Independent Iraqi scholar, passionate about cooking and its history and culture.

Nawal Nasrallah was a professor at the universities of Baghdad and Mosul, teaching English language and Literature until 1990. She is an award-winning researcher and food writer.

The first edition of her cookbook Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and a History of the Iraqi Cuisine (Author House, 2003) was winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2007. Her book Dates: A Global History (Edible Series, Reaktion Books) was released in April 2011. It is a charming account of the date palm and its fruit, informative and fun to read. Her English translation of Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's 10th-century Baghdadi cookbook Kitab al-Tabeekh, entitled Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens (Brill, 2007), was awarded "Best Translation in the World" and "Best of the Best of the Past 12 Years" of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2007. It also received Honorable Mention in 2007 Arab American National Museum Book Awards. She co-authored Beginner's Iraqi Arabic, with 2 audio CDs (Hippocrene, 2005).

Nawal has been giving talks, cooking demos and classes and presentations on the Middle Eastern cuisine, ancient, medieval, and present.

Food and Music at Harvard Semitic Museum

Samplins of ancient Mespotamian cuisine at Harvard Semitic Museum, October, 14, 2015:

Here is the menu:

Mersu: Ancient Mesopotamian date-candy:

Here is a cool article about the event by Shira Telushkin, MTS candidate:

A Taste of the Past

Visit my blog: 

  In My Iraqi Kitchen 

Read my short story "Bread Alone."

Published in Arabic in Al-Adab Magazine,  June 2003. 

A talk and a demo at Bridgewater State University, Fall 2012:

Iraqi Literary and Culinary Culture: A Unique Experience via Mind and Stomach 

Nov. 7, 2016: Ancient Cooking with Havard Students (for Professor Gojko Barjamovic's course "Societies of the World: Ancient Lives"): 

"At the Harvard Cooking Lab and under the guidance of author and food historian Prof. Nawal Nasrallah, students cooked and ate dishes that were prepared according to ancient Mesopotamian recipes. The main dish was a beet and lamb stew served with steamed bulgur and tannour bread. Mersu or date candy was served for dessert." (more here) Photos here. 

October 2016:

Teaching a Course on the Iraqi cuisine for the Masters program at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy.

In October 2016, I had the pleasure of teaching a crash course on the Iraqi cuisine, ancient, medieval, and contemporay for the Master of Gastronomy: Food in the World at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, located in beautiful Pollenzo in Italy.

Demonstrating Medieval Baghdadi appetizers to students of Boston University Gastronomy Program, Fall 2012:

Medieval Arab Gastronomy: Cooking for Pleasure and Health

(Photo by Elizabeth Mindreau)

Here is a link to my talk at Sulffolk University, Boston. Fall 2012

The Culture of Food in the Arab World

An evening of cooking and talk with Harvard students and Professor Barjamovic for his course:  

ANCIENT LIVES 2016 (7th Nov.)

Evening Event: Cooking

Describing the Baghdadi medieval dishes I prepared for my talk at AIC of Boston (American Islamic Congress), Spring, 2012:

A Taste of Medieval Baghdad:  A Glimpse and a Sampling of a Great Cuisine

(Photo by Stewart Ting Chong)

Here is the Menu: