my greatest culinary hero and widely admired cookbook writer claudia roden receives dutch award 'johannes van damprijs' for all her works. she is best known for her classic works on middle eastern and mediterranean cookery and her award winning magnum opus 'the book of jewish food'. she recently published her newest book 'the food of spain' that immediately became 'the sunday times cookbook of the year 2012'.  she is not just a fantastic cook, she is also a great writer. she writes as a culinary anthropologist, always includes ethnography and history of the kitchen and table, she traces the origin of each recipe and tells background stories of the food.  i've had her 'book of middle eastern food' on my bedside table for years, every night i read one story or recipe before i go to sleep....