Simply Mediterranean Cooking

By now, many home cooks are well aware of the benefits of the Mediterranean diet. Many are also familiar with its major ingredients, which includes olive oil, garlic, lemon, capers, and balsamic vinegar. Yet, remarkably, the many cookbooks promoting this land-of-the-sun cuisine all manage to be different, each flavored individually by the author's experience. Here, chef Ayanoglu, author of The New Vegetarian Gourmet (and once personal caterer to Mick Jagger), blends his own and friends' recipes into a 100-dish collection. His running commentary on every recipe includes notes on origins as well as hints on preparation. He has eliminated some high fat ingredients (including butter and extra oil), but he still relies on cheese and high-fat meats. His recipes are sophisticated; his New World chicken cacciatore, for example, features skinless poultry and a taste of orange. Unhappily for health-conscious cooks, no nutritional analyses are included. Barbara Jacobs