Claudia Roden's Mediterranean: Treasured Recipes from a Lifetime of Travel [A Cookbook]

by Claudia Roden

Join world-renowned food writer Claudia Roden on a culinary journey across the Mediterranean, all from the comfort of your own dinner table. Widely credited with revolutionizing Western attitudes to Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food, Claudia is a living legend. Though best known for her deep dives into cuisines, in this timeless collection of simple, beautiful recipes, she shares the food she loves and cooks for friends and family.

You’ll find tried-and-true favorites from France, Greece, and Spain to Egypt, Turkey, and Morocco, inspired by Claudia’s decades of travel and research throughout the region. The many flavors of the Mediterranean are highlighted in dishes such as Chicken with Apricots and Pistachios, Vegetable Couscous, Eggplant in a Spicy Honey Sauce with Soft Goat Cheese, Bean Stew with Chorizo and Bacon, Plum Clafoutis, and so many more.

From appetizers to desserts, Claudia distills a life’s worth of traveling and eating her way through the Mediterranean, presenting a selection of the recipes that she cooks the most often because they bring the most joy.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Culinary

320 pages, Hardcover

Published November 9, 2021

About the author

Claudia Roden was brought up in Cairo. She finished her education in Paris and later studied art in London. Starting as a painter she was drawn to the subject of food partly through a desire to evoke a lost heritage - one of the pleasures of a happy life in Egypt.
With her bestselling classic, A Book of Middle Eastern Food, first published in 1968, Roden revolutionized Western attitudes to the cuisine of the Middle East. Her intensely personal approach and her passionate appreciation of the dishes delighted readers, while she introduced them to a new world of foods, both exotic and wholesome. The book received great critical acclaim.
Mrs Roden continued to write about food with a special interest in the social and historical background of cooking.
Then came the BBC television series, Mediterranean Cookery with Claudia Roden and the accompanying book entitled Claudia Roden's Mediterranean Cookery.
In 1992, she won the Glenfiddich Trophy, the top prize in the Glenfiddich Awards.

Reviews

[Annmarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Tour of the Mediterranean

Overview
Too often. when we think of Mediterranean cuisine we think of Italian and Greek cooking. Claudia Roden expands that view and reminds us that Mediterranean cuisine includes so many other countries each with their own deep, rich culinary cultures and histories!! This cookbook features dishes from Spain, France, Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey to name a few and, yes, of course from Italy and Greece. The book feels like a cruise vacation around the Mediterranean and though it features recipes from different countries , Roden highlights the commonality as well as the differences in the cuisines.
The Cookbook
The book begins with a lovely introduction to the author’s background, experiences and point of view. The Chapters are Appetizers, Soups, Salad and cold vegetable dishes, With grain, Seafood and shellfish (interesting distinction here), Meat and poultry, and Desserts and pastries.
Th book is well indexed so that a cook can find recipes based on ingredients that they may wish to cook or have on hand. The recipes are intended for the home cook for weeknight cooking or for company. Most recipes have photos attached and those that don’t really need a photo such as Roast Summer Vegetables or Chicken with White Wine.
Recipes
I was drawn to the Citrus Salad with Greens from Taormina, Sicily because my father often spoke of salad made from grapefruit and oranges which are abundant there. It was so easy and refreshing and felt authentic. The Chicken Baked with Olives and Boiled Lemons from Marrakesh was so easy and though some cooks may not keep Turmeric on hand, the ingredients were all pantry staples or easy to find.
For me this cookbook is the vacation that I have been meaning to take but haven’t yet !
I’ve accepted a free copy from Ten Speed Press in exchange for a free and unbiased review.

[Maggie]

This is lovely. I haven’t yet cooked anything from it but my copy is full of post-it flags. The photos are great, the recipes are appealing, and Roden’s commanding voice and wide knowledge of the food of the Mediterranean shine through on every page.

“This Turkish cake is like a light, airy, fresh-tasting cheesecake. We make it all the time in my family, and you really must try it.”

[dre · Rating 5 out of 5]

What! a! joy!!! Bouillabaisse, clafoutis, mjadra, focaccia - woven with stories of where, who, why - it’s incredible. The photography is beautiful (and I’m not referring to the food styling, which is also lovely). I’m captivated by the grace in her writing, and found myself staring at her portrait (in her library) just feeling very much in awe of her life. I’ve read the recipes, and they have the relaxed but confident tone that remind me of my own mother, and grandmother (I’m sure these recipes will turn out as perfectly as theirs too!). I can’t wait to cook all the way through this book.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly liked the Salads and Cold Dishes, the Vegetable Sides and Sharing Dishes and With Grain sections of this Mediterranean Recipes treasured recipes, also her Introduction and the beautiful colored photos made an interesting read.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that this is a bad cookbook in general, but it just didn't have anything I was interested in making.

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only Claudia ruled the world there would be no hatred, no war and no famine. Back when I studied Arabic and through my short teaching career I used her Middle Eastern cookbook to explain to students about the wonderful complexities of the region through her recipes. I still have it, well-thumbed and scribbled in, a cheaply-produced paperback but at the time pretty much the only book of Middle Eastern food readily available. Now that Roden is famous her publications are stunningly produced with gorgeous photography (unidentified as to locale), but the lovely humble comments remain the same. Come for the stunning pictures but stay for the voice. I loved the photo of her great-grandfather (Muhammara) and the story of Maria Koron (Frittata). Also, the book contained great memories for me of Zahle, souks in Istanbul, Cairo, Damascus, and Beirut, felukas, simple pasta dishes of my grandmother, Marseille bouillabaise, and days when I made my own labne.

[Sarina Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not not most interesting or elegantly written cookbook, but I did learn a few new dishes, and the slow-roasted lamb shoulder on pg. 262 is so ridiculously easy and good that it earned a 4-star rating all on its own. The recipe is so easy I didn’t believe it would work, but it was the best lamb I’ve ever had. I did make one modification to the recipe: basting with the drippings for the last hour of roasting.

[Kerry Croucier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always forget that “Mediterranean” food is more than food from one or two countries, as there are so many countries that are on the Mediterranean. I am sure I am not the only one, which makes CLAUDIA RODEN’S MEDITERRANEAN all the more interesting and exciting. She looks at some of the history and how foods and cooking methods have travelled, along with the similarities and differences of the dishes across the region. This is not a book filled with random recipes, these are recipes she has incorporated into her everyday cooking that she shares with family and friends, saying “The charm of a home-cooked meal is its casual simplicity.” I love that she has taken all of her thoughts about the food of the Mediterranean and put them into the recipes in this cookbook, keeping them easily accessible to home cooks at all levels. The food is beautiful and easy to share. I found my mouth watering as I read the recipes, complete with introductions, and optional variations.
This is not just a cookbook, but also a memoir of sorts, and a love letter to all the foods in the various regions of the Mediterranean. This is evidenced by the introduction sections in the book, to each section of the book, and each recipe, and the photographs, not just of the food and ingredients, but the region which will have you longing to travel there. I can’t wait to make many of these recipes for my family on a regular basis. I hope my family and friends appreciate them as much as Roden’s do.
I received a gifted copy from Ten Speed Press. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#ClaudiaRondensMediterranean #ClaudiaRoden #Cookbook #TenSpeedPress

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I own many cookbooks, but this is one of my favorites! I bought this at an Ollie's for fun but have used it many, many times. The recipes are simple to follow, and the flavors are so different. We cook many types of international cuisine but were pleasantly surprised by finding this gem. Highly recommend if you are a cook looking to expand your palate but not wanting to do a lot of fussy cooking techniques.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the photos and the writing about her travels and experiences. Many of the recipes were more than I would attempt but I did come away with several to try. Mostly, I just enjoyed looking through and imagining traveling all around the Mediterranean.

[Virginia Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice but too little on the travelogue but the recipes are not for me.

[Lynn Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I preview cookbooks by borrowing from my library. The keepers I purchase and add to my cookbook library. This one is a keeper.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part biography, part travelogue, a fantastically photographed cookbook. The recipes are easy to follow and not only make you want to eat the food but to visit the places the dishes are from.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly lovely cookbook with a lot of bookmarks from me, so that means only 1 thing — purchasing a copy of my own.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part memoir. Part travelogue. All fabulous recipes. This was a delight to read and explore!

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some lovely recipes, especially in the first chapter.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okładka niepozorna, ale super przepisy które mam ochotę każdy wybrobowac , super zdjęcia!

[Veronica Coffey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great storytelling and simple recipes that are clean and easy to follow. Will read more of her books.

[Rita L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and inspiring. Love it.

[Julieanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple recipes, Roden takes minimal ingredients and somehow makes the most delicious dishes. Perfect proportions and cooking times.