Mediterranean the Beautiful Cookbook: Authentic Recipes from the Mediterranean Lands (Hardcover)

~ Joyce Goldstein (Author), Ayla Algar (Author), Peter Johnson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Recipe collection, travelogue, history lesson and art book, the 13th of the publisher's Beautiful Cookbooks may be the most ambitious, and is surely among the most accomplished of the series. IACP and James Beard Foundation Award-winner Goldstein (Back to Square One; Festive Occasions) has exercised masterful selection skills to balance this sampling of 250 recipes from a region that supports a wealth of culinary traditions, including southern Italian, Provencal France and coastal Spain; Turkey, the Middle East and northern Africa; Greece and the Balkans. Food scholar Ayla Aygar's comprehensive essay on the culinary and geo-political history of the Mediterranean region introduces the seven chapters, which are organized around courses and types of dishes, and feature recipes from each culinary tradition. Interspersed among chapters are shorter essays discussing the culinary heritage of each region. The recipes, which generally suggest variations found in other countries (and are an etymologist's delight), are uncomplicated, gracefully written, accessible to the American home cook and highlight the area's abundance of vegetables and fish. Of particular note are the chapters on soups and fish, ranging from the simplicity of Turkish grilled swordfish to Sicilian stuffed squid, and including four variations on a Moroccan fish marinade. With 250 photographs, this volume is also a feast for the eye. Author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

San Francisco restaurateur and author Goldstein and her talented team have produced more than 200 recipes that, in combination with topflight color photography, make most other Mediterranean culinary attempts rather weak in comparison. Many of the great dishes associated with this region, from the Greek taramasalata to the French clafoutis, are featured, as are more novel appetizers, breads, entrees, and desserts. Sandwiched between different courses are short essays on gastronomic pasts and presents of seven countriesall, of course, accompanied by photographs. Barbara Jacobs

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Collins Pub San Francisco (June 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002553708
• ISBN-13: 978-0002553704
• Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 10.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #203,914 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Attractive, October 20, 2001

By	Stephen McHenry (Olney, MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This large format softcover book has beautiful pictures of various locations in the Mediterranean, as well as great pictures of almost every dish for which there is a recipe. The recipes are easy to follow, measurements in English and metric, with a helpful notation about the recipe at the start of each one. More importantly, they are useful dishes that you can acutally cook, not one of those books with 20 different ways to cook octopus. Where a particular local indgrediant is probably not available stateside, a creditable alternative is given. The book looks tasty to the eye, and the recipes are tasty as well. I am particularly fond of Turkish food and this cuisine is well represented, just as the other Mediterranean countires are.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touring the Whole of the Mediterranean: The Countries, the History, the Foods, December 20, 2005

By	Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

'Mediterranean the Beautiful Cookbook: Authentic Recipes from the Mediterranean Lands' is one of those special books written by Joyce Goldstein that is so extensive in its survey of the various countries and the qualities that make them unique that it serves as a fine travelogue as well as offering some of the most tempting samplings of cuisines from this region ever assembled: and remember this 'region includes Italian, Provencal France and coastal Spain, Turkey, the Middle East and northern Africa, Greece and the Balkans!

As each country is visited there are extensive notes about the countries, their relationship and influences, and the flora and fauna that inform the cuisines from food scholar Ayla Aygar. The photography is as superb, both of the landscapes and cities and the people AND of course the foods.

The recipes offered here are unique in that they are geared toward healthy eating - something not all cookbooks from other countries include! Here are recipes easily carried out in the standard American kitchen with information on how to find ingredients locally. The writing is casually refined and the recipes are easy to follow.

For a book that will encourage the reader to extend that trip to one country to enjoy the kaleidoscopic magnificence of the entire Mediterranean this richly illustrated volume is on the top of the list. Buy it before it slips out of print! Highly recommended. Grady Harp, December 05

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Healthy, Tasty Food from the Mediterranean region., October 21, 2005

By	S. Ilkay "Perfectionist" (California, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My neighbors Tom and Julia who know my passion for the Mediterranean region gave me this book yesterday as a surprise gift. I have traveled the world, tasted many different cuisines and I came to a conclusion that when it comes to La Dolce Vita, Joie de Vivre and Good Food, nothing compares to tasty, healthy Mediterranean diet and life style. I am telling you folks, it's the best in the world. This book is a good representation of the cuisines from the region and has many delicious recipes from Turkey to Italy, from Israel to Tunisia. Especially those mouthwatering Turkish recipes in this book are easy to make. The book also has wonderful colored photos of the region accompanied by articles on each country in the area.

The Turkish cuisine which has long been rated by European experts as one of the best in the world together with French and Chinese, is not all that known in this country. This is partly due to the small size of the Turkish American society and partly the lack of publicity on Turkish resort towns in North America. However with this book, you do not have to wait until you visit Istanbul to try those dishes. This is one book you'll use over and over again, even if you immigrate to Europe, because the recipes in this book contain measurements both in English and metric.

This is the third cookbook we have in our collection by Joyce Goldstein and I can tell you that, this experienced cookbook author together with co-author Ayla Algar have outdone themselves in this book.