Vefa’s Kitchen

Written by (Vefa Alexiadou)

If there’s one thing that there isn’t enough of in the UK, it’s the Greek restaurant. International cuisine definitely has a platform in Britain, but for some reason we never seem spoiled for choice when it comes to somewhere to smash a few plates and savour a plate of fried squid.

Vefa’s Kitchen has been published in 2009 – the year of the very ongoing credit crunch. Although it’s a hefty tome, it’s price tag (£24.95) is pretty reasonable, especially when you consider that there are over 800 recipes to wade through. Which sort of rectifies the restaurant problem, because you can just stay in and cook Greek food instead. (It’s up to you whether you want to smash your own plates).

Vefa Alexiadou, who is very much a celebrated author in her home country, has created this definitive work on the rich cooking of Greece. The well known favourites are noted down in this book such as stuffed vine leaves and taramosalata, but there are some lesser known Greek dishes too, including snails with bulgur wheat and kumquats in syrup.

Vefa’s Kitchen includes a complete guide to Greek cuisine and also includes information on regional specialities, local ingredients and the religious and historical significance of the dishes. There are 230 stunning photographs stuffed into the book to get your mouth watering too, but the recipes themselves will almost certainly be enough.

**Published by Phaidon, RRP £24.95.

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