Customer Reviews:
Fine Collection and Commentary on Cuisine Influences.......2002-01-24
Taking Chineese, Greek and Roman cooking influences, Smith ofTV fame brings forth an offering which resembles the James Beard books which provide not only great recipes but a running commentary on the culture which produces the food and some experience remembrances by the author.
This is fun cooking and well done. Well representative of the cuisines and done with helpful hints on each.
A workhorse for the cook willing to use it to branch out and experiement in these formative areas of food history. For openers, try Spareribs with Black Beans and Pepper Sauce, Halvah Cake or the Seafood Risotto.
My humble opinion is that Roman cooking is slighted out of the three. See Malto Mario for some great Rome recipes.
My favorite Frugal Gourmet Cookbook.......2001-10-02
This book by Jeff Smith has to be my favorite one that he has written. This book focuses on recipes from China, Greece, and Rome. The recies in this book are flavorful, and very enjoyable. My favorite recipe in here is strangely enough Garlic, Eggs, and Pasta. There is a wide range in recipes, both in flavors and ingredients. Jeff Smith does an excellent job of paring history as well as anecdotes with all of his recipes. This should be a must add for anyone who enjoys historical cooking.
The Greek section outdoes the average Greek home cooking.......1998-10-25
Whenever I entertain my Greek relatives, they are amazed by my flair in their native cooking. Jeff's recipes are easy to follow and make Greek cooking simple.
One of my favorite books! ! !.......1998-05-11
Jeff Smith is on of my favorite authors. I know he is not a renouned one,but his cookbooks are so interesting especially Three Ancient Cusines. If you love different and exotic recipies, then buy this book!!! Chef Marian Thompson
Book Description
In
Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, his fourth volume to explore “the hinges of history,” Thomas Cahill escorts the reader on another entertaining—and historically unassailable—journey through the landmarks of art and bloodshed that defined Greek culture nearly three millennia ago.
In the city-states of Athens and Sparta and throughout the Greek islands, honors could be won in making love and war, and lives were rife with contradictions. By developing the alphabet, the Greeks empowered the reader, demystified experience, and opened the way for civil discussion and experimentation—yet they kept slaves. The glorious verses of the Iliad recount a conflict in which rage and outrage spur men to action and suggest that their “bellicose society of gleaming metals and rattling weapons” is not so very distant from more recent campaigns of “shock and awe.” And, centuries before Zorba, Greece was a land where music, dance, and freely flowing wine were essential to the high life. Granting equal time to the sacred and the profane, Cahill rivets our attention to the legacies of an ancient and enduring worldview.
Customer Reviews:
Aegean Genesis.......2007-09-23
All of the books in Thomas Cahill's Hinges of History popular history series are engaging and occasionally irreverent. Sometimes, however, a book's title premise does end up seeming just a bit smaller than the number of pages allotted to it. In "Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, Why the Greeks Matter," the reverse is true. The book's covers struggle to contain the ideas within. To paraphrase Peter Benchley: You're going to need a bigger book. Cahill doesn't though. Somehow he manages to fit much of the genesis of the long journey to who we are today within the book's 304 pages of text and appendices. The reader will find philosophy, theatre, history, sculpture and rhetoric, and many other Greek roots of Western civilization, all bubbling up in Mr. Cahill's happy cauldron.
After reading Edith Hamilton's classic popular history "The Greek Way," a person could legitimately feel that he or she has learned much through Ms. Hamilton's literate and well-reasoned presentation of ancient Greek thought and deed. On the other hand, when a reader finishes "Why the Greeks Matter," he or she may feel the need to rush out and devour Homer, Aeschylus, Pindar, Sappho and Plato. That same reader may also feel a compulsion to book a flight to Greece in order to be able to look up from a guide book and see the Parthenon atop the Acropolis or to sail the wine-dark sea in a ship of any hue.
The Greeks do matter, and Mr. Cahill makes a reader want to realize that truth.
Another excellent entry in the Hinges of History series by Cahill.......2007-08-23
Thomas Cahill is doing a great service in making the basic tenets of Western European history available, readable and enjoyable. After a few decades of trying so hard to right the wrongs of centuries and thereby turning the pendulum so far back, the study of history would seem to start and end with ANYTHING BUT "dead white males" which does a disservice to everybody. Cahill would remind us of the highlights of the shared cultural history for all of us who live in the Western world, no matter where our ancestors came from.
Picking apart, as some reviewers have done, that he doesn't delve into this or that major battle or expound on the importance of the trireme...that is exactly the type of dry academic history that drives off the reader who is wants a book to be interesting and to learn something new, not to pass a test. At this Cahill is excellent. I could quibble too, having my favorite time periods or persons skimmed over, but the idea is for these 5 books, the "Hinges of History" series (How the Irish Saved Civilization, The Gifts of the Jews, The Desire of the Everlasting Hills, the Mysteries of the Middle Ages) to be light and quickly read. This book on the Greeks gives us a quick look at their civilization, its arts, plays, (Homer rates a chapter unto himself as it should be, and in fact made me want to go read the translation by Fogle he quotes from extensively)...their warfare, recreation, philosophy, finally, how they "ended", when their they were conquered first by Alexander the Great and then by Rome, and then even further culturally extinguished by their absorption into Christianity which changed the uniqueness of what they were forever, for better or worse.
The Greeks invented democracy, not so little a thing when you think about it, and utilized it, really actually utilized it, for a long time. Eventually their political sytem too devolved into tyranny, and then they were conquered by outsiders, but for a brief time in all of the long history of the past in all of the planet, there was a small city-state which came up with this unbelievable idea, and put it into action. That, alone, would make them, as a people, memorable. Yes, they had slaves, and treated women badly (no worse than most ancient cultures and many modern ones however.)
Their democracy--actually, speaking only of Athen's and it's colonies for about 200 years: "Athens the world's firsts attempt at a democracy---a Greek word meaning "rule by the people"---still stands out as the most wildly participatory government in history. Never again would such a broadly based...model be attempted. And...it worked."
(Sparta, on the other hand,was "ruled by...a council of old men, was an airless, artless,nightmare of xenophobic military preparedness, the North Korea of its day.")
The Athenians idealized beauty, invented philosophical discussion, took mathematics and medicine from the ancient Egyptians and in the case of mathematics, kept on and on with it, tying it to philosophy and turning it something no longer earthbound, no longer just for the building of monuments for dead kings.
A worthwhile book, one that would hopefully introduce some people to the Greeks, reintroduce others, and perhaps help rehabilitate them again into our cultural legacy where they belong. Without them, none of us would be as we are, and probably be the worse for it.
Greek History "Lite".......2007-08-03
Actually I was enjoying the book most of the way through. Cahill writes well, without every drab detail that most history textbooks include. My disappointment started around chapter 7 "Greco-Roman Meets Judeo-Christian" where Cahill applauds separation of church and state. Worse, he takes it a step further and jumps on the Bush-bashing bandwagon, even specifically calling out Don Rumsfeld as an imperialist and criticizing the current administration for a "dismissive" approach to the UN. Perhaps the author hadn't noticed the UN is filled with dictators and deep corruption. Sorry Mr. Cahill, you just alienated half of your fan base.
Sailing the Wine Dark Sea.......2007-07-07
When I was a boy I was given a book on classical Greece. A childs book, it celebrated the virtues of Greece and passed by some of the less-glamorous characteristics.
Mr. Cahill writes a fascinating a highly understandable book about the heritage that we, who think of ourselves as Westerners, owe to the Greeks of the classical age. I avoid the term "ancient" when I discuss the Greeks of this period, as even though they are seperated from us by 2,400 years, they are not only like us in many ways, they ARE us. Unlike earlier cultures, the contentious and divisive Greeks are our progenitors. Mr. Cahill has written an excellent narrative regarding the debt that western culture owes to the political, social, artistic, and cultural inventions of the Greeks, both good and bad, and he does so in a lively and very thoughtful way.
This is probably not a book which will provide new information to the serious scholar, however it will cause almost any reader to stop and reflect on our heritage, where it cam from, and how it evolved.
HARD TO LISTEN TO.......2007-06-06
I find that with audio, if I am not happy at the end of the first cd, I move on to the next book... This is one of those. I learned little in the first cd, didnt learn anything about why the greeks mattered - maybe he is saving the interesting stuff for the last 4 cd,s.
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Moussaka, grilled fish, and feta salad with olives--that's it for Greek food, right? Wrong, as abundantly proved by Diane Kochilas's masterful The Glorious Foods of Greece. For over 10 years, Kochilas investigated the vast wealth of Greek cooking, traveling to its islands, cities, mountains, and villages and talking to cooks, bakers, fisherman, farmers, and cheese makers. She listened astutely, and the result is not only hundreds of authentic recipes, but a definitive culinary guide.
Following an introduction in which Kochilas details, among other fascinating information, the nature of each region's cuisine (Rooumali and Epirus are shepherds' domains, she writes, "where the reigning food is pita, as in savory pie, hundreds of them...."), she then offers chapter-by-chapter observations with straightforward recipes. These range from mezze (appetizers) and soups to breads, main dishes, sweets, and drinks. From the olive country of Peloponnesus, for example, readers are offered the likes of Roast Leg of Lamb with Wine, Garlic, Allspice, and Cheese. The Italian-influenced Ionian islands provide Chicken Stewed in Fragrant Tomato Sauce with Thick Pasta, among other dishes. Snd from Macedonia and Thrace come such fare as Roasted Potato Salad with Hot Pepper and Mint, and Leek and Yogurt Pie.
Throughout, Kochilas also provides interesting sidebars (The Sardines of Lesvos, for example, profiles this local treasure known for its sweetness), ingredient sketches, and preparation suggestions. A section that explores cooking techniques and a useful source list concludes the book, which is a tribute to a widely undiscovered cuisine and the author's steady yet exuberant powers of investigation. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
The Glorious Foods of Greece is the magnum opus of Greek cuisine, the first book that takes the reader on a long and fascinating journey beyond the familiar Greece of blue-and-white postcard images and ubiquitous grilled fish and moussaka into the country's many different regions, where local customs and foodways have remaained intact for eons.
The journey is both personal and inviting. Diane Kochilas spent nearly a decade crisscrossing Greece's Pristine mountains, mainland, and islands, visiting cooks, bakers, farmers, shepherds, fishermen, artisan producers of cheeses, charcuterie, olives, olive oil, and more, in order to document the country's formidable culinary traditions. The result is a paean to the hitherto uncharted glories of local Greek cooking and regional lore that takes you from mountain villages to urban tables to seaside tavernas and island gardens.
In beautiful prose and with more than four hundred unusual recipes -- many of them never before recorded -- invites us to a Greece few visitors ever get to see. Along the way she serves up feast after feast of food, history, and culture from a land where the three have been intertwined since time immemorial.
In an informed introduction, she sets the historic framework of the cuisine, so that we clearly see the differences among the earthy mountain cookery, the sparse, ingenious island table, and the sophisticated aromaticcooking traditions of the Greeks in diaspora. In each chapter she takes stock of the local pantry and cooking customs. From the olive-laden Peloponnesos, she brings us such unusual dishes as One-Pot Chicken Simmered with Artichokes and served with Tomato-Egg-Lemon Sauce and Vine Leaves Stuffed with Salt Cod. From the Venetian-influenced Ionian islands, she offers up such delights asPastry-Cloaked Pasta from Corfu filled with cheese and charcuterie and delicious Bread Pudding from Ithaca with zabaglione. Her mainland recipes, as well as those that hail from Greece's impenetrable northwestern mountains, offer an enticing array of dozens of delicious savory pies, unusual greens dishes, and succulent meat preparations such as Lamb with Garlic and Cheese Baked in Paper. In Macedonia she documents the complex, perfumed, urbane cuisine that defines that region. In the Aegean islands, she serves up a wonderful repertory of exotic yet simple foods, reminding us how accessible -- and healthful -- is the Greek fegional table.
The result is a cookbook unlike any other that has ever been written on Greek cuisine, one that brims with the author's love and knowledge of her subject, a tribute to the vibrant, multifaceted continuum of Greek cooking, both highly informed and ever inviting. The Glorious Foods of Greece is an important work, one that contributes generously to the culinary literature and is sure to become the definitive book of Greek cuisine and culture for future generations of food lovers -- Greek and non-Greek alike.
Customer Reviews:
Good Book.......2007-05-13
I liked this book though it is quite heavy for cooking with. It is very informative about the Greek way of doing things
Nice try, but please try again -- with an index.......2006-10-26
Kochilas' "The Glorious Foods of Greece" is the most frustrating cookbook I've ever tried to use. The theme of a regional Greek cookbook is well taken. However, the utterly useless index renders the book little more than a coffee table book - without photos. And it's a shame, as the recipes themselves are quiet good, but trying to find a recipe is virtually impossible. Or, even worse - trying to find a recipe a second time - was it in the Thessaly chapter? No, no - it must have been the Cyclades chapter. No - perhaps, Epirus. The Complete Book of Greek Cooking by St. Paul's Greek Orthodox Church is still the gold standard for a useful Greek cookbook filled with wonderful recipes. Except those who simply enjoy reading cookbooks cover to cover, this is not the one.
This is the real thing.......2005-02-20
I am a professional chef of Greek decent and have lived in Greece for more than half of my life. I have traveled throuout the country and have tried several of the dishes that appear in this book but until now was not able to succesfully duplicate them. I was quite excited when I came across this collection and give the author five stars for her tremendous effort of bringing them together unadulterated.
This book is exactly what it claims to be, if not more than it claims to be and most definately deserves a five star rating. As a few other reviewers have mentioned it is not a collection of Americanized versions of Mousaka and Pastitsio, but a comprehensive collection of recipes borrowed from kitchens across the country which may or may not appeal to all palates. Many of these dishes you will not find outside it's reigion of origin let alone at Kostas opa on Main Street USA. It is worth mentioning that the author has traveled accross Greece collecting these recipes, many of which have not been published before. Having said all of this if you are looking for a recipe for Mousaka, run a search on Google and you will get 100s of results but if you wish to experiment and test your pallate try this book. It is truly authentic!
Doesn't stand on its own, but an excellent read nevertheless.......2004-10-19
The down side of this book is that it essentially functions as a follow-on to Kochilas' earlier book, the Food and Wine of Greece. If you want a basic introduction to Greek cuisine, pass this one by -- it will tell you a great deal about Greek cuisine, but the basics are covered better in her earlier book.
Kochilas writes with a more mature and experienced voice than in her first book -- she's been living in Greece for much of the time since the first one was published, so she's had time to develop more experience. Thus, in the writing of this book, she's had a chance to bring out much more of the history of Greece and how its food got to be the way it is. The book is part cookbook, part travelogue, and as long as you already have a more basic book on Greek cuisine it's an excellent read. It's an expensive book, though for the monumental nature of the subject matter that's understandable.
As I said, though, it's incomplete. A lot of the basic things that fans of the Greek-American diner are used to are not here; look to her first book for the basic recipes for moussaka, spanakopitta, and other dishes famous here, because if you look in this one you will find regional varieties that may be quite good but aren't exactly what you're looking for. What you will find is stunning and varied recipes from different areas that are as different in their own ways as the cuisines of Italy or China.
If you keep all of the above in mind, this book is a worthwhile investment in conjunction with its predecessor. Highly recommended, with appropriate caveats.
Major Contribution to Knowledge of World Food. Outstanding.......2004-05-30
Diane Kochilas stands in the first rank of food writers specializing in Mediterranean cuisine, along with Mediterranean generalists Paula Wolfert, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, Claudia Roden, Clifford Wright, and Joyce Goldstein; Spanish specialist Penelope Casas; Italian specialists Marcella Hazan, Giuliano Bugialli, and Lydia Bastianich; and fellow Greek specialist Agliaia Kremezi. This is Ms. Kochilas' third book on Greek food and I apologize to the author if I slight the first two in my praise of this volume, as I have not yet read or reviewed them.
Considering food writing as a whole, not just the Mediterranean, this is easily one of the best essays of a country's cuisine I have seen. The only volume which I have read and reviewed which may be better is Diana Kennedy's `From My Mexican Kitchen', although the two books take a different route to excellence.
The very first impression is the design of the cover, typeface, and book layout that sets the stage for the feeling that this is an important book. It has the kind of restrained design I typically attribute to cookbooks published by Knopf, but which other publishers have done well. The next impression is that Ms. Kochilas has done everything that I missed from Ms. Kremezi's recent book `The Foods of the Greek Islands'. While the latter volume did a good job on recipes, it did not dedicate itself to informing it's readers in a clear, lucid manner on what it was which distinguished the cuisines of the Greek Islands from one another, from the mainland, and from the Mediterranean in general. Ms. Kochilas does this with skill and insight. The first sign of this serious analysis of her subject is the superior map of Greece with the various island groups identified and icons representing major food product sources placed on the map. This is an easy attention to detail. The next aspect is the organization of the book into the various geographic regions. These are The Peloponnesos, The Ionian Islands, Roumeli, Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia and Thrace, The Islands of the Northeastern Aegean, The Cyclades, The Dodecanese, Crete, and Athens. As Ms. Kremezi mentions in her book but does not detail with any analytical understanding, there are significant differences between, for example, the relatively poor Dodecanese and the agriculturally rich islands of the northeastern Aegean such as Lesbos.
Ms. Kochilas has artfully combined the analytical insight and presentation of Nancy Harmon Jenkins with the deft personal warmth of Paula Wolfert in discussing her sources of specific recipes. The only adverse effect of Ms. Kochilas' approach is that the book may not fit some readers' expectations to find a volume with the approach of Julia Child, which is heavy on culinary wisdom and recipe and light on exposition. Ms. Kochilas addresses this concern when she says that this volume may not cover many of the architypical Greek dishes, as she has already presented them in one of her two earlier volumes. When references to classics such as moussaka are appropriate, she even gives references to her earlier works if you are looking for that recipe. Another compliment to this book is Ms. Kochilas most recent book on Mezes that is lighter on the analytical approach and heavy on great recipes for these tasty bites.
The other side of the coin is that by not spending a lot of space on well-known classics, Ms. Kochilas and her editors have made space for more recipes on pastries and breads, one of my favorite topics. I have made several of the breads in the book and have found them uniformly excellent. One should also not get the impression from my comparison to Julia Child's works that this book is all exposition and no cooking. The opposite is true. The final chapter on the basics of Greek cooking gives great insights into some of the most important skills in the Greek kitchen. In keeping with a concentration on pastry and baking, this section opens with two different recipes for Phyllo. The first is a traditional homemade dough and the second is a recipe for the style of phyllo made in Macedonia. For the purists, there are even variations to the basic recipe given for the Ionian islands, Roumeli, Afrato, and Epirus.
One of the most interesting discoveries in this final chapter is the story of trahana. To my novice eye, it is a pasta with some similarities to couscous and some similarities to gnocchi. Ms. Kochilas greatly expands Paula Wolfert's brief discussions of the subject with several recipes in the geographical chapters to round out her fascinating summary discussion. I am especially grateful for the paragraph on grating tomatoes. Other books on Greek cuisine give brief descriptions, but Ms. Kochilas tells us enough to give us confidence that this improbable technique actually works.
I have only touched the surface of the great richness in this book. I can hope to whet your appetite for more by quoting from the chapter on Crete where the author
`had come to witness this yearly winter ritual (brewing raki, similar to grappa, from the residuals of the local wine grapes) as well as other things in Crete, from the island's mythic, heart-saving diet, exemplar of simplicity and variety, to its seemingly limitless flora - over half the twelve thousand indigenous plants in Europe are found on Minos's island. ... The island is at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia, the real and mythic cradle of the Mediterranean'.
Exciting words for someone who thrilled to tales of Hercules, Theseus, and Achilles as a boy.
Highly recommended addition to any culinary library, especially for those interested in regional cuisines.
Book Description
This is the year "It's Greek to me" becomes the happy answer to what's for dinner. My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the upcoming epic Troy, the 2004 Summer Olympics returning to Athens--and now, yet another reason to embrace all things Greek: The Olive and the Caper, Susanna Hoffman's 700-plus-page serendipity of recipes and adventure.
In Corfu, Ms. Hoffman and a taverna owner cook shrimp fresh from the trap--and for us she offers the boldly-flavored Shrimp with Fennel, Green Olives, Red Onion, and White Wine. She gathers wild greens and herbs with neighbors, inspiring Big Beans with Thyme and Parsley, and Field Greens and Ouzo Pie. She learns the secret to chewy country bread from the baker on Santorini and translates it for American kitchens. Including 325 recipes developed in collaboration with Victoria Wise (her co-author on The Well-Filled Tortilla Cookbook, with over 258,000 copies in print), The Olive and the Caper celebrates all things Greek: Chicken Neo-Avgolemeno. Fall-off-the-bone Lamb Shanks seasoned with garlic, thyme, cinnamon and coriander. Siren-like sweets, from world-renowned Baklava to uniquely Greek preserves: Rose Petal, Cherry and Grappa, Apricot and Metaxa.
In addition, it opens with a sixteen-page full-color section and has dozens of lively essays throughout the book--about the origins of Greek food, about village life, history, language, customs--making this a lively adventure in reading as well as cooking.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book.......2007-05-13
I loved this book. It is a great read with lots of things most people who are not Greek would not know.
food, facts and anecdotes.......2007-05-12
Hoffman has managed the right mix of anecdotes, Greek myths, folklore, history and recipes. This is one of those enjoyable creatures: a readable cookbook. The recipes are practical and delightful. Be careful: if you have visited Greece, it will make you desperate to return; if you haven't, it will make you want to visit.
The prose is a bit overdone, epecially when she waxes liyrical about how "Greek beckons with rich and vivid people, multifarious folkways - and incredible food." But her passion for things Greek is excusable. A delightful book on all counts.
Fits on any bookshelf, not just in the kitchen!.......2007-02-20
Having never been to Greece, I won't even begin to comment on how "authentic" Ms. Hoffman's recipes are. They are, however, accompanied by many sidebars, articles, anecdotes and mini history lessons that make the recipes seem like illustrations in a wonderful travel book.
The recipes run the gamut from difficult (exotic ingredients and complicated prep) to simple (glass of water, anyone?) and not all dishes are for everyone. But there is a nice sense of generality to the collection, from the traditional to the seasonal, as if everything you ever wanted to *sample* from a Greek table is in this book.
What really makes it so attractive, however, is the conversational running commentary kept up by the author throughout. One learns why water is such a sacred inclusion at the Greek table, why Constantinoble became Istanbul, and what it takes for a foreign woman to be accepted by her Greek neighbors. Whether giving us a history lesson or just a glimpse into modern daily life, Ms. Hoffman's experiences in the Greek Isles are an invaluble inclusion here. Perhaps even enough to start a new sub-genre: Culturebooks!
Beautiful.......2006-10-02
This book is a very well organized history and recipe book in one. Not only that, the entire book is a work of art, it is soooo beautiful to look at.
A Delightful Adventure.......2005-12-09
This book is truly a winner. The recepies are just delicious and I have been serving them not only to my own family but at school meetings and community parties, and everybody wants to know where I got them and what makes them so increadibly good! But also all the little stories and facts are delightful. Each one is like a new little adventure within a greater adventure. I have never been to Greece but if it's anything like it sounds like from this book, I want to go there--and never leave! I will take this book as my guide as i move from dish to dish! A charming, lovely cookbook which has brought me many happy friends and smiles.
Pasta Primavera
Average customer rating:
- The End of the City...
- A great book for anyone interested in the Peloponnesian War
- Drought with dream
- Really Engaging!
- The real deal
|
The Last of the Wine
Mary Renault
Manufacturer: Vintage
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0375726810
Release Date: 2001-07-10 |
Book Description
In
The Last of the Wine, two young Athenians, Alexias and Lysis, compete in the palaestra, journey to the Olympic games, fight in the wars against Sparta, and study under Socrates. As their relationship develops, Renault expertly conveys Greek culture, showing the impact of this supreme philosopher whose influence spans epochs.
Customer Reviews:
The End of the City..........2007-04-30
I've loved this book for half my life, and I've assigned it to students in Western Civ. classes in universities. Be very clear, now: this is not a novel about the battles of the great war between Athens and Sparta. It's not intended to be like Stephen Pressfield's account of the career of Alkibiades. It's about the decay of Athens' greatness, about the end of the Athenians' belief in their own glory and greatness. It's a tragic book-- about the end of a vision of democracy, about the ruin of a family, about the end of a love affair. But it's brilliantly written-- Renault crafted the language to feel Attic and distanced, and she tried to take up the attitudes and beliefs of her characters. I always read the opening lines to students-- the narrator Alexias blithely recalling that on the day of his birth, his father had ordered him put to death as too weak and sickly to bother raising. Renault's portrayal of Sokrates is sympathetic, human, and sad-- a fine depiction of tragic greatness. This is a novel that I'll assign to classes again, and certainly one that I'll put on my list of books for a desert island.
A great book for anyone interested in the Peloponnesian War.......2007-02-09
The Last of the Wine is arguably one of Mary Renault's best books. Its moving tale of the collapse of Athens into Sparta and its eventual resurrection are seen through the eyes of the growing figure of Alexias. He becomes interested in the phliosophy of Socrates and through Socrates meets various young philosophers and students of philosophy, including Xenophon, conservative but brave; Phaedo, a slave who comes to respect the people who destroyed his world; and Plato, extremely young, but also extremely wise; there is also Lysis, with whom Alexias becomes involved, at first just as friends, but later sexually. The most amazing moment came when the news of the battle of Goat's Creek was brought to Athens. For the time being, democracy is lost; any reader would feel the deep sadness of that moment. Democracy is restored, but rejoicings are tempered by the fact that the people will destroy Socrates, clearly foreshadowed at the end.
This book encompasses all the great features of Athens and shows their rise and fall. It is also extremely moving.
Drought with dream.......2007-01-27
This is a beautiful, expertly painted story about two men and their love for each other, their city, and honor. The implications of this love are left ambiguous. One feels as if he has indeed drunk the last of the wine, and it brings about a wonderful, sad dream.
Really Engaging!.......2006-11-28
A book full of engaging characters. My second favorite Renault book. I did crave more sexual description, but I can't deny that even without it, this book is great. With that said, it is still a distant second to the Persian Boy in my eyes.
The real deal.......2006-07-16
Mary Renault's "Last of the Wine" represents the gold standard of historical fiction. Few of her rivals can match her intimate knowledge of her subject, yet her writing is never didactic or dry. Through her fiction we feel as if we are living in ancient Greece, not perusing some modern reconstruction. She is a master illusionist.
Set in Athens during the final years of the Peloponnesian War, the novel is the story of Alexias, a man who always seems to be near the center of key events. Through his eyes we meet a galaxy of the city's best and brightest, from the ever-entertaining Socrates, to the grim and brilliant Plato, to haughty Xenophon and haunted Phaedo. Contrary is some previous reviews, these characterizations seem fresh and real, like portraits of living people taken from life. (Beware anyone who seriously compares Renault to Stephen Pressfield, who seems the use the Greeks mostly as ancient action figures, and only seems inspired when writing battlefield porn.) Few can rival the skill of her writing on a sentence-by-sentence level--her dialog snaps and bites, and her descriptions are poetry.
One can quibble at a few things--there do seem to be a number of suspicious coincidences in the plot, contrived mostly to keep Alexias in the center of things. But such minor blemishes take nothing from Renault's achievement.
One final word: some object to the implicit homosexuality in the book (there is nothing overt in it). It is a very small mind indeed that demands that every period in the past conform to our modern prejudices about who should admire, love, or go to bed with whom. To put it bluntly--if you can't accept that ancient Greece was a different place, with its own standards, to be taken on its own terms, then Renault isn't for you. The loss would be yours.
Book Description
Greek cooks make wonderful use of the abundance of seasonal ingredients, cooking only the freshest and best available.
Customer Reviews:
You read the book and getting hungry ......!!!.......2003-10-28
I don't like Cookbooks without or only a few Fotos. I like to see what I choose to cook. THIS BOOK IS GREAT !!!! Each Page a Color-Foto, lot of Infos about the Food, great Recipe's, understandable written ( my english ist not perfect !). I like to cook with items in my Pantry. If you cook not only Hamburger you will have the most ingredient's at home. Some Fish is hard to come by but they mostly not my taste, so it's not so bad at all. Of course, you will never find a Cookbook you like ALL Recipe's but I have a lot to cook 'til Christmas from this book.
RENA, thank you for a wonderful Cookbook.
Book Description
Each of Greece’s wine-producing regions, vineyards, grape varieties, wines, and wineries are explored by the country’s very first Master of Wine, complete with in-depth producer profiles and maps for every one. There is a full historical account of the Greek wine industry, its wine laws, and winemaking developments, plus a discussion on the future of Greek wines.
Book Description
Many of the delectables unveiled here are traditionally served at weddings or religious holidays. Chapters cover preserved fruits, doughs, ice creams, tortes, and compotes, among others.
Customer Reviews:
One of my favorites.......2003-11-01
I am a Turk living in California. I was amazed by the recipes and the photos in this book. I haven't yet had time to try all the recipes, but I have been very pleased with the ones that I tried. The explanations are good and easy to follow. Taste is authentic. For people who are not familiar with the pastries and desserts of the region, the photos in the book show what the outcome will look like.
Highly recommended to those with a sweet tooth ;-)
A Masterpiece.......2002-04-23
If you don't own this book, then your library is incomplete! Having just returned from Greece, I can honestly say this has every pastry you'd find in a neighborhood bakery. One of the best parts of Greece is the dining, whether during Lent or the rest of the year, and this book has all the dessert recipes you'd need to have a little of Greece in your own home year-round. She also has a great variety of recipes for the various Orthodox Christian holidays, which makes the book all the more valuable for festive occasions such as Christmas and Easter. If you've lost Grandma's cookie recipes, just pick up a copy of this. Thank you, Vefa!
If it's traditional you want then look no further.......2000-04-29
Vefa Alexiadou has done it again. I purchased this book while in Greece after seeing her on a very popular morning show. I was not disappointed. I had purchased other books from her and had always been pleased. Greek pasteries are amongst the most difficult to make yet Vefa makes it not only easy but enjoyable. The photos in the book are wonderful. Upon first glance I wanted to make everything! For those of you who want to try traditional Greek cooking, the way it is done in Greece, then this is the book for you.
Book Description
More than 200 unique and intriguing recipes for all kinds of Greek dishes.
Customer Reviews:
The Complete Book of Greek Cooking.......2006-12-01
Great book just the ingredients are not things I find on my shelf so I have to purchase special items. The food tastes good and money well spent.
The Complete Book fo Greek Cooking..........2006-07-12
My ONLY souce of the best Greek cooking was Hellenic Cuisine from the 1970's. This book is excellent and is just like having your "yiayia" cooking for you and telling you how to prepare these delicacies. The ingredients are authentic and the prep time is right on the money. As everyone knows Greek cooking takes time, patience and lots of butter, olive oil, filo, feta and olives not to mention basil, oregano and garlic. Get your ingredients and have a ball. This cook book is the BEST out there for authenticity.
I'd give 5-stars if it had pictures!.......2005-11-10
4.9 stars:
If you are one of those cookbook collectors that enjoy the glossy, amusing cookbooks written by glossy, amusing TV personalities that are either "barefoot" or "naked", then this book is NOT for you. This book has no pictures, no glossy pages, and no stories of how the chef found a rare pepper plant on a recent excursion to Machu Picchu, Peru. This book is a compilation of recipes by a "group of women from Saint Paul's Church." Some recipes may be authentic and traditional; some may be completely made up; who knows and who cares is what I say.
The recipes are good. The directions are easy. And the ingredients are available to most of us that don't live beyond the reach of the Interstate (let alone the Internet!)
Here are some of the 250+ recipes in this book:
Baklava
Skaltsounia cookies
Phylo triangles
Souzoukakia (10-points if you can say that ten times fast)
Moussaka
Mock mageritsa
Stuffed grape leaves (yes!!)
Whole baby lamb
Politico-style salad
Béchamel sauce
Meatball avgolemono soup
Mock manti
Shish kebab (Mmmmmm)
12 different breads!
Farina cake
Flaounes
Sagnaki
Kapama
Souvlakia
Chicken stefado
Greek coffee (whoa, I'm awake now!)
Iced kourabiedes (cookies)
Bougatsa
And my personal favorite....
Loukoumades (if you haven't had one - or a dozen - then you are missing out!)
I highly recommend this book as an addition to your cookbook collection. You will find it to be one of your favorites.
Over the knee.......2005-05-03
I am surprised to see the overwhelmingly positive comments on this book since my opinion is very much to the contrary. By no means could this book be considered complete as it's title suggests.
Many of the recipes are classic but only occasionally offer an explanation of what the dish is.
For example there is a recipe for "Mock Magiritsa" which is a soup traditionally prepared on the eve of Greek Easter. After returning from church service celebrating the resurection of Christ, families would gather around the table and enjoy this rich soup which is made of the innards of the lamb that will be cooked on the spit the following morning.
Well you may say that this information is not absolutely necessary but I think it is the writers responsibility especially when the writers are the church itself, to give a bit of backround to what one is attempting to prepare and the significance of the dish.
Anyway there are better books out there, the authors in my opinion put very little into producing this book despite the vast resources of information that they had at their disposal. Personally I would avoid this one and try for something else
Traditional Greek-American fare at its finest.......2003-10-23
As a Greek-American who learned how to cook by watching her mother and grandmother lovingly prepare all sorts of traditional Greek dishes in the comfort of our "kouzina", I've always been a bit skeptical about using Greek cookbooks since the recipes either never turn out or just taste a lot different than what I am used to. This cookbook, however, changed my mind as I have found most of the dishes to be delicious successes that are faithful to traditional tastes. This should come as no surprise, of course, since the book was compiled by real Greeks (most of whom are moms and yiayias no doubt) whose families have probably handed down and improved upon those recipes generation after generation. Overall, most work out well and are fairly basic Greek dishes (I've only had trouble with one or two) and are perfect for either everyday family meals or for guests. Well done St. Paul's!
Book Description
Written by Greek-American chef Georgia Sarianides, Nosthimia! The Greek American Family Cookbook introduces Americans to Greek cuisine in a fun and engaging way. Although Georgia was born in Greece, she is equally as enthusiastic about her adopted country, America. Through the years, Georgia has adapted her Greek cooking to the American lifestyle. As a mother of four and with a full time career, Georgia plans meals that are healthy and don’t require hours in the kitchen. She emphasizes the use of fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, and olive oil, all healthy and delicious. Sprinkled among the mouth-watering recipes, Georgia includes family stories, cooking tips, and customs from the Old Country. This unique combination of delicious Greek recipes with American ingredients features about 175 recipes that are nutritious and easy to prepare. As Georgia says, "My recipes are Greek with an American twist, just like me!"
Customer Reviews:
Anyone can cook Greek with this one!.......2007-07-12
I expected long complicated lists of recipe ingredients and intricate steps. Not so! The lists were short and the instructions were about as simple as possible. Some grocery stores may not stock all the ingredients as few as they are so you may have to shop around or order online. Very easy and healthy cooking!
Delicious new cookbook.......2004-11-05
Nosthimia! is excellent. The recipes are easy to make yet delicious, just like the recipes that Georgia makes on her tv show. Unlike many other cookbooks, the ingredients can be easily found in almost any local supermarket. I was happily surprised that I didn't have to make a trip to a specialty market. I made several of the recipes for a dinner party including the feta cheese triangles and chicken stuffed grape leaves. I have to say that both recipes were delicious and my guests loved them.
I plan on using this cookbook on a regular basis. The recipes are delicious and provide just a hint of exotic Greek flavors. As an avid cook and cookbook purchaser, this is one of the best new cookbooks on the market.
"Nosthimia" .......2004-10-12
"Nosthimia" is the Greek word for delicious and this cookbook is filled with just that: delicious appetizers, soups, salads, main dishes, desserts and so many other amazing recipes. I enjoyed this book on a number of levels from the recipes themselves, to the small side stories scattered throughout the book. I have tried a number of the recipes with my mother and I would like to share a couple of them with you. "Georgia's Famous Baklava with Olive Oil" was a fairly simple recipe to make and is absolutely delicious. Once you try it, you will find yourself flipping to that page quite often! Another recipe, "Hamburgers Stuffed with Feta Cheese", is an unexpected twist to your usual Memorial Day cookout of hamburgers and hot dogs. This Greek Style hamburger is very delicious and I hope you give it a try. This cookbook is one of a kind. It allows you to experience the foods of the Greek culture while still having an American touch in terms of the time involved and the nutritious content in each of the recipes. I hope you give the book a try because I think you'll agree that it is filled with "Nosthimia" foods.
185 recipes that are truly delicious .......2004-10-11
Georgia Sarianides has owned and operated several successful restaurants in her career, as well as running her own cooking school. For the past five years she has hosted the cable television show "Cooking with Georgia". In Nosthimia!: The Greek American Family Cookbook, Georgia has distilled the best of what she knows about Greek cuisine into a compilation of truly mouth-watering dishes. From My Mother's Village-Style Veal Soup (Horiatiki Soupa); to Aromatic Grilled Chicken with Wine (Aromatiki Kota sta Karvouna); to Calzone Stuffed with Meat (Kaltsounia Gemista me Kima), Nosthimia! offers 185 recipes that are truly delicious (nosthimia)!
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