Prospero's Kitchen: Mediterranean Cooking of the Ionian Islands from Corfu to Kythera - Hardcover

Diane Farr Louis; June Marinos

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0871317826 ISBN 13: 9780871317827

Publisher: UNKNO, 1995

Synopsis

A look at the cooking of the Greek Ionian islands, 150 recipes flavored with anecdotes, stories, and pictures.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

The first third of this volume offers an uneven cultural history that alternates between the confusingly abbreviated ("With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Ionian Islands automatically became part of the Byzantine Empire, its successor," observe the authors, when others would argue that the islands had been part of the Eastern Roman Empire since 395C.E.) to the pointlessly anecdotal. Similarly frustrating, a list of common ingredients notes that only Corfiotes use such hot spices as paprika and cayenne, but it isn't until 50-odd pages later that the authors suggest why (Corfu's location gave it more immigrants from Macedonia and the Balkans, where these condiments were common). In many of the 150 recipes that follow, though, the principal contribution comes not from any Old World source but from the New: tomatoes abound (grated, diced, sun-dried, in paste, sauce and juice), giving to many dishes a blurring sameness. Still, the recipes are simple, healthy (if not low-cal-there are oceans of olive oil) and the directions are usually clear. Best are the breads and desserts, which most fully reflect a variety of sources, including Bread Pudding from the British protectorate era, Nut and Spice Rolls that fall somewhere between baklava and mincemeat and a lovely panettone-like Christmas Spice Bread.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review:

Don’t anticipate just a recipe-filled title or the usual focus on Greece’s mainland dishes: this specialized cookbook focuses on the Ionian islands, provides a fine review of traditional lifestyles and local history and color, and includes many dishes not to be seen elsewhere, such as a corn bread spiced with currants and walnuts as well as cinnamon, cloves and orange juice. An excellent collection highly recommended for expanding the boundaries of Greek cuisine. -- Midwest Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: UNKNO
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0871317826
• ISBN 13: 9780871317827
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 252
• Illustrator: Judith Ann Lawrence