As a young woman, acclaimed author Barbara Bensoussan always thought she’d marry a nice Jewish boy from New York, just like her mother. But her life took a distinctly different turn when she entered the Orthodox world and her nice Jewish boy turned out to hail from Casablanca! Suddenly she found herself the Sephardic version of the bride-who-knew-nothing!

Now she had a husband who thought the chicken soup she adored was little more than flavored water, and who’d grown up eating the head of a lamb — teeth showing — on Rosh Hashanah.

As the years passed and her family grew, she did her best to absorb the culture and cuisine of the Sephardic world — some of which, she laments, is still clinging to her waistline.

The literary result of Barbara’s foray into the Sephardic world is The Well-Spiced Life, an authentic food memoir that combines the best of pleasure reading with excellent recipes. Packed with delightful anecdotes, culinary tips culled from years spent cooking for a “mixed” (Ashkenazic/Sephardic) family, loads of exotic recipes, and an abundance of comic relief (a necessary ingredient in every culinary undertaking!), it’s a book that belongs on the shelf of every respectable balabusta, Sephardic and Ashkenazic alike.

As they say in Casablanca: bon appétit!