Vefa's Kitchen

Vefa's Kitchen is the first authoritative and all-encompassing Greek recipe book in English. Doing for Greek cuisine what the hugely successful "Silver Spoon" did for Italian, it contains more than 700 fully updated, straightforward and mouthwatering recipes. Aimed at all lovers of Mediterranean food, the book will appeal to anyone who loves to cook easy, tempting and delicious dishes, from simple but stunning salads and mezedes in summer, to slowly simmered meat dishes and crisp filo pastries in winter. As well as presenting definitive recipes for taverna favourites such as moussaka, tzatziki and hummus, the book documents the extraordinary variety of local sweets and pastries, delicious home-baked breads and cheeses of the mountainous interior, as well as the fish and vegetable dishes of coastal areas, simply fragranced with lemons and herbs. Like Italian cuisine, Greek cooking is incredibly simple and delicious, and is based on the natural qualities of good olive oil, fruit and vegetables, grains and seafood. And more than almost any other cuisine, modern Greek food contains many traces of its remarkable history, with its origins as far back as Homer and the 'wine-dark' Aegean Sea of the Iliad. The health benefits of the traditional Greek diet are well documented, and the extensive Greek repertoire of vegetable dishes is well represented, with more than 300 dishes that do not contain meat or fish. There is a comprehensive introduction on local ingredients and wines, the history of Greek cooking and the culinary characteristics of each region, as well as recipes for traditional and religious dishes. Vefa Alexiadou is the leading culinary authority in Greece today and is the author of many bestselling cookbooks. "Vefa's Kitchen" will quickly become a must-have for all home cooks and lovers of Mediterranean food.