Prospero's Kitchen Island Cooking of Greece

by Louis, Diana Farr; Marinos, June

• ISBN13: 9781780761367
• ISBN10: 1780761368
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-06-19
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris

Summary

Corfu, Kefalonia, Zakynthos and the other Ionian islands are home to one of the finest cuisines of the Mediterranean. The stamping?ground of Captain Corelli and Lawrence Durrell, the Ionians have always held a particular, almost mystical, fascination for visitors, and, for many of the thousands who travel to the region each year, it is the special nature of Ionian cooking that forms an essential and unforgettable part of their experience. The recipes in Prospero¿s Kitchen come mostly from family notebooks handed down through the generations and reflect the cosmopolitan nature of Ionian cuisine. Together, they provide a unique and tantalising taste of the variety of Ionian cuisine. Featuring over 150 easy?to?follow recipes as well as fascinating information on Ionian cooking and customs, beautiful photographs and original illustrations, Prospero¿s Kitchen is an essential kitchen addition for anyone with a passion for the beautiful and lyrical Ionian islands.

Author Biography

Diana Farr Louis is an author and cooking and travel enthusiast. She has been Travel Correspondent for the Athens News since 1997 and is the author of a number of travel books on Greece, including The Secrets of the Greek Islands, Athens and Beyond, and Travels in Northern Greece. She is also the author of Feasting and Fasting in Crete: Delicious Mediterranean Recipes.

June Marinos is an expert on Greek cuisine. Her publications include A Taste of Crete, A Taste of the Cyclades, and An Odyssey into Greek Cooking.

Table of Contents

“An excellent collection highly recommended for expanding the boundaries of Greek cuisine.” -- Midwest Book Review

“Absolutely invaluable for cooks and travelers alike – there’s no better way to get to know the islands than through the foodways, no better guides than Diana and June. Terrific stories, great recipes.” -- lisabeth Luard, author of European Peasant Cookery and European Festival Food

“Food culture tells you more about people and their land than any number of dry history books. For a joyously readable, delicious and invaluable introduction to the island, look no further than Prospero’s Kitchen. There...you will find an inspired blend of local textures, tastes, and smells, judiciously seasoned with folklore, historical snippets, and travelers’ tales.” – Philippa Davenport, author of Country Living, Country Cook.

Excerpts

Coincidentally, Prospero's Kitchen proved a harbinger of interest in the regional foods of Greece. Gradually other books appeared; food boutiques stocked with specialities from all over the country opened in Athens and other cities; women's cooperatives and small factories began to produce home-made, traditional preserves, pastries and pastas; and restaurant menus were sprinkled with dishes from Crete, the islands, and the North. Before this "renaissance" in Greek cooking, the only restaurants in Athens that served meals outside the mainstream were those run by refugees or their descendants from the former Greek communities in Turkey, particularly Constantinople and Smyrna. They had arrived in Greece in the 1920s, after the "population exchange" engineered by the great powers to prevent further wars between the two countries, with few possessions except their music and their recipes. There one would taste the flavors of Anatolia-hot peppers, cumin, pine nuts and raisins, fyllo-in dishes that we have come to think of as quintessentially Greek, like stuffed vegetables and vine leaves, pilaffs, egg-lemon soups and sauces, moussaka, spicy meatballs, and, of course, the whole range of layered pastries from cheese pies to baklava. Perhaps the only other region that has offered as much to Greek culinary habits is Roumeli, central Greece, the mountainous area north of the Gulf of Corinth up to the plain of Thessaly. This land of shepherds gave us the lamb or kid spit-roasted over charcoal that has become the symbol of an Easter feast, as well as a number of cheese- and yogurt-based dishes. Neither of these influences penetrated the Ionian until the era of easy travel and tourism, both domestic and foreign. Then began a passion for foods-and anything else-that were new and different, from Big Macs to Italian pizza. For a while, the islanders would try to cater to what they thought the tourists wanted. One sign in Corfu promised "Baked Beans and Belly Dancing," hardly local specialties. And although this unfortunate trend has by no means stopped, more and more people on all the islands have come _ prospero's kitchen to realize that their culinary heritage is just as marketable as their beaches, sights, and bars. Modernity has come at a price. For one thing, you will no longer see older women wearing long cypress-green, brown, or blue gowns in the interior of Lefkada or elaborate white headdresses in Corfiot villages. But while they have vanished, the foods and preserves they would have made can be sampled and purchased widely. Restaurants and tavernas offer both traditional and "nouvelle" versions of local dishes, often accompanied by minstrels singing "cantadas" in Zakynthos. Kythera has become a mecca for gourmets, with excellent eateries, award-winning organic olive oils and superb honey, and farmers' markets selling such delicacies as hand-gathered salt and home-made pickles. Lefkadian lentils and huge purple-tinged Zakynthian onions can be found as far away as the Cyclades, along with sweets like mandoláto (nougat), pastélli (sesame brittle), and mándoles (candied almonds). Even something as unusual as Corfu's sykomaîda, a pressed-fig "bread" spiked with ouzo, fennel, and black pepper, has traveled to the mainland and beyond. As for the wines, a similar revolution has occurred. Cephalonia's robola has become world-class, but even Lefkada's robust red plonk, sometimes exported to color Italian vermouth, has evolved into something very drinkable. Zakynthos wines have always been pretty good, while Corfu's have improved no end. And the latter still produces tzintzibirra (ginger beer), the ideal drink for watching a cricket match on the Spianada. In other words, it is much easier to enjoy Ionian specialties now than it was two decades ago. Prospero's Kitchen can guide you to them when you visit and help you reproduce their unforgettable tastes on your return. If, on the other hand, you remain at home, this book will feed your imagination and tease your palate. As Prospero's creator wrote long ago, this is "such stuff as dreams are made on".