Greek Food: Cookbooks

Greek Food is suddenly very popular and there are now dozens of Greek Cookbooks available. These are some of my favorites.

Matt's Pick! The Foods of the Greek Islands by award winning cook Aglaia Kremezi is more than a Greek cookbook. The author has put together recipes from all the islands that she has spent years collecting from the women, fishermen and bakers and has included enough information on the cooking ands culture of the individual islands to make this book interesting and pleasurable reading too. The book also contains recipes from the famous Molyvos Restaurant, one of the finest Greek Restaurants in New York City if not the world which hired Agalaia as a consultant to the menu. You can order this book through Greece In Print by using this form .

Matt's Pick!   The Foods of Greece by Aglaia Kremezi

This book was first published in hardcover in 1993 and is not just a book to cook from but a book to read as well. It transports the reader to the Greek Islands and the Mainland with award winning recipes and captivating photos. Aglaia blends history, mythology, religion and folklore to provide a facinating backdrop that explains not only the 'how' but the 'where', 'why' and 'when'. If you want to have only one book on Greek cooking for your collection this one is it. The book won the Julia Child's Award for the Best First Cookbook from the International Institute of Culinary Professionals.

Join Aglaia Kremezi and friends on a culinary experience on the island of Kea at www.greektravel.com/greekislands/kea/keartisanal

Culinaria Greece: Greek Specialties by Marianthi Milona with photos by Werner Staplefeldt. This book is something special. It is a combination food-travel-guide and cook-book too big to take anywhere with you but one you can sit happily traveling through Greece, learning about what they eat where and why, how they make it and when. It is the best resource on Greek food around.
In my opinion every Greek-American household should have a copy of this book as well as anyone who is interested in Greek food. Before I bought this book I thought that my Greek Food page was complete. Buying it and reading it made me realize I have a lot more to do. This book is an inspiration. I found mine at Barnes and Noble in the discounted section for about $25. It is worth at least twice that.

You can order this book through Greece In Print by using this form .

Matt's Pick! Diet Of The Gods: A Divine Plan to Attain Health Through Greek Vegetarian Cooking by Cindy Econopouly is a self published cookbook with dozens of recipes for those who wany to eat Greek and eat healthy at the same time. People often wonder how much there is to eat in the Greek diet for vegetarians, since we normally associate Greek food with souvlakia, mousaka and roast lamb, but the heavy on meat Greek diet is a relatively new phenomenon. Greece's agricultural roots have given Cindy plenty to work with in the way of salads, mezedes, and main dishes and she has added a couple veggie versions of classic meat dishes like mousaka, pastitsio and even souvlakia. But this is more than just recipes. Cindy writes about her philosophy of eating a Greek vegetarian diet that has enabled her to lose weight and keep it off and stay healthy. For more information on this book e-mail Cindy at brahmalight@bellsouth.net

Cookbook of the Jews of Greece is a collection of recipes collected by my highschool history teacher Nikos Stavrolakis. His book comprises representative recipes from the Romaniot and the Sephardim Jewish communities of Greece. It is divided according to holidays and rites of passage, and the recipes are preceded by material that focuses on the unique character of each community and their traditional customs. Nikos Stavrolakis is not only a great cook but has written a number of books on Jewish History, is the founder of the Jewish Museum of Athens and his a renown artist in Greece.

You can order this book through Greece In Print by using this form

The Greek Taverna Cookbook: Recipes from Kefalonia
"A colourful celebration of Greek taverna life"

Real Greek recipes, straight from the taverna kitchens of the island of Kefalonia. Recreate the flavours of Greece in your own home with forty traditional family recipes. 24 chefs share their culinary secrets for creating familiar Greek dishes as well as Kefalonian specialities. More than just a cookbook, this is an artistic celebration of Greek taverna life. It is full of local info and insights into Greek culture. Classic taverna recipes have been carefully selected and personally tested for the home. Cook, artist and grecophile, Gill's evocative watercolour sketches capture the colour, light and atmosphere of ‘Captain Corelli’s Island’. The measurements are British. For information on ordering contact Gill at gill@artistswindow.com

The Grecian Plate Cookbook is a collection of recipes compiled by the women of St Barabara's Church in Durham, NC, National Winner of the Prestigious R.T. French Company Tastemaker Cookbook Award and March 1988 CookBook of the Month from Good Housekeeping Magazine. Now in it's 9th Printing this book does not have the fancy color photos of many of the glossy cookbooks available but in terms of recipes which were collected from the mothers and grandmothers of just about everyone in this small Greek church it is probably the most honest and traditionally Greek cookbook you will find anywhere.

• Traditional Recipes for the contemporary cook.
• Nearly 300 time-tested recipes from appetizers to desserts
• Step-by-step instructions and many easy to follow illustrations
• Special Chapter features 'trim' versions of traditional recipes
• Hardcover-Spiral-bound to lay flat, 254 pages
• Introductions to the chapters provide insight into the origins of recipes and how they fit into daily life in Greece

available by sending $21 to:
Ms. Erie Cocolas
1298 Wildwood Drive
Chapel Hill NC 27514
E-mail: ajpe@unc.edu

Click here for some recipes

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