Flavours of Greece

The Greek philosophy of food is one of simplicity; make it fresh and full of flavor and serve it with great warmth and flair. This title provides over 250 regional and national specialties, from the olives, feta and seafood of mezes, little appetizers that can often become a meal in themselves, to delicate lemon broths to hearty bean soups.

The intoxicating tastes and smells of Greece rise from Rosemary Barron's pages with almost unbearable intensity. Flavours of Greece is a wonderfully evocative portrait of a cuisine still in many ways tied to the seasons and the rhythms of village life. Here are meat or fish scented with bay grilling over olive or pinewood, luscious, aromatic, slow-cooked stews, baked stuffed vegetables, pungently spicy sausages, sweets rich with honey, fruit and nuts. We may think we know Greek food quite well, but Flavours of Greece is packed with recipes that take us a long way from the over-familiar Moussaka, Souvlakia, Kleftiko. In particular, Rosemay Barron, who has run a celebrated Greek cookery school in Crete, has a hoard of enticingly different dishes characteristic of the cooking of the islands, savoury dishes often enriched with honey and spices that hint at both the Ottoman occupation and great antiquity. So besides the more familiar dishes, there are others as diverse as Peppered Dried Figs, Island Aubergines, Baked Sole in Vine Leaves, Turnips and Grapes in Aromatic Sauce, Peppery Grilled Liver, Spinach or Fennel Bread and Glazed Sweet Chestnuts. Crowning the whole magnificent cuisine is the great dish of the Greek Orthodox Easter, Paschal Lamb, traditionally cooked on a spit by men--perhaps a glimpse of the ritual prehistory of the all-male barbecue ceremony. --Robin Davidson