The Foods of the Greek Islands: Cooking and Culture at the Crossroads of the Mediterranean

by Aglaia Kremezi

A brightly illustrated survey of the richly varied cuisine of the Greek islands of the Mediterranean features a host of delicious recipes from New York's acclaimed Greek-style restaurant, Molyvos, including simple, healthful traditional dishes that emphasize seasonal produce, fresh herbs, and fish. By the award-winning author of The Foods of Greece. 20,000 first printing.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Greece, Culinary, Reference

298 pages, Hardcover

First published November 14, 2000

About the author

Aglaia Kremezi (Greek: Αγλαΐα Κρεμέζη) was a Greek food writer and journalist, often considered "one of Greece's foremost cooking authorities".
She lived on the island of Kea, Greece, where she ran a cooking school. She died of cancer in Athens aged 79.

Updated after her death with info from Wikipedia

Reviews

[John Mauro · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first taste of Greek food was on the island of Rhodes in the eastern Mediterranean. It was love at first bite.

Rhodes is like paradise on earth, with its perfect weather, amazing historical sites, friendly people, and, of course, the delicious food.

When I came home from Greece, I just had to figure out how to reproduce these amazing flavors of the Greek islands in my own kitchen.

That's when Aglaia Kremezi's wonderful cookbook entered my life. I've lost track of how many recipes I've tried from this cookbook, and they've all been great. I can close my eyes, take a bite, and let the flavors transport me to the Greek islands.

All of the ingredients required for these recipes are readily available in the US. The one "secret" ingredient, which is a bit more difficult to find, is Aleppo pepper, a red pepper flake with an earthy taste (non-spicy). I order this from Amazon. One bag of Aleppo pepper lasts a year or more.

This wonderful cookbook has enriched the lives of my family and me for nearly 15 years. It has been a consistent and beloved staple in our kitchen all this time.

[Ivonne Rovira]

I could not give this cookbook a rating at all because so much depends on who you are and where you live. If you’re a serious foodie living in a world capital, you’ll find this cookbook a five-star read. Authentic recipes located by island with authentic ingredients. What’s not to like?

But the dedication to authentic ingredients means that many cooks cannot hope to replicate these recipes. We simply don’t have access to ramps, myzithra cheese, grape leaves, zucchini blossoms, Aleppo pepper, baby artichokes, taramasalata (fish egg spread) — well, you get the idea. In addition, these recipes from Greek Island grandmothers are incredibly labor intensive, which is not that useful for a working mom getting home at 6 p.m.

I found a few recipes to cull, but I’m very glad that I got the cookbook on sale; I’d have been irked if I had paid full price. Caveat emptor.

[Nick Grammos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peppery Notes

This book is OK, It's quite usable, and you will get a lot out of it. But it has one flaw that repeats itself in every recipe, the ingredient called Aleppo pepper. The author seems obsessed by it. Every recipe has it. As far as I can tell, no other Greek recipe I have ever come across uses it, suddenly, though, it is in everything according to this author. The pepper is not even known as a Greek ingredient. What to do? Normal pepper is my guess. Paprika? Well, it's not Spanish, is it? So, maybe just ignore it, and try the recipes anyway. it reminded me of an early sourdough cookbook I used years ago from the 80s. It's peculiar ingredient that made its way into every bread was tofu.

So, Aleppo pepper? Just ignore it and season with black pepper. the author gives no other guidance as to where it comes from or why use it.

To be fair, the fava is wonderful. legumes are very common to the Cycladic islands. Chickpea and yellow lentils have a superb flavour, and you know its because they are perfectly suited to the earth they come from.

Addit.

After some conversation, perhaps I am being silly about the Aleppo pepper. It is too much, but
this book has so many good recipes using burghul, chick pea, beans, lentils that you are easily reminded how well you can eat with limited meat in your diet. I would recommend it to anyone just for that.

And all the wonderful ways to eat zucchini, tomato, potato, greens, herbs of all sorts. The pies are all very good too.

Perhaps it deserves 4 stars, I am too harsh. I blame too much pepper.

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely recipes! Cod with Leafy Greens in Egg-Lemon sauce, Onion, Tomato with feta turnovers, Poor Man's Caviar (with black and green olives), Baklavas - so many recipes I want to try - and beautiful photographs of Greece.

[Trudy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aglaia Kremezi, an authority on Greek food, has spent almost a decade researching and recording the cooking of the Greek Islands. In this book, she has collected recipes that have been passed from generation to generation and has adapted them for Western kitchens. The recipes use flavorful and healthful ingredients such as seasonal vegetables, grains, beans, olive oil and fish to create a large range of delicious dishes. The Foods of the Greek Islands is also filled with stories of island history and customs plus dozens of color photographs.

[Jamie Outlaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that contains recipes from all of the Greek Islands. The author also provides some background on the cuisine itself as well as each recipe. It's a great book to have if you're interested in Greek Cuisine. Καλή Πέψη!

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The FIRST Greek cookbook I have ever come across which lists close variants on a few of my personal traditional family recipes. Would definitely recommend it for any westernized Greeks wanting to cook some traditional Greek food from the Islands of Greece.

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

All in all, an interesting cookbook that brings some otherwise obscure recipes to the front, but probably not for everybody.

The positives: a lot of good photography, and the "fluff" is interesting and pleasant to read. The recipes are straightforward and work, though there are a few that will require practice. I also like the fact that this is largely a recipe book of "deep cuts" - obscure recipes from the islands that will likely be a break from the same-old for fans of Greek food.

The negatives: well ... a lot of these islands aren't exactly wealthy, and the recipes reflect that. A plate of legumes and greens can be delicious, but it's not what everybody will want. Some of the flavor combinations will be unusual to some palates. Also, I'd say this isn't a particularly dense cookbook in terms of the number of recipes you get.

Some of the ingredients may be challenging to get, but things like Aleppo pepper can easily be ordered on the 'net. So, if you're reading this, you can get Aleppo pepper with a slight bit of effort. For things like some of the greens, though, that may be harder. Luckily that's not the majority, or even a large minority, of the recipes.

All in all, I see this as the sort of book you'll pull off the shelf occasionally to make something different. It's not a "staple cookbook", but that's fine.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun cookbook to read, and there were a lot of yummy sounding dishes. Quite a few had ingredients that are native to Greece and could be hard to find (especially some of the fresh ones). The author does provide a list of sources for many of them, but unfortunately all are in the US, and as I am currently living in Spain, that is not helpful to me at this time (ironic, huh?) But, I will try the ones that seem doable here, and keep the others in mind for the future. 3.5 stars

[Anjalica · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting recipes

[Gina Zappa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should probs start cooking now, cuz I'm gonna need to be in the kitchen for a long time if I want to try every dish in this cookbook...which I absolutely do.

[SFBlau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative book. I learned a lot about the cuisines and food customs of Greece. There were several dishes that intrigued this culinary historian-hobbyist. For example, 'Koubeba Syriani' are meatballs made with beef, walnuts, almonds & prunes. 'Savoro Me Stafides' is marinated fish with currants and rosemary. 'Tzulamas' is a pork pie with chicken livers, currants and pistachio-- essentially a Greek medievalish 'Grete Pye'.

I'm looking forward to testing many of these interesting modern recipes. There are also several delicious-sounding vegetarian & vegan dishes in this book. And the section on Bread is wonderful, too. On my list to try: Saffron, Allspice & Pepper Biscuits aka 'Kitrina Koulouria Astypalitika'.

[Evgenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

highly recommend it!

[Kath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greek food great recipes

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous cookbook. Every recipe I have tried is fantastic!

[Mikel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed the recipes that we have tried. Greek food often uses white wine where American food uses butter. Great way to cut down the calories.