about
Anny Gaul is a scholar of culinary history, cultures, and literature in the Arabic speaking world. Through her research, she uses kitchens in 20th century Egypt and Morocco as a lens to explore how abstract ideas like middle-class domesticity and national identity felt and tasted over time. Other interests include the history of women's movements in the Middle East and North Africa and learning by making. She also works as a freelance translator (from Arabic) and has written a food blog since 2011. You can see a full C.V. here.
Currently a PhD candidate in Arabic & Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, Anny holds an MA from Georgetown and a BA from Yale. She has received research funding from the Fulbright program, the Social Science Research Council, the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, the American Research Center in Egypt, and the American Friends of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, among others.
Through 5+ years spent living in Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt, Anny has learned to speak several Arabic dialects, Tashelheet (Amazigh), and exactly enough French to organize a dinner party in Paris. She likes to ride her silver blue Italian bicycle.
grants, fellowships, awards
2018 Honorable Mention, Outstanding Student Presenter Award, Oxford Food Symposium
2018 American Institute for Maghrib Studies Research Grant
2018 BSA-Pine Tree Foundation Fellowship in Culinary Bibliography, Bibliographical Society of America
2018 Dissertation Research Travel Grant, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Georgetown Univerity
2016-17 Mellon International Dissertation Research Fellowship, Social Science Research Council
2016-17 Multi-Country Research Grant, Council of American Overseas Research Centers
2016 Pre-Dissertation Travel Grant, American Research Center in Egypt
2015 Cherwell Studentship Award, Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery
2013-14 Center for Arabic Study Abroad Fellowship, American University in Cairo, Egypt
2012-13 Fulbright U.S. Student Research Grant, Jordan
2011 Critical Languages Scholarship, U.S. Department of State, Morocco
people will talk
Cooking with the Benalis: a recipe for makouda, airy potato croquettes, NRC Handelsblad, the Netherlands, August 17, 2018.
Kitchen Tales from Egypt and Morocco, interview segment on Late Night Live, Radio National Australia, February 8, 2018.
A Baker's Dozen of Food History Blogs, Rachel Laudan: A Historian's Take on Food and Food Politics, November 17, 2017.
Judhabat Tabbalah Recipe From Scents and Flavors: "It Comes Out Very Nicely," Library of Arabic Literature blog, October 30, 2017.
Reviving the Forgotten Flavours of the Ottoman Palace Kitchen, by Stephanie D'Arc Taylor, Middle East Eye, August 10, 2015.
The Carton - Jazz Manouche - Spring 2014, The Culturist blog, April 10, 2014.
Shahrazad's Pharmacy: Literary Objects That Delight and Instruct, by Will Barnes, Arabic Literature (in English) blog, March 25, 2014.
The Sounds of Cairo, by Razan Al Zayani, The Carton: Jazz Manouche, no. 9, Spring 2014.
7 Delicious Bowls of Authentic Middle Eastern Hummus, by Miriam Berger, BuzzFeed, November 11, 2013.
Dinner at Anny's, Paris, Devour Blog, September 8, 2013.