Kay Karim was interviewed for BookCast by Fairfax County Public Library Director Sam Clay. BookCast is sponsored by Virginia Commerce Bank through the Fairfax Library Foundation.

• Kay Karim, author of Iraqi Family Cookbook From Mosul to America, was born in Mosul in northern Iraq, but grew up in Baghdad and immigrated to the U.S. in 1968. She is now the head of children's services at a branch of the Fairfax County Public Library.



• Cultural anecdotes about weddings, school, and family life are scattered throughout her cookbook. She includes information on traditional cooking utensils, such as tannours, wood-burning pottery ovens used to bake bread, and hawan, a heavy brass tool used to crush grains. Karim's book has been welcomed by Americans married to Iraqis who want to bring a taste of home to a spouse.



• Kay has given demonstrations of Iraqi cooking at branches of the Fairfax County Public Library and is teaching a course in Iraqi cooking through the adult education program of the Fairfax County Public School system.