Mediterranean Pantry (Hardcover) by Kremezi, Agla

The Mediterranean Pantry is filled with delicious recipes for unusual and familiar condiments--preserves, flavored oils and vinegars, liqueurs, and spice and herb mixtures--that can be used to infuse sunny Mediterranean flavors into meals all year. It also contains many suggestions and a selection of delicious recipes that use these products to produce dishes with a Mediterranean flavor at a moment' notice. The text is accompanied by twenty color photographs. which demonstrate how to make these condiments into elegant gifts.

Drawing on customs that extend back to ancient times, Aglaia Kremezi explores traditional seasonings and preserved foods from around the Mediterranean, weaving together historical, mythological, and botanical information. She presents seventy recipes from Italy, Spain, Greece, the Eastern Mediterranean, and North Africa that incorporate distinctive herbs, spices, and flavorings. Included are recipes for Preserved Lemons, Harissa, Green Olives with Harissa and Orange, Green Fig Preserves, Fried Artichokes with Garlic in Olive Oil, Thyme Liqueur, Olive Oil with Truffles, and many other items with which to stock your pantry shelves and which also make out-of-the-ordinary gifts. Many recipes are as simple as mixing several ingredients, with little or no cooking.

The book includes a details list of mail-order sources so that even the most exotic ingredients are available to all. It is an indispensable volume for all who like to preserve their summer produce, prepare delicious, robust dishes quickly, and share the bounty of their larders by giving homemade prepared foods.