Kitty Morse

Award-winning author Kitty Morse was born in Casablanca, Morocco, of a French mother and British father. She emigrated to the United States at the age of seventeen. While studying for her Master’s Degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Kitty catered Moroccan diffas, or banquets, and went on to teach the intricacies of Moroccan cuisine in cooking schools and department stores nationwide. In June 2002, she conducted a Culinary Concert on Moroccan culture and cuisine hosted by Julia Child, as a benefit for the Harry Bell Foundation of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. From 1983 to 2007, Kitty organized an annual tour to Morocco that included culinary demonstrations in her family home, a Moorish riad south of Casablanca.

She is the author of nine cookbooks:

• The Scent of Orange Blossoms: Sephardic Cuisine from Morocco (Ten Speed Press, 2001). Co-authored with Danielle Mamane. Food photography by Owen Morse.
  • Nominee, Best Foreign Cookery Book, World Cookbook Awards, Perigueux, 2002
  • One of San Francisco Chronicle’s Ten Best Cookbooks for 2002
• Couscous: Fresh and Flavorful Contemporary Recipes
  (Chronicle Books, 2000). Out of print.
  • Nominee, World Food Media Awards, Jacob’s Creek Best Soft cover, 2001
  • A selection of the Book of the Month, Good Cook Club
• Cooking at the Kasbah: Recipes from my Moroccan Kitchen (Chronicle Books, 1998). Second printing, October 2007. Location photography by Owen Morse.
  • Finalist, World Food Media Awards, Michelin Australia Best Food Book, 1999
  • First place (cookbook category), San Diego Book Awards, 1998
  • London’s Daily Telegraph, Cookbook of the Week, April 1999
  • San Francisco Chronicle, list of best selling cookbooks, October 1998
• Rezepte aus der Kasbah
  German translation, March 1999.
• A Biblical Feast: Foods from the Holy Land
  (Ten Speed Press, 1998). Czech translation, Spring 2000. Polish translation, October 2001. Out of print.
• A Biblical Feast: Ancient Mediterranean Flavors for Today’s Table (La Caravane, 2009)
• Second edition
• The Vegetarian Table: North Africa
  (Chronicle Books, l996). Part of the popular Vegetarian Table series. Out of print.
• Edible Flowers: A Kitchen Companion with Recipes
  (Ten Speed Press, 1994). Photography by Owen Morse.
• Edible Flowers poster
  (Ten Speed Press, 1994).
• 365 Ways to Cook Vegetarian
  (HarperCollins, 1994.) Reprinted by Barnes and Noble (March 2000).
• The California Farm Cookbook
  (Pelican Publishing, 1994). Photography by Kitty and Owen Morse.
• Come with me to the Kasbah: A Cook’s Tour of Morocco
  (1989.) Out of print.

Recent publications:

In my Mother’s Kitchen (Penguin USA, 2006). Contributed Pastelitos and Memories.

In the works:

What do you do with Salted Preserved Lemons: A Primer

Mint Tea and Minarets: A Memoir of Morocco with Recipes

Kitty recounts her life at Dar Zitoun, her family’s Moorish riad in the ancient walled medina of Azemmour, south of Casablanca. She invites you into her centenary home perched on the bank of Morocco’s longest river, to meet friends and neighbors. Each chapter includes a recipe Kitty prepares in the riad’s kitchen. Food and location photography by Owen Morse..

PUBLIC SPEAKER: Kitty has been a guest on public radio, and has been interviewed twice on the BBC’s The World. In 2003, she participated in The Book and the Cook event in Philadelphia (PA). She has been a featured presenter for the Chicago Culinarians, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the City of Chicago, the California Farm Conference, the convention of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, Kraft Foods USA, the famed Golden Door Spa (Escondido, CA), and, on three occasions at the Ahwahnee Hotel’s annual Chef’s Holiday in Yosemite National Park, as well as many other venues. In 1992 and 1999, she gave seminars on North African cuisine and culture at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

TELEVISION: Kitty has appeared on Sarah’s Secrets, hosted by Sarah Moulton of the Food TV channel, all national affiliates in San Diego (CA), as well as Morocco’s national television and Baja California’s (Mexico) Canal Azteca. She presented her book, A Biblical Feast, on the QVC shopping channel. Her two part series, Fresh from the Farm, which she produced and hosted in 1994, still airs on cable channels in San Diego County. For over a year, she held a regular spot on California Heartland, a weekly, statewide series focusing on California’s agriculture.

PRINT MEDIA: One of Kitty’s menus was featured in the January 2002 issue of Bon Appetit magazine, under the heading, Moroccan Cuisine: Cuisine of the Year. Once a weekly contributor to the Los Angeles Times, Kitty still writes regularly for a number of national publications. Her recipes have been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the San Jose Mercury News, the San Diego Union Tribune, Sunset (as one of The Best Chefs of the West), Fine Cooking, Cooking Pleasures, Pillsbury’s Fast and Healthy, Aramco World, Gastronomica, Eating Well, and Cooking Light magazines. Kitty belongs to the International Association of Culinary Professionals.