Greece: The Cookbook

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Greece is legendary and so is its cooking. Feta cheese, olives, olive oil, baklava and so many more amazing and popular dishes hail from the European country’s shores. Ikaria: Lessons on Food, Life, and Longevity from the Greek Island Where People Forget to Die: A Cookbook by Diane Kochilas The author, Christos Sourligas, weaves his mother’s story into these incredibly easy-to-understand recipes. Hellenic Armed Forces: Hellenic Army (Ellinikos Stratos, ES; includes National Guard), Hellenic Navy (Elliniko Polemiko Navtiko, EPN), Hellenic Air Force (Elliniki Polemiki Aeroporia, EPA; includes air defense) (2023) Taking the extra steps to collect recipes from Greek farmers, bakers, and fishermen, Aglaia Kremezi provides authentic recipes with fresh seasonal ingredients.

The recipes are straightforward and range from traditional to playful. They have been honed by an experienced cook to give readers a Greek dish perfect for any and all occasions. Whatever its medicinal value, Mnesitheus was quite right about cabbage in honey vinegar being delicious as a starter or side dish and it's simple to make. As you read about Greek food in Ikaria, you will see every dish described and every person featured. The recipes speak of Ikarian culture in a really lovely way. This recipe is adapted from various ancient sources – a poem attributed to the Greek poet Philoxenus of Cythera talks about shrimps glazed with honey being served at a banquet, but it does not help in recreating the dish! Fish sauce (for its salt) and olive oil would undoubtedly have been among the ingredients, along with the honey. Oregano is suggested as the Greeks used it in seafood dishes. This recipe is from Apicius, a Roman cookery book of different recipes thought to have been compiled in the 1st century AD. This recipe is one of the few in the book that gives quantities, which has led some to believe that this might in fact be an old ancient Greek recipe.

In general, however, spanakopita recipes call simply for spinach, which, without further qualification, I assume to mean adult leaf, given that the Greeks seem too sensible a society to have abandoned it in favour of the oppressively iron-y baby leaf stuff better suited to salads (I try that in one recipe, and find it almost dissolves into the filling). Fortunately, I have a number of greengrocers nearby, but if you don’t, frozen whole-leaf spinach turns out to be a very decent alternative: make sure you defrost it thoroughly, then squeeze dry before adding it to the filling.

The author does a fantastic job of bringing you the secrets of longevity in Ikaria that you can incorporate into your own life. In a lot of western democracies, especially in the US and the UK, there’s often a presumption that good food is a luxurious or a middle-class preoccupation – a rich people thing. What do you think of that mindset?In the US and the UK, there’s often an attitude around migration that ‘ We don’t have enough’. You find people who really don’t have much opening their arms – and not just saying, ‘ We’re going to give you a sandwich’, but ‘ We’re going to make sure every single thing we give you is homemade’. Talk to me about that difference.

At first I thought Vefa Alexiandou used a ghost writer for this encyclopedic tome, given her warm & down to earth persona on Greek TV programs, then in reading through it I found she has a chemistry degree , which explains the concise & accurate recipes & analytical overview of the history of Greek cuisine. Much like Child’s analytical approach to French cooking; this is an overview of the food & history of a nation.The recipe from Cato dates to about 200 BC, but olives provided relish and flavouring all through ancient times. The olive tree had been under cultivation in Greece for a thousand years, if not longer, when the Iliad and Odyssey were composed (around the 8th century BC). At classical Greek banquets olives were served in brine, and sometimes, no doubt, they were served as relishes like this. This is a great book for home cooks to get started with, the recipes are simple but bursting with flavor and you’ll find that the instructions are really easy to follow. Written with a devilish sense of humor, Cristos adds a touch to each recipe by sharing his personal experience with each one.