Rombauer, Irma

Rombauer, Irma (Louise von Starkloff)

(1877–1962) cookbook writer; born in St. Louis, Mo. She learned to cook after her marriage to a St. Louis lawyer. At the request of her grown children, she compiled what became The Joy of Cooking (1936), the best-selling cookbook of all time and one beloved for its personal tone and encyclopedic range. Her daughter, Marion Rombauer Becker (1903–76), revised later editions.