Mediterranean Cooking Books: Point Of Interest for All

Anthropologists, medical scientists and food writers study the Mediterranean diet cooking books. Better still, urban people have rediscovered and revived them. Now, nearly twenty years later, we find in almost every region (including those most favored by tourists) sincere attempts to revive regional traditions and wonderful, simple Mediterranean home cooking. Ms. Wolfert's recipes are grouped into chapters in the book
Mediterranean Cooking Revised With 75 New Recipes
according to staple foods of the region: garlic, oil, olives, eggplant and other vegetables, chick peas and other legumes, pasta and grains, yogurt, cheese, nuts, lemons and other fruits and herbs.

Complete Mediterranean The Beautiful Cookbook is, indeed, beautiful. It is a coffee-table book to pick up as much for its recipes and easy-to-read history as for its stunning color photography. The photos portray the region's sun-drenched countryside and the earthy appeal of its satisfying cuisine. The authors bring weighty credentials to the book.

Ms. Goldstein is the award-winning chef-owner of Square One Restaurant in San Francisco. Ms. Algar is the Mellon lecturer in Turkish at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of two books on Turkish cooking.

Chapters on recipes - appetizers, breads, fish, meat, vegetables and desserts - alternate with chapters on Spain, France, Italy, Greece and the Balkans, Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa.

In this way, the region's history helps to explain the food and the food helps to explain the history.

The accompanying recipes provide only a sampling of the foods of the Mediterranean.

Mediterranean Vegetable Pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 medium cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 pound eggplant (Japanese can be used), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 small zucchini, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 (16-ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes undrained
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
crushed 1 teaspoon dried basil (or crushed Optional: 4 reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes)
slivered 1 tablespoon capers,
drained and rinsed 1/3 cup finely chopped parsley 8 ounces spiral
tube or bow-tie pasta cooked according to package directions
1/4 cup pasta cooking water
1/3 cup finely crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons balsamic or red wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; saute five minutes.

2. Add eggplant and saute until it begins to brown and soften. Stir in zucchini and saute two minutes. Stir in undrained tomatoes, crushed red pepper, thyme, basil and dried tomatoes if using. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in the capers and parsley.

3. Drain the cooked pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water. Add pasta and reserved water to the sauce with the feta, vinegar, pepper and salt. Stir until the pasta is coated with the sauce and serve. Makes four servings.

Nutritional Information: One serving contains 348 calories, 12 grams protein, 9 grams fat (4 grams saturated fat, 4 grams monounsaturated fat and 1 gram polyunsaturated fat), 56 grams carbohydrates, 597 milligrams sodium, and 17 milligrams cholesterol.


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