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Paula Wolfert is one of the first food writers to
acknowledge the importance of Mediterranean cuisine.
During a five-year journey that encompassed parts of
the Balkans, Turkey, Syria and Greece, she collected a
myriad of recipes from native cooks that are easily
adaptable to American kitchens. The diet of the region
depends upon grains, legumes, vegetables and
nuts--perfect for the health conscious--and lends
itself to recipes such as pumpkin kibbeh stuffed with
spinach, chick peas and walnuts and nettle cheese pie. Wolfert is careful to provide special
advice to ensure smooth preparation. The book won both
the 1995 Julia Child Cookbook Award in the
International Category, and the 1995 James Beard Award
in the International Category.
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Sample Recipe:
Baba Ghanoush
(Eggplant Dip)
From Publishers
Weekly
Food fads may come and go, but
meanwhile Wolfert ( Couscous and Other Good Food From
Morocco ) runs off to some little-documented area of
the world and puts it on the (American) culinary map.
One of the first food writers to recognize the
importance of Mediterranean cuisines, she turns now to
the Eastern Mediterranean. Encompassing portions of
the Balkans, Turkey, Syria and Greece, the diet of the
region depends on grains, legumes, vegetables and
nuts, while avoiding meat or using it in small
portions. True, this style of cooking is ideal for
Americans obsessed with the Food Pyramid dietary
guidelines, but Wolfert does not belabor the point.
Not only does she offer wholesome recipes easily
adaptable to American homes, but she also includes
some of the more unusual preparations. A Macedonian
nettle and cheese pie is so delicious, she claims,
that Wolfert began growing the prickly greens herself.
The traditional meaty kibbeh, usually a lump of ground
lamb, she reinterprets as a pumpkin kibbeh, stuffed
with spinach, chick peas and walnuts. Voices from
native cooks, visited over a span of five years, add
color, humor and realism to the melting pots of
Macedonia, Turkey, the Levant and the Republic of
Georgia. Wolfert is careful to add acknowledgements
and extra tidbits of advice to help preparations go
smoothly. Moreover, the general tone of the book is
cheerful and encouraging. No matter how stinging the
nettles, one is tempted to grab them firmly, rub them
with kosher salt to remove the stings and blanch them
for a pie.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business
Information, Inc. |
