Anny Gaul

Anny Gaul is a cultural historian and assistant professor of Arabic Studies at the University of Maryland interested in intersections of food, gender, and culture in the Arabic-speaking world. She has lived (and cooked) in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, and Lebanon. Food, kitchens, and cookbooks are at the heart of her writing, which starts from the premise that if we take cooking seriously –– as both a cultural form and a branch of knowledge –– it can lead us to new ways of understanding the world.

Anny’s forthcoming book NILE NIGHTSHADE tells the story of modern Egypt through a cultural history of the tomato, traced through cookbooks, street cries, and agricultural census records. She is the co-editor of MAKING LEVANTINE CUISINE, which explores the history, culture, and politics of the modern food cultures of the Levant.

Anny is also an enthusiastic amateur cook and has documented her culinary experiences on her blog COOKING WITH GAUL. Her work has been featured in The Nation, Eater, al-Quds al-Arabi, and Ahram Online.

(Photo by Nicole McConville)