Foods of Greece

Rating:
Summary: The authors finds the real Greek food of our grandmothers.
Review: This is Greek food distilled to purity...the real thing, the stuff of the centuries. This book probably the best Greek cookbook I own -- and I own dozens of them. The author writes about food for a Greek publication, and really knows her stuff. She went in search of the authentic Greek cuisine of our grandmothers, far from the greasy moussaka and insipid souvlaki of touristy Greece. It's not the Greek food trying to be French or American, not masquerading as something pretentious, using alien ingredients and modern short-cuts. Kremezi's quest for the authentic took her to the back roads, the tiny islands, where the fundamentals of Greek food -- the olive oil, the figs, the wild greens, the fresh fish -- are treated the same way they have been for thousands of years. Each page is a revelation, a journey, a deeply satisfying treasure ---- found. The book is rich in the history, lore, detailed preparation of each component of the meal. Also, it's a large-format, coffee-table book, full of pictures of the authentic Greece the author is seeking and is concentrating on so well--the Greece that was, and in some areas, still is. It is a world of perfect blue skies, white stone houses -- a world apart from the modern, noisy existence the "other" Greece can be.

Rating:
Summary: mouth wateringly authentic!
Review: This probably the best written and most beautifully designed Greek cookbook that I've come across. The photographs are absolutely stunning and certainly inspire one to want to start cooking - pronto! The recipes seem to come close the fare I fell in love with in the little family-run tavernas of Crete. The author is a food writer for a Greek magazine and has a multitude of worthwhile insights on the nature of Hellenic gastronomy and foodways. I'd say that if you could have only one Greek cookbook (tragic as that would be), this would be it.