Nawal Nasrallah

She studied at the University of Baghdad, where she earned her Masters of Arts degree in English and Comparative Literature and wrote a thesis comparing the eighteenth-century novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe with the twelfth-century philosophical novel Hayy bin Yaqzan by the Andalusian philosopher and physician Ibn Tufail, showing how Ibn Tufail influenced Defoe’s work.

[6] She became an avid baker and “culinary connoisseur” in Iraq, having taught herself to cook American foods while living in Mosul.

[10] At the time, she reflected that, “as a wife, a mother, a woman, and a human being, I find in food and in memories of food my refuge, my comfort, and consolation when things are not looking good.”[6] Working with Harvard professor Gojko Barjamovic in 2015, Nasrallah compiled recipes based on what is known of the ancient Mesopotamian diet and cuisine and organized a banquet for scholars at Harvard's Semitic Museum.

[15] Nasrallah has participated in multiple interviews and panels on food and history on YouTube,[16][17] and regularly updates her blog on medieval Arabic recipes.

Scholars have drawn upon this edition not only for insights into what elites may have eaten, but also for how cooks may have prepared and served the food in terms of utensils and ceramics, with implications for Islamic-era archaeological research.

Known in Arabic as Kanz al-fawāʾid fī tanwīʿ al-mawāʾid, the book appeared in her English edition as Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table.

[12] More recently, in 2019, Nawal Nasrallah contributed to a volume about ancient Mesopotamian texts in Yale University’s Babylonian collection, while citing recipes recorded on cuneiform tablets.