Customer Reviews

The Foods of Greece

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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.

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.

This lovely cookbook combines authentic recipes with stunningly beautiful photographs of food and landscapes. Each recipe is accompanied by background information on traditions, history, and the specific place of origin. Many of the recipes are featured in full-page photographs. The combination of color, lighting, and authentic backdrops gives these images an exquisite beauty. Other excellent photographs show the people of Greece involved in traditional tasks such as making cheeses and breads, milking sheep, and harvesting grapes and olives. The recipes are detailed and delicious. The text is infused with the author's experiences growing up in Greece, along with folklore and references to classic writings. This book is a feast for the eyes, palate, and intellect.

As far as I'm concerned, this stunningly beautiful work is the best Greek cookbook there is. Not until you spend time in Greece do you realize how utterly authentic it is, both in terms of the foods it portrays and the people and places in the photographs. But having cooked from it -- including the more time-consuming bread recipes -- I can say with authority that the recipes are every bit as delicious as they look in the photos. The unusually candid author tells the unvarnished truth about Greece's culinary strengths and weaknesses, making the book good bedside material, even if you never cook a single recipe. But what a shame not to. They are so excellent. Really, it's little wonder that this tome won a Julia Child award.

I am a great Greek cook. Learned from both my grandparents. I have tried most all the recipies in this book and they are the best and most accurate you will find. Worth owning and handing down to the next generation of Greek cooks.