Product Description

"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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5295 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 704 pages

About the Author
Vefa Alexiadou is the leading authority on Greek cookery. A bestselling author of many cookbooks in Greece, she also has her own television series and regularly writes articles for magazines and gives lectures and demonstrations on Greek recipes. She has served on the board of the Centre for the Preservation of Traditional Greek Gastronomy.

Customer Reviews

Despite its size, still not quite comprehensive, and lacks some usability
Coming in at around 700 pages, the number of recipes being probably more than 3 times that number, you might think that this is a fully comprehensive book of Greek cuisine. But on reading through the introduction which discusses the regions and the variation in their cooking, there is plentiful mention of intruiging sounding specialities which on further investigation in the index are not actually contained within. Having whetted the appetite we can't then go on to make them from this book.

Despite its size and weight, it's practical for use in the kitchen from the point of view of being hardback, so can lie open flat, and has three ribbon bookmarks included. It also looks like it will endure years of regular use. On the other hand, and it's perhaps only to be expected, as a result of cramming in so many recipes the presentation results in a lack of useability from lack of readability. Instructions are crammed into a single paragraph rather than distinct paragraphs or numbered steps, which doesn't lend itself to easily referring back to the next step as you are cooking.

Undoubtedly the most comprehensive (but not fully so) book on the market for Greek cuisine by a long way, but if starting out on Greek or Mediterranean cuisine you may want to consider whether you'd be better off getting a smaller book with fewer recipes but with greater useability.

Useful but missing some fundamental classics
I'm Greek, I grew up with Greek food and I cook a lot of greek food. I understand that its not possible to include every recipe, no matter how extensive the volume, however it is missing some fundamental classics. Over the past week I have looked to cook 2 classic dishes that have not been included. Tava, a Beef stew with shallots and a tomato sauce, thickened with aubergines and flavored subtly with cumin, cinnamon and cloves was nowhere to be found. Also missing, French beans with lamb 'Yachnni'. I'm sure that over the coming months I will cook many wonderful dishes from this volume but a part of me is wondering just how many of my childhood favorites will be missing. For a closer look at traditional Greek cuisine, take a look at ' Traditional Greek Cooking from Cyprus and Beyond' by Julia and Xenia Chrysanthou. Truly awful photography but more inclusive in less that 200 pages than Vefas tome. A shame Vefas kitchen doesn't match up to the Italian classic Silver Spoon or the Spanish 1080 recipes.

Greek goddess
Vefa's Kitchen has to be one of the best cookery books I have ever read - it is a brilliant hybrid of Elizabeth David and Delia Smith: excellent recipes, well constructed and they work! This is what I've been waiting for, having been a fan of Greek cuisine for many years this book is the ultimate 'bible' of Greek food and how to cook it.