The Book of Greek Cooking

This is one of my favorite cookbooks. It's not overwhelming and the recipes are delicious. I initially bought it soully for the moussaka recipe, which looked authentic when I read it (and it has been every time I have prepared it!). Then I was delighted that the other recipes were classics. Nothing over the top and intimidating. The tzatiki is fantastic. The bulgur-stuffed zucchini received rave reviews from guests. My family enjoys all of the recipes, though they are sometimes skeptical of some of the ingredients.

This is a very nicely done book that is perfect for those of us completely new to Greek Cooking. There are several things that I like. First and foremost is the practical selection of recipes. Many times I've purchased ethnic cookbooks in the past only to find that I can't get most of the ingredients, or to discover that a majority require a great deal of work and time. In this case nearly every ingredient is readily available. There are some involved recipes, yes, but for the most part these are dishes that are practical enough for the average family. We've had this book for perhaps two months, and we are literally making at least two or three Greek meals each week. This is healthy cooking too; almost everthing is based on fresh ingredients and olive oil is used almost exclusively over butter. Among our favorites are the white bean soup, the lentil soup, the Avgolemono Soup, the Souvlakia, the Tzatziki. We've found a way now to increase legumes in our diet for the first time. There are many fish recipes in this book that look very apetizing, including a couple with squid. There is a dessert section with Baklava, a salad section, and a number of fairly uncommon meals involving partridges, quail, or rabbit. There is just the right balance of common recipes you might expect in a restaurant and some authentic less common recipes. The book design deserves some praise. It's a small volume of 120 pages, one recipe per page. Heading each is a small picture, perfectly adequate to draw you in. There are helpful photos throughout. The book is as tall as all of your other books, but only 10cm or so deep. Easy to hold, easy to tote around with you in the store. Affordable. Sometimes you find major measurement errors in books like these. I've only found one potentially confusing illustration, but nothing more. Anyway, this really is my favorite cookbook for now. We're giving it a lot of excercise.

In its roughly 50 parts, all written by experienced cooks and cook book writers, HP Books' "The Book of ... Cooking" series takes you to the cuisines of various regions of the U.S. and around the world; all in easy to follow, well-explained recipes. This installment, the Book of Greek Cooking, starts with a brief introduction into the basics of the Greek cuisine and a glossary of ingredients, and then presents recipe suggestions for all major courses, from mezes and soups to baking and desserts. Special chapters are dedicated to salads and vegetable dishes, fish, (red) meat, and poultry and game. Classics such as avgolemono soup, baklava, chicken pie, dolmades, marinated olives, moussaka, live bread, souvlakia, tzaziki, spanakopitta, and spiced rack of lamb appear next to unique dishes such as cinnamon knots, coriander mushrooms and pork with pears. From afelia (coriander pork in cilantro and red wine sauce) to zucchini with cheese, this collection of recipes, while not all-encompassing, is a great introduction to the richness of the Greek cuisine - and at a relative bargain price, to boot. Also recommended: This series' installments on North African, Mediterranean, Spanish and French provincial cooking, antipasti, pasta, light pasta sauces, and pizzas and Italian breads. Also recommended: Around the World Cookbook Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes from the Cooks at the Legendary Restaurant (Cookery) Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian: More Than 650 Meatless Recipes from Around the World On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals (4th Edition) Textbook only Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition - 2006