Author Aglaia Kremezi has family roots that lie deep in the Greek islands. Her mother is from Kea, the Cycladic Island where Aglaia now lives and teaches about Greek food, her father from Andros. She describes this collection of recipes as “not an encyclopedia of Greek island cooking but a very personal selection from thousands I have collected over the years.” She tells the islands’ stories through its ingredients and recipes, its history, people and the cultural influences from near and far. Informed and inspiring in equal measure.

In this book, called by Time "the next best thing to a cruise through the Greek Islands," Aglaia Kremezi showcases the fresh, uncomplicated recipes - many of them vegetarian - that she collected from local women, fishermen, bakers, and farmers. Like all Mediterranean food, these dishes are light, simple, and feature seasonal produce, fresh herbs, and fish. Passed from generation to generation by word of mouth, most of these recipes have never before been written down. All translate easily to the home kitchen: Finger-Sized Fried Greens Pies; Onion, Tomato, and Feta Turnovers; Cod with Artichokes. Filled with lush photographs and stories of island life, The Foods of the Greek Islands is for all cooks and travelers who want to experience this diverse and deeply rooted cuisine firsthand.

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Aglaia Kremezi is the Aphrodite (goddess of love, beauty and pleasure) of the foods of her native Greece. She is also her nation’s oracle, the definitive expert on all of the distinct flavors of land and sea, how they evolved and how they are subtly different from one place to the next. She has traveled, like Odysseus, to speak to Greek women and men everywhere who till their soil, produce food, fish their seas, and are wise about what the seasons will bring. Kremezi bears witness to her countryfolk in all of her books and is a superb recipe writer, enabling her readers to enjoy this delicious food in their own homes.