Customer Reviews

Glorious Foods Of Greece

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Diane Kochilas stands in the first rank of food writers specializing in Mediterranean cuisine, along with Mediterranean generalists Paula Wolfert, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, Claudia Roden, Clifford Wright, and Joyce Goldstein; Spanish specialist Penelope Casas; Italian specialists Marcella Hazan, Giuliano Bugialli, and Lydia Bastianich; and fellow Greek specialist Agliaia Kremezi. This is Ms. Kochilas' third book on Greek food and I apologize to the author if I slight the first two in my praise of this volume, as I have not yet read or reviewed them.

Considering food writing as a whole, not just the Mediterranean, this is easily one of the best essays of a country's cuisine I have seen. The only volume which I have read and reviewed which may be better is Diana Kennedy's 'From My Mexican Kitchen', although the two books take a different route to excellence.

The very first impression is the design of the cover, typeface, and book layout that sets the stage for the feeling that this is an important book. It has the kind of restrained design I typically attribute to cookbooks published by Knopf, but which other publishers have done well. The next impression is that Ms. Kochilas has done everything that I missed from Ms. Kremezi's recent book 'The Foods of the Greek Islands'. While the latter volume did a good job on recipes, it did not dedicate itself to informing it's readers in a clear, lucid manner on what it was which distinguished the cuisines of the Greek Islands from one another, from the mainland, and from the Mediterranean in general. Ms. Kochilas does this with skill and insight. The first sign of this serious analysis of her subject is the superior map of Greece with the various island groups identified and icons representing major food product sources placed on the map. This is an easy attention to detail. The next aspect is the organization of the book into the various geographic regions. These are The Peloponnesos, The Ionian Islands, Roumeli, Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia and Thrace, The Islands of the Northeastern Aegean, The Cyclades, The Dodecanese, Crete, and Athens. As Ms. Kremezi mentions in her book but does not detail with any analytical understanding, there are significant differences between, for example, the relatively poor Dodecanese and the agriculturally rich islands of the northeastern Aegean such as Lesbos.

Ms. Kochilas has artfully combined the analytical insight and presentation of Nancy Harmon Jenkins with the deft personal warmth of Paula Wolfert in discussing her sources of specific recipes. The only adverse effect of Ms. Kochilas' approach is that the book may not fit some readers' expectations to find a volume with the approach of Julia Child, which is heavy on culinary wisdom and recipe and light on exposition. Ms. Kochilas addresses this concern when she says that this volume may not cover many of the architypical Greek dishes, as she has already presented them in one of her two earlier volumes. When references to classics such as moussaka are appropriate, she even gives references to her earlier works if you are looking for that recipe. Another compliment to this book is Ms. Kochilas most recent book on Mezes that is lighter on the analytical approach and heavy on great recipes for these tasty bites.

The other side of the coin is that by not spending a lot of space on well-known classics, Ms. Kochilas and her editors have made space for more recipes on pastries and breads, one of my favorite topics. I have made several of the breads in the book and have found them uniformly excellent. One should also not get the impression from my comparison to Julia Child's works that this book is all exposition and no cooking. The opposite is true. The final chapter on the basics of Greek cooking gives great insights into some of the most important skills in the Greek kitchen. In keeping with a concentration on pastry and baking, this section opens with two different recipes for Phyllo. The first is a traditional homemade dough and the second is a recipe for the style of phyllo made in Macedonia. For the purists, there are even variations to the basic recipe given for the Ionian islands, Roumeli, Afrato, and Epirus.

One of the most interesting discoveries in this final chapter is the story of trahana. To my novice eye, it is a pasta with some similarities to couscous and some similarities to gnocchi. Ms. Kochilas greatly expands Paula Wolfert's brief discussions of the subject with several recipes in the geographical chapters to round out her fascinating summary discussion. I am especially grateful for the paragraph on grating tomatoes. Other books on Greek cuisine give brief descriptions, but Ms. Kochilas tells us enough to give us confidence that this improbable technique actually works.

I have only touched the surface of the great richness in this book. I can hope to whet your appetite for more by quoting from the chapter on Crete where the author

'had come to witness this yearly winter ritual (brewing raki, similar to grappa, from the residuals of the local wine grapes) as well as other things in Crete, from the island's mythic, heart-saving diet, exemplar of simplicity and variety, to its seemingly limitless flora - over half the twelve thousand indigenous plants in Europe are found on Minos's island. ... The island is at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia, the real and mythic cradle of the Mediterranean'.

Exciting words for someone who thrilled to tales of Hercules, Theseus, and Achilles as a boy.

Highly recommended addition to any culinary library, especially for those interested in regional cuisines.

I have been trying recipes out of this book off an on for about a year now, and I highly recommend this book to those interested in Greek and/or mediterranean cuisine. I would like to caution those who are new to Greek cooking.....this book does not feature common dishes you will find in Greek restaurants or dishes which are stereotypical of Greek cuisine, such as souvlaki, spanakotiropita, mousaka, etc.... You can find plenty of other cookbooks which have those recipes. This book is differently modern, in that it uses traditional Greek cooking methods with some untraditional ingredients to create some really great dishes. For example, a couple of nights ago, I tried a new recipe out of the book that is a stew dish of butternut squash, rice, tomato, onions, and of course, olive oil. It was fantastic! What impresses me is this dish mirrors a very traditional and basic Greek recipe of a chicken and rice dish that I have been making for years. Another recipe I just had to try was tossing cooked pasta with yogurt, carmalized onion, and grated cheese. Delicious! And a great alternative to red sauce pasta dishes. Try the recipe for stewed fava beens with onions and cumin, in the Crete section. It was very good. Again, this book is not for the novice. If you love Greek or east mediterranean cooking, and you want to step up to the next level, you will really enjoy this cook book, as I have.

...I'd never tried cooking Greek food before--I cook mostly Italian, French, and German--so it was definitely a new experience for me.

Since then, I have cooked about 10 recipes from the book. The results have been mixed. In most cases, I have found that the recipes need a little "tweaking" to suit my taste. For example, one recipe I tried was for pasta sauced with yogurt, caramelized onions, and ground tomatoes. The dish would have been tasty, except that it called for too much yogurt. This experience was representative of the book as a whole. With nearly every recipe, I found myself thinking, "Well, it would have been better with a little less lemon," or "It would have been good if it hadn't had quite so much feta."

It may be simply that, as a relative newcomer to Greek food, I just haven't gotten used to Greek flavor combinations yet. However, I do also have to wonder how thoroughly these recipes were tested.

I would tend to agree with other reviewers' assessments that Kochilas is, if anything, too exuberant about this cuisine. I think a slightly more restrained approach would have resulted in more subtle and better-balanced recipes.

I would also have appreciated more of an effort to take into account the limitations of American grocery stores. Kochilas mentions dozens of Greek cheeses in the book, but virtually none of them are available in my local supermarkets. It would have been nice if she had suggested some alternative cheeses.

This is a cookbook original in both form and content. In form, the recipes are compiled by geographical region rather than by food category. In content, the book illustrates the provincial variations in Greek cooking related to differences in the local history, climate, and economy.

Each chapter begins by introducing the reader to a region. The Author describes the region's geography and climate, its history, its people, and how these factors have shaped local culinary traditions. Included at the end of each chapter, are a few selected recipes which are characteristic of the provincial cuisine.

The Author travelled to every corner of Greece collecting recipes from the local people region by region. The recipes come from people in all walks of life - restaurant cooks as well as housewives, rich as well as poor, the educated and the illiterate, the farmer and the city dweller.

This cookbook is not a re-hash of traditional dishes. I mean, does the world really need another published recipe for basic spanakopita? If that is what you are looking for, then this book may not be for you. Obviously, this Author's work is more than just a cookbook. It is well researched, creative, modern and traditional at the same time, and a tribute to the Motherland, her people and culture. As always, Kali Orexi.

Besides the wonderful recipes, this book is a pageant of Greek culture and an important historic document. If you are interested in learning and experiencing the cuisine of any particular region of Greece look no further. An excellent resource.

Ms Kochilas's cookbooks are so full of so much information and
background and her recipes are so easy to follow.
The recipes are many and different from the norm of "Greek food"
and what pleasures they are to experience.
If just trying Greek cooking for the first time or have many books on the subject you'll love this book. It is so full of
so much, you'll feel as if your there......Kutos to Ms Kochilas keep up the good work

I've got a lot of cookbooks, and this is the best. Great reading, great recipes, and I like the way its broken down by region, highlighting the differences in Greece food (like is accepted practice for discussions on Italian food).