A really good story of Mediterranean Terroir.

The book has a long title:

A Mediterranean Feast: The Story of the Birth of the Celebrated Cuisines of the Mediterranean from the Merchants of Venice to the Barbary Corsairs, with More than 500 Recipes

You can really get engaged with what’s on the plate. But, beware – try the recipes on yourself before doing it first time for company. Think through the recipe .. some are not quite as advertised.

There’s more than a thousand years of history – East to West and South to North from Gibralter to Bodrum – you’ll learn where dishes originated.

Some of the historical bits are speculation rather than documented fact – but one can’t fault the author (Clifford Wright) for not trying to dig deep into what’s behind the dishes.

There are original maps, a huge bibliography, and two indices – a general one and a recipe one.

It’s intriguing reading for any cook – armchair or otherwise. It’s a good read, and hard to put down – unless you’re heading for the kitchen to try something new – to you – but old to the Med.

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