The Foods of the Greek Islands : Cooking and Culture at the Crossroads of the Mediterranean

Rating:
Summary: Facinating Exposition of a Culinary Crossroads
Review: Everyone has to eat. People with something in common tend to eat the same diet. A diet commonly becomes a homogeneous, identifiable cuisine based on a common cultural heritage and a common terroir, the products of the region's agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, and gathering. Based on these simple observations, it is easy to see why the cuisines of Provence, Tuscany, Alsace, Apulia, Emilia-Romagna, Morocco, Mexico, Japan, Canton, and Szechwan are interesting. These observations also make it very easy to wonder why anyone other than a native of the Greek Islands would be interested in the cuisine of the Greek Islands, separate from the cuisine of mainland Greece. This issue was not obvious to me until I read award winning Aglaia Kremezi's book.

The first source of wonder is the great cultural diversity affecting the history of these islands. Many of the islands have gone through rule by ancient Greece (typically lead by the Athens city-state), Rome, Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire), Islam, Ottomans, Italians (specifically Venetian and Genoese), Turkey, and Modern Greece. The second source of wonder is the agricultural poverty of many of the islands. Some larger islands such as Crete, Lesbos, and Chios seem to have a viable agriculture, but most of the smaller islands need imported food to survive. The third and most amazing source of wonder about the Greek Island cuisine is the lack of seafood. There is literally so little commerce in seafood on the islands of the Aegean that there are no fish mongers on most islands. The reasons are that, apparently, the number and size of fish in the Aegean is simply very small, and, all the good stuff gets shipped off to Athens for sale in the markets of the capital. This is why salt cod from Portugal or Scandinavia is one of the most commonly cooked seafoods. The only local seafood that seems to be prominent in the island cuisine is the mollusks (squid, cuttlefish, and octopus). It doesn't end there. It is also true that traditionally, there is very little baking done on most islands, as there is very little wood remaining on the islands after thousands of years of habitation. About the only thing really distinctive of the islands' cuisine is the foodstuffs which can be foraged.

And yet, this cuisine is interesting and distinctive. I cannot say with any authority how distinctive the island cuisine is from the Greek and Turkish mainland, as I have yet to read and review books on Greek or Turkish cuisine, but I can say that there are things which set it apart from the general world of the Eastern Mediterranean.

The most distinctive preparation of the Greek Island cuisine according to the recipes in this book seem to be 'Savory Pitas and Pies' encrusted with either a Cretan phyllo dough, a standard pastry dough, or commercial puff pastry. Most of the savory pie contents are vegetables and cheese, with fennel, leeks, onion, tomato, feta, zucchini, and eggplant being the most popular. Lamb is definitely the favorite meat filling, but pork, octopus, and salt cod appear as well. The variety lies not only in the fillings and crusts, but also in the shapes and methods of preparation. Some are shaped like empanadas and fried, some are shaped and prepared like calzones, some are prepared in a coil from a roulade, some look like pot pies straight from the Pennsylvania Dutch.

Another distinctive element of island cuisine is the meze, which the author at one point mistakenly translates as 'hors d'ourves'. Diane Kochilas, an authoritative writer on Greek cuisine, in her book 'Mezes' says Meze, short for mezethes, denotes small dishes served typically at small eateries like 'mezethopoleion'. Even our author describes these dishes as being much more similar to something eaten at an afternoon break than as a pre-dinner starter. If you need a French term for them, 'amuse bouche' may be more appropriate.

Other chapters are 'Fish and Seafood (Scarce but Excellent)', Succulent Meat (Lamb, Pork, Veal and Chicken)', 'Beans, Rice, Bulgur, and Pasta', 'Seasonal Salads, Vegetables and Potatoes', 'Bread', and 'Island Desserts'.

The prominence of pies, pasta, and breads in the island cuisine makes up another great mystery in that Crete was identified as the epicenter of the healthy 'Mediterranean' diet. The puzzle is how the high incidence of cooked rice and processed wheat in the diet and the apparent less than expected incidence of seafood leads to a healthy diet. What about all those carbs!!! I'm not a fan of low carb diets, but I just thought I would bring out that anomaly to entertain your mind, dear reader.

Greek ingredients are almost as easily found in our megamarts as are Italian foods, but there are some ingredients for which you will have to go out of your way to acquire. Aleppo pepper, in particular, seems to show up in almost every savory recipe. Another problem with ingredients is the author's claim that Atlantic and Pacific fish simply cannot reproduce the taste of fish taken from the Ionian or Aegean seas.

In spite of all the puzzles this book creates for me, I must say that this book is a worthy exposition of a cuisine. Think of it as the food of Achilles and Odysseus from the movie 'Troy'.

The photography of the people of the Greek islands is evocative. The photography of the dishes is average. Each recipe is identified by its Greek name with a useful English translation. All recipes are good, some are extraordinary. Some are easy, many, especially the pitas and pies, are involved. The author's identifications of the island(s) from which the dishes came are inconsistent. Sometimes it is in the title, sometimes it is in the headnote, and sometimes it is absent.

This book is excellent if you have no familiarity with Greek or Eastern Mediterranean cuisine and you are adventuresome in the kitchen. And, the story of the terroir of the Greek islands is as interesting as the food itself. Opa!

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Summary: Excellent book especially for one cooking outside of Greece!
Review: I got this book as a Christmas present, and I was very pleasantly surprised. Aglaia Kremezi has always had the reputation of a gourmet cook, so I felt intimidated to try any of her recipes, because I thought they would be quite complicated and easy to fail for a home cook. Quite the contrary!! This is an excellent book, with very detailed descriptions and insightful information on original Greek dishes (as a Greek who just moved to the US from Greece, I can say that this is the REAL thing, very far from anything touristy or artificial).

All the dishes I have tried until now have been a success, and two are the main reasons: 1. The recipes have been adapted to the modern way of cooking 2. The ingredients have also been adapted so that one can find them outside of Greece without compromising in taste or authenticity. There is also a very helpful list of US sources for original Greek products.

I definitely recommend this book! It's one of the best cookbooks I own -- and trust me, I own many...

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Summary: My dinner actually turned out great!
Review: I wanted to make a special dinner for my boyfriend and chose a Greek theme, mainly using recipes from this book, inclduing Friend Zucchini and Cheese and Shrimp w/Tomato and Feta. The whole dinner was simple enough (and I am a novice cook) and the ingredients were easily available. There are also interesting tidbits for most of the recipes, making reading the cookbook as fun as cooking out of it. Best of all, the food was delicious, and he said it reminded him almost exactly of the food he ate during his trip to the Greek Islands last summer. I will definetly be turning to this cookbook again and again.

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Summary: The Best of Island Cuisine
Review: In this cookbook, Aglaia Kremezi not only compiles the best of the traditional recipes of the Greek islands, she also captures the essence of the islands themselves through well written, detailed, and interesting historical and geographical information.

This 298-page hardback begins with a comprehensive introduction to the islands of Greece. In addition to beautiful photographs, Kremezi provides a detailed description of each island and / or island group. The geography, history, and popular dishes are all highlighted, making the introduction alone a valuable reference tool.

The different types of food are divided among eight chapters; including appetizers, pitas and pies, seafood, meat, rice and pasta, vegetables, bread, and desserts. I really enjoyed the fact that each chapter is prefaced with additional reference information such as history, modern day adaptations, and substitutions for particular ingredients. In addition, background information is included with the recipes, which are not only delicious, but easy to prepare as well.

Another great feature of this cookbook is an A to Z glossary of Greek food terms. From Aleppo Pepper to Zante Currants, Kremezi clearly defines the traditional ingredients of the Greek islands. A Basic Preparations section offers recipes such as vegetable stock, tomato sauce, and yogurt that form the basis of many of the recipes offered. Most of the basic ingredients in this cookbook are readily available anywhere in the world, but Kremezi also offers substitutions for those ingredients that may be hard to find in your local grocery store. For ingredients that cannot be substituted, Kremezi provides a handy listing of Greek food suppliers from all over the country.

I highly recommend this cookbook not only because it is beautifully written, but also because the recipes are easy to prepare, flavorful, and truly capture the spirit of the Greek islands. In addition, the reference information included in this cookbook is superb.

Rating:
Summary: Almost like my wifes cooking
Review: My wife was born and raised in Athens, her mother was raised on the island of Kalymnos. This book was a trip down memory lane, with the bonus of including easy to follow recipes for some of the less well known but very tasty Greek foods. This book is an excellent read full of historical tidbits, beautiful photographs, and island lore. A very useful cookbook for anyone wanting a taste of the islands.

Rating:
Summary: Almost like my wifes cooking
Review: My wife was born and raised in Athens, her mother was raised on the island of Kalymnos. This book was a trip down memory lane, with the bonus of including easy to follow recipes for some of the less well known but very tasty Greek foods. This book is an excellent read full of historical tidbits, beautiful photographs, and island lore. A very useful cookbook for anyone wanting a taste of the islands.