and a collection of her recipes. It's being funded by a Kickstarter campaign, which has already exceeded its funding goals, so additional contributions will let them double the print run, with anything more donated to Alzheimer's research.

 

If you're interested, you can read more on Andrea's blog and the Kickstarter page:

 

I have no affiliation, except being a great admirer of her work, and hoping all the best for her--and looking forward to this book!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Wonderful news.  I look forward to cooking from the book.

[blue_dolphin]

There's an article on the biography of Paula Wolfort that @LindaK mentions above and an interview with author Emily Thelin over on Eat Your Books today.  The book should be out next month.

The article also includes a link to preorder the book at Unforgettable Paula

 

Edited to add that an article featuring the book project that appeared in Cooking Light last November, "Brain Food: A Food Renegade’s Last Stand" was just announced as a James Beard journalism award nominee.

Edited March 16, 2017 by blue_dolphin
http://www.cookinglight.com/healthy-living/brain-food-paula-wolfert (log)

[Maison Rustique]

Mine is due to be shipped next week, if I remember correctly. I participated in the Kickstarter campaign. We love Paula!

[blue_dolphin]

My copy arrived today.  I want to flip through and see what catches my eye but I am resisting as I can tell this is a book to savor.  

[Maison Rustique]

They're here!! I can't wait to spend some time with it. Just flipping through, it looks fabulous!!

[rancho_gordo]

It's really swell.

[Anna N]

 Thanks so much for this @rancho_gordo.  I never had the pleasure of meeting Paula but I will never forget her generosity when she sat down and typed a list of recipes from The Cooking of SouthWest France for which she believed I could find the ingredients. I had whined on eG that though I loved the book I couldn't cook from it because so many ingredients seemed inaccessible.   

[blue_dolphin]

When I first found eG, I remember being so impressed at Paula Wolfert's generosity in answering questions and participation in the forums.  So impressed in fact, that I decided I wasn't good enough for eG and I lurked for years!  

 

There are more recipes in Unforgetable than I expected, 59 of them (here is the list on EYB), and they are woven into the chapters in a way that they tell Paula's story in wonderful way.  Really well done.  

 

Also mentioned in the EYB article about the book is this blog post from a young woman who assisted with recipe testing for the book.  She does a nice job capturing Paula's participation in the process by taking us through the day of a photo shoot for the book.

 

Edited March 21, 2017 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Anna N]

 It is now available on Amazon.com but not yet on Amazon.ca. 

[rancho_gordo]

You can imagine how much fun it was meeting here in person at an eGullet potluck! 
I was kind of in shock. And just enamored with eG and the its community.

[weinoo]

Kim Severson's piece in the NY Times, about Paula Wolfert's battle with dementia, is to me quite moving. I've seen it first hand (via my maternal grandmother), as many of us probably have; it's a miserable and scary disease. 

 

Paulas' books were for me, as they obviously were for many, eye openers into foreign cuisines and cultures. The recipes, while often rigorous, produced wonderful results. And the stories along the way piqued my curiosity.

 

So the article, while bringing back some sad memories, also made me chuckle a bit, and how often can that be said about an article in the Times? I like that she's a fighter; maybe she can give us all some hope.

[Smithy]

I love the stories in this book, and I think Emily Kaiser Thelin captures Paula's 'voice' and character perfectly.  I don't know Paula well, but met her once and conversed with her on the telephone enough that I can clearly hear her in the stories.  The recipes look enticing as well.  Recently my darling and I had dinner guests who also had met Paula and her husband Bill.  I served the Potatoes Dauphinois from that book, and gave them a copy of the book.  Last night they returned the favor, and served Paula's Deconstructed Hummus as an appetizer at their dinner party.  They sent half of the leftover hummus home with us.  I just finished it.  I almost wish our hosts had disliked it, so I could bring it ALL home. 

 

Both these photos are of leftovers just before they disappeared.  They were just as good the next day as the day they were cooked.

\

 

[wnissen]

On 3/21/2017 at 5:58 PM, rancho_gordo said:

You can imagine how much fun it was meeting here in person at an eGullet potluck! 
I was kind of in shock. And just enamored with eG and the its community.

Steve, I remember that potluck well. I think the thread is still around somewhere, circa 2001. Paula was generous with her compliments, I made sherry vinegar chicken from A New Way to Cook and she quite liked that as well. Am still reading the book; she had a fascinating life and I'm sorry I didn't get to know her better.