- Hardcover: 512 pages
- Publisher: Cookbooks; 1 edition (Mar 29 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0688154573
- ISBN-13: 978-0688154578
- Product Dimensions: 25.8 x 20.4 x 4.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 1.3 Kg
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#200,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13 in Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Greek
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Moussaka, grilled fish, and feta salad with olives--that's it for Greek food, right? Wrong, as abundantly proved by Diane Kochilas's masterful The Glorious Foods of Greece. For over 10 years, Kochilas investigated the vast wealth of Greek cooking, traveling to its islands, cities, mountains, and villages and talking to cooks, bakers, fisherman, farmers, and cheese makers. She listened astutely, and the result is not only hundreds of authentic recipes, but a definitive culinary guide.
Following an introduction in which Kochilas details, among other fascinating information, the nature of each region's cuisine (Rooumali and Epirus are shepherds' domains, she writes, "where the reigning food is pita, as in savory pie, hundreds of them...."), she then offers chapter-by-chapter observations with straightforward recipes. These range from mezze (appetizers) and soups to breads, main dishes, sweets, and drinks. From the olive country of Peloponnesus, for example, readers are offered the likes of Roast Leg of Lamb with Wine, Garlic, Allspice, and Cheese. The Italian-influenced Ionian islands provide Chicken Stewed in Fragrant Tomato Sauce with Thick Pasta, among other dishes. Snd from Macedonia and Thrace come such fare as Roasted Potato Salad with Hot Pepper and Mint, and Leek and Yogurt Pie.
Throughout, Kochilas also provides interesting sidebars (The Sardines of Lesvos, for example, profiles this local treasure known for its sweetness), ingredient sketches, and preparation suggestions. A section that explores cooking techniques and a useful source list concludes the book, which is a tribute to a widely undiscovered cuisine and the author's steady yet exuberant powers of investigation. --Arthur Boehm
From Publishers Weekly
With this massive and masterful collection, Kochilas (an American with Greek roots who works in Athens as a food reporter for a Greek newspaper) brings Greek cooking front and center in American kitchens. Region by region (the Ionian Islands, the Cyclades, etc.), she provides over 400 appealing Mediterranean recipes. Fine seafood dishes such as the Fried Mussels of northern Greece and Spiny Lobster Cooked with Spring Onions and Herbs from Lesvos abound, as do interesting meat preparations, including the many lamb and goat dishes of Roumeli and Quinces Stuffed with Ground Lamb from the north, as well as poultry standouts like One-Pot Chicken with Broth-Simmered Noodles and Ground Walnuts (upholding the tradition of cooking noodles in broth because water was scarce). Many dishes use common ingredients in surprising ways, like an earthy Pasta with Yogurt and Caramelized Onions from Kassos and Chard-Stuffed Turkey from Nazos. Kochilas doesn't skimp on savory pies (Fresh Cheese Pie with Fennel from Kalavyrta, Pumpkin and Carrot Pie from Cephalonia), bread (Raisin-Stuffed Lazarus Bread from Lesvos), or desserts (Pancakes with Yogurt and Currants), and she presents numerous appetizing vegetable dishes. The text sections are of uniformly high quality, with indispensable pages on regional cheeses. Kochilas writes lovingly and insightfully about her adopted country, profiling the many Greeks (mostly women) who generously shared recipes with her, and displays a deep grasp of history. (Apr.) Forecast: Kochilas's eight years of research show in the book's thoroughness. A landmark for Greek cooking in the U.S., it's a likely candidate for cookbook awards and can be confidently billed as the definitive source.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book, But With Faults,
By A Customer
This review is from: Glorious Foods Of Greece (Hardcover)
The "Glorious Foods of Greece ...." is an excellent introduction to the superb cuisine of that ancient land, and, as the title suggests, the subject is treated with all the gusto and enthusiasm that it deserves. However, as is often the case with those affected by an extreme enthusiasm for a particular subject, the author may be tending toward too narrow and rigid concept of what constitutes authentic Greek cooking. Greek cooking not only varies from region to region, but even the same dish may recieve a different treatment dependent on family tradition. Keeping that in mind, it's best to just enjoy that which is set before us for its'own worth without so much forced reference to supposed standards of authenticity.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointment,
By A Customer
This review is from: Glorious Foods Of Greece (Hardcover)
As a collector of cookbooks,and a fanatic when it comes to cooking I was very disappointed in the layout of the book. Compared to other Greek cookbooks that I own this one in particular doesn't meet my needs as an American who wants plain Greek recipes. I believe for this money you could get two if not three cookbooks about Greek cuisine that's tasty.
4.0 out of 5 stars
I love this book!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Glorious Foods Of Greece (Hardcover)
This cookbook reads like a novel. I love reading about the author's trips throughout all the different parts of Greece. As a Greek-Canadian of parents from the 2 opposite corners of Greece, (Kastoria and Laconia) I was able to find the traditional recipes that my dad raves about from his childhood in Kastoria and discover some of the not-so-well-known dishes of the southeastern corner of Laconia, and everything in between! I loved this book and it is a wonderful resource for my library.
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