GREEK CUISINE An easy guide for all, by Mirsini Labraki

Greek cuisine is at the foundations of the Mediterranean diet, as the healthful foods traditionally consumed in Mediterranean countries has become known. The staples of the Greek kitchen - olive oil, vegetables, wild greens, fruit and legumes - help prevent heart disease and other illness, but are also delicious to eat.

The fresh juice of olive oil, with it’s ideal chemical consistency and without extracts and improvements, has offered health and longer life to the Mediterranean race for centuries. They used it as the basic oil in their daily diet. Its nourishing, nutritious and biological value for the human organism is essential and that’s why olive oil is included among the 10 most beneficial types of food.

This book, which is one more of the writer’s best sellers, accompanies you to a cultural and savoury journey of 5.000 years, where olives and olive oil accompanied the human existence. It provides you with 154 easy and practical recipes in order to make your own hors – d’ oeuvres/ appetizers, food, sweets, cakes, sauces and marinades with olive oil. In the second part of the book you will learn about the tasty varieties of Greek olives and their nutritious value. You will also read about how to prepare your own olives as well as 16 recipes about how to relish bread, stews and appetizers.

Myrsini Lambraki, one of Greece's leading culinary experts, brings the flavors of the Mediterranean and favorite dishes from the Greek mainland and island right to your table with simple, easy-to-follow recipes.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Myrsini Lambraki was born in Heraklion, Crete in July 1965.She studied Political Sciences and Public Administration at the Law School of Athens. She published a first selection of poems in 1990, under the title “Tritones”, and a second selection, “Oneireutis”, in 1992. In 1993, following a family tradition of three generations, Myrsini Lambraki consecrated herself exclusively to the art of cooking. Her interest in diet has led her to research traditional Greek and Cretan food in al their aspects, turning her into an expert advisor in the art of using, serving and promoting traditional products. She writes a gastronomic column in one of the country’s most important newspapers “Kathimerini” and has published articles on traditional cooking in Greek, American and European Union magazines.

She teaches Traditional Cretan - Greek Cooking in educational programs She is a member of SLOW FOOD Administration Board, an international organization that promotes traditional cooking, and a member of ARCHESTRATOS, an association promoting the preservation and dissemination of Greek Cooking.

In 1997 she published her first gastronomic research on the edible greens in Crete and Greece “EDIBLE GREENS” which has become a national best-seller (five editions to date), and in 1998 a gastronomic treatise on cod-fish, “SALTED COD” (second edition). In 1999, Lambraki published her book on the olive tree and its produce “OLIVE OIL: the Elixir of life” with a detailed description of the history of this tree and the use of olive oil in Greece from Antiquity to the present.

Mirsini Editions - 160 pages - 21X29 cm - paperback