Real Greek Food [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

As an Athenian with Arcadian roots, I was impressed by the authenticity of the beautiful recipes included in this book. They all smell like home - yet differently! Like an Athenian's interpretation of regional recipes by way of Modern European, if you get my drift. While this is not a cookbook for the diet minded, everything feels lighter than you would expect and yet irresistibly rich at the same time. Cuttlefish with spinach and pine kernels is a well loved dish from my childhood, and this book proposes a cleaner version with a finer balance of aromas. My personal favourite, Peloponnesian green beans with new potatoes, packs a surprisingly zesty kick for such a humble dish and all because of the ingenious addition of mint into the rich red sauce - well, the use of small new potatoes instead of the rather bland floury variety we have in Greece did not hurt either! Most of the meat dishes are hearty without being too heavy and combinations of sweet and tart feature quite prominently. The real head turner have to be the Ismir meatballs which make my guests swoon without fail even though I usually cheat by using ready made swedish meatballs instead (sorry aunts but I don't have all day!)

I thoroughly recommend this book for those interested in Mediterranean flavours. It has been put together with a passion for the subject, and the lovingly photographed close ups of the dishes alone are worth the price. Unlike the above reviewer, I found all of the recipes rather straightforward and easy to reproduce: the fact that I recognised about half of the recipes from my own childhood might explain why! If the real cooking times do not always correspond to those suggested in the book, this is not necessarily the writers' fault: more likely it is because your average £300 cooker bears little resemblance to the power hobs at The Real Greek. Or at least that's what I like to think. It has to be said though that as far as the ingredients are concerned, it certainly helps if you live in a big city…

As an Athenian with Arcadian roots, I was impressed by the authenticity of the beautiful recipes included in this book. They all smell like home - yet differently! Like an Athenian's interpretation of regional recipes by way of Modern European, if you get my drift. While this is not a cookbook for the diet minded, everything feels lighter than you would expect and yet irresistibly rich at the same time. Cuttlefish with spinach and pine kernels is a well loved dish from my childhood, and this book proposes a cleaner version with a finer balance of aromas. My personal favourite, Peloponnesian green beans with new potatoes, packs a surprisingly zesty kick for such a humble dish and all because of the ingenious addition of mint into the rich red sauce - well, the use of small new potatoes instead of the rather bland floury variety we have in Greece did not hurt either! Most of the meat dishes are hearty without being too heavy and combinations of sweet and tart feature quite prominently. The real head turner have to be the Ismir meatballs which make my guests swoon without fail even though I usually cheat by using ready made swedish meatballs instead (sorry aunts but I don't have all day!)

I thoroughly recommend this book for those interested in Mediterranean flavours. It has been put together with a passion for the subject, and the lovingly photographed close ups of the dishes alone are worth the price. Unlike the above reviewer, I found all of the recipes rather straightforward and easy to reproduce: the fact that I recognised about half of the recipes from my own childhood might explain why! If the real cooking times do not always correspond to those suggested in the book, this is not necessarily the writers' fault: more likely it is because your average £300 cooker bears little resemblance to the power hobs at The Real Greek. Or at least that's what I like to think. It has to be said though that as far as the ingredients are concerned, it certainly helps if you live in a big city…

That takes us to the cookbook. I have tried a number of the recipes and have found some that are great & easy to prepare - the shallot and vegetable salad with thyme honey mustard dressing for example.

On the other hand - the recipes for some other dishes appear either to be 'wrong' or clearly not what is done in the actual restaurant - e.g. the pastitso - I cannot believe that you are really meant to use that much nutmeg.

In addition - some of the ingredients can be difficult to get.

So - I recommend you buy this book, but try things out before preparing for guests to avoid embarrasment.

Polli kalo fagito alla then eini efkalo.