Joanna Pruess

Joanna Pruess
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley Stanford University Sorbonne
Subjects	food, travel
Spouse(s)	Bob Lape

Joanna Pruess is a food and travel writer and a consultant to the food industry. She is the author of nine cookbooks including Seduced by Bacon and most recently Griswold & WagnerWare Cast-Iron Cookbook.

Personal life

Pruess graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, received a master's degree in English from Stanford University, and a certificate of graduate studies in French literature and arts from the Sorbonne. She was the director of the Cookingstudio, a school that she founded that held classes in a number of New Jersey branches of the Kings Supermarket chain, from 1982 to 1987. Her parents are Harriet Rubens of Los Angeles and the late Gerald Rubens.

She became a widow before marrying Bob Lape, a restaurant critic at Crain's New York Business and host of "Bob Lape's Dining Diary" (a review broadcast on WCBS-AM in Manhattan), in 2004. Mr. Lape knew about Ms. Pruess's supermarket cooking schools and reviewed her first cookbook in 1988, before meeting Pruess. They met again in January 2003, at the memorial service for Lape's wife and again months later when a female friend of Lape's suggested that he come along on a double date. "He was skeptical when the friend suggested that the woman in question was 'very funny'", but when name was Joanna Pruess was mentioned Mr. Lape said, "Great!" adding: "I thought she was a fascinating woman. I had wanted to see her, but had not gotten around to it. The invitation galvanized me."

The couple resides in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, in New York City.

Bacon

On the subject of bacon, Pruess contends that its popularity (bacon mania) is linked to the Atkins diet and South Beach diet regimens, which "gave dieters permission to indulge in fatty foods". "People are craving comfort, people are craving flavor, they're craving style," Pruess said. She's also noted that, "You need so little of it to add so much flavor." She suggests substituting bacon drippings for the oil or butter in the basic directions for popping corn. "Bacon is far more than a food. It is a happy state of mind. It excites people to the point where some aficionados liken it to illicit pleasures," she wrote.

Books authored and co-authored

• Pruess, Joanna (2009). Griswold & Wagner Cast-Iron Cookbook: Delicious and Simple Comfort Food. New York: Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 224. ISBN 978-1-60239-803-0. 
• Pruess, Joanna; Scott Linquist (2007). Mod Mex: Cooking Vibrant Fiesta Flavors at Home. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel. ISBN 9780740768651. 
• Pruess, Joanna; Bob Lape (2006). Seduced by Bacon: Recipes & Lore about America’s Favorite Indulgence. Guilford: Lyons Press. ISBN 9781592288519. 
• Pruess, Joanna; Michael White, Elizabeth Katz (2006). Fiamma: The Essence of Contemporary Italian Cooking. Hoboken: John Wiley. ISBN 9780764599316. 
• Pruess, Joanna; Lauren R. Braun (2004). Soup for Every Body: Low-carb, High-protein, Vegetarian, and More. Guilford: Lyons Press. ISBN 1592285651. 
• Pruess, Joanna (2004). Supermarket Confidential: The Secrets of One-stop Shopping for Delicious Meals. Guilford: Lyons Press. ISBN 1592285627. 
• Pruess, Joanna (2001). Eat Tea: A New Approach to Flavoring Contemporary and Traditional Dishes. Guilford: Lyons Press. ISBN 158574350X. 
• Pruess, Joanna; Ariane Daguin, George Faison (1999). D'Artagnan's Glorious Game Cookbook. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0316170755. 
• Pruess, Joanna (1988). The Supermarket Epicure: The Cookbook for Gourmet Food at Supermarket Prices. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0688080707.