Mediterranean Cooking Book

150 recipes from the ancestral homelands of the olive. Hilaire Walden's Mediterranean Cooking is a mouth-watering tour of the region, emphasising the dazzling resourcefulness of the Mediterranean cook in drawing infinitely varied flavours from a limited diet. Recipes from Spain, France and Italy sit side-by-side with Moroccan, Syrian and Lebanese dishes, to the discomfiture and discredit of none. Historical enmities are (momentarily) absorbed as the Greek Avgolemono Soup and Turkish Walnut Soup complement each other; they display perfect hospitality towards the neighbouring Pumpkin Soup, a ravishing recipe from Mantua. The variety of garlic-based sauces is amazing, whether made with eggs (as with Aioli) or nuts (Tarator). Across the whole of the Mediterranean region little dishes are relished to whet the appetite; and the collection of antipasti, mezzes, tapas, or whatever you want to call them, is one of the highlights of the book--including, for example, Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi, Tabbouleh, Chicken Strips With Fresh Mint and Lambs' Kidneys in Sherry. A further blast of recipes, in case you aren't converted: Spiced Casserole of Sweet Potatoes and Peas; Bream in Couscous Jacket With Tomato and Mint Salad; Pigein With Kumquats; Rabbit With Coriander, Saffron and Almonds; Lamb With Artichokes; Catalan Noodles With Seafood; Moroccan Almond Pastry Snake (the last sounds a bit of a joke, but is a quite fabulous assembly of sweet almond paste flavoured with rose water, rolled up in filo pastry and baked in a spiral). Finally, the photographs made one reader, at least, hanker after the land where the lemon tree flowers.--Robin Davidson END Read More