Praise for The Country Cooking of Greece by American food icon and restaurant guru John Mariani. Diane’s book referred to as 2012’s Best Cookbook and calls it her masterpiece. Check out the article on his personal website.
Quince is one of the oldest fruits prominent in the Greek region’s nutritional history. It has had a special place in the country’s sweet tradition since antiquity and has only recently been slightly overlooked by culinary practices. Nowadays it often causes awkwardness among chefs as to what it could be used in other than the […]
One of the loveliest, mildest, most buttery mainland cheeses is the log-shaped Manouri, a alabaster-white, mild, velvety cheese that is served as both a table cheese and a dessert cheese, with honey and fruit. It is very similar to the Italian cheese ricotta salata. It is almost always made with sheep’s milk whey to which […]
(Excerpted from my forthcoming book, The Country Cooking of Greece, Chronicle Books, October, 2012) Ancient Greek and Byzantine literature is filled with references to fruits preserved in honey or petimezi—the world’s oldest sweeteners. To this day, eggplant and pumpkin rounds are still put up in grape must syrup, especially in wine-producing regions like Naoussa. The […]
COUNTRY COOKING OF GREECEIS OUT AND THE SCHEDULE FOR GLORIOUS GREEK KITCHEN ON IKARIA ISLAND IS AVAILABLE! Check out my adventurous new book The Country Cooking of Greece filled with great recipes enjoyed not only in the rural background they originate from but in many Greek urban and suburban homes! Be sure to order your […]
Haloumi is the national cheese of Cyprus but is also popular in Turkey and the Arab world. Haloumi traditionally is made with sheep’s milk, but nowadays is also produced with a combination of sheep’s and cow’s milk. The cheese has two distinct characteristics: its square or rectangular, relatively flat, folded shape and its strong mint […]
Learn more about Greek cheeses. This week, I am talking about Kefalograviera, one of the most popular Greek cheeses.It is produced in the rugged mountains of Epirus and Macedonia from sheep’s milk or a combination of sheep’s and goat’s milk. Kefalograviera is a hard yellow cheese that’s a cross between Kefalotyri and Graviera. It has an […]
A vegetarian recommendation should probably be a lot more accessible than a traditional dish from the mountains of Western Crete could ever hope to be. But when I cam across this dish from my friend Diana Farr Louis’ wonderful book Feasting and Fasting in Crete, I suddenly craved a warming bowl of this timeless food. […]
It takes a certain courage to open a vegetarian restaurant in this carnivorous city and even more courage to do so in times of severe belt tightening, on a street, nonetheless, where the shops around have shut down, victims of the financial plague. Avocado’s owners did it though, right in the heart of Syntagma, on […]
Hear my radio interview on The Splendid Table about the Greek resin and spice, Mastiha.