Mediterranean the Beautiful Cookbook: Authentic Recipes from the Mediterranean Lands

From the author of The Mediterranean Kitchen comes this sublime gastronomic tour through the cultures and cuisines of Southern Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. From Jordanian meat pie to North African couscous, the traditional and the exotic are fully explored. 250 recipes. 240 photos.

Recipe collection, travelogue, history lesson and art book, the 13th of the publisher's Beautiful Cookbooks may be the most ambitious, and is surely among the most accomplished of the series. IACP and James Beard Foundation Award-winner Goldstein (Back to Square One; Festive Occasions) has exercised masterful selection skills to balance this sampling of 250 recipes from a region that supports a wealth of culinary traditions, including southern Italian, Provencal France and coastal Spain; Turkey, the Middle East and northern Africa; Greece and the Balkans. Food scholar Ayla Aygar's comprehensive essay on the culinary and geo-political history of the Mediterranean region introduces the seven chapters, which are organized around courses and types of dishes, and feature recipes from each culinary tradition. Interspersed among chapters are shorter essays discussing the culinary heritage of each region. The recipes, which generally suggest variations found in other countries (and are an etymologist's delight), are uncomplicated, gracefully written, accessible to the American home cook and highlight the area's abundance of vegetables and fish. Of particular note are the chapters on soups and fish, ranging from the simplicity of Turkish grilled swordfish to Sicilian stuffed squid, and including four variations on a Moroccan fish marinade. With 250 photographs, this volume is also a feast for the eye. Author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

San Francisco restaurateur and author Goldstein and her talented team have produced more than 200 recipes that, in combination with topflight color photography, make most other Mediterranean culinary attempts rather weak in comparison. Many of the great dishes associated with this region, from the Greek taramasalata to the French clafoutis, are featured, as are more novel appetizers, breads, entrees, and desserts. Sandwiched between different courses are short essays on gastronomic pasts and presents of seven countriesall, of course, accompanied by photographs. Barbara Jacobs