From Tapas to Meze: Small Plates from the Mediterranean
by Joanne Weir
List Price:
Our Price: $12.36
You Save: $12.59 (50%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $8.99 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Joanne WeirPhotographer: Caren Alpert
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-10-01
ISBN: 1580085865
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Book Reviews of From Tapas to Meze: Small Plates from the Mediterranean
Book Review: Simple and tasty dishes in an educational format
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this book as a gift, in advance of a party I was planning (with a Mediterranean tapas theme). I tried three of the dishes and found the cookbook not only was easy to follow, but had some great culinary information in the start of each section. It is divided into regions (Spain, Southern France, etc). While some of the ingredients (like saffron threads) may be too expensive or difficult to obtain for a last-minute meal, most of the dishes are easy to prepare.
I made the shrimp-stuff phyllo and, despite having never worked with the pastry before, was able to turn out attractive and tasty results. Two of the other dishes I tried had recipes for flatbread and pizza from scratch--but in the interest of time, I used prepared pizza dough. I found that the results were just fine, although I may go back and try the bread recipes when I have more hours to spend.
All in all, this book has some great recipes, easy to follow instructions, and the foods are easily amended based on what you have in your kitchen. I recommend it for anyone who wants to learn how to cook Mediterranean food. Once I've cooked through these recipes, I have a hunch that I'll be able to go off on my own and create dishes loosely based on the ones in the book. It's not just a "how-to" book, but it is an education as well.
Summary of From Tapas to Meze: Small Plates from the Mediterranean
The countries that circle the Mediterranean share more than the sea's azure waters. They share a love of first courses -- tapas from Spain, hors d'oeuvres and entrees from France, Italy's antipasti and primi piatti, mezethes from Greece, and the meze of the Levant and North Africa. These small dishes reflect the region's extraordinary bounty, its reliance on seasonal produce, and its emphasis on straightforward preparation.More than 220 recipes demonstrate both the unity and the variety of Mediterranean cuisine. Olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, onions, and fresh herbs are the foundation of all Mediterranean cooking. But what a tremendous range of flavors and textures emanate from those ingredients!
Often one brilliant idea is manipulated differently by each cuisine. Take flat bread: In Spain we find Coca de la Huerta, a summer vegetable flat bread from the Balearic Islands. France offers Provence's Pissaladiere, laced with anchovies, onions, and olives. You're probably familiar with Italy's great flat breads (like Focaccia con Gorgonzola e Pinoli), but have you ever tasted Lahmacun, a Turkish lamb and tomato pizza, spiced with cinnamon, allspice, and cloves?
The Mediterranean plays the same game with savory egg pies. You can't enter a tapas bar in Spain without being confronted by some sort of tortilla, the ubiquitous Spanish omelette that appears here with caramelized onions as Tortilla de Cebollas a la Andaluza. In the South of France an omelette might be stuffed with pistou (the French equivalent of Italian pesto), and in Italy you would find the Italian equivalent of the omelette the frittata -- made with roasted sweet peppers. In Greece, the egg has been transformed into a Sfoungato me Kolokithia Apagio, a baked omelette with rice, zucchini, leeks, feta, and mountain herbs. In Tunisia, echoes of the French occupation can be tasted in the ajja, a traditional omelette filled with Tunisia's own spicy merguez sausage.
For this authentic collection, Joanne Weir ate her way around the Mediterranean cajoling home cooks and restaurant chefs into surrendering their finest recipes. Throughout the book is a reverence for the Mediterranean practice of hanging out at the table with a glass of wine -- or sherry, or ouzo, or raki -- while nibbling on an assortment of delectable little dishes. Let From Tapas to Meze bring this gracious tradition into your home.
From the Hardcover edition.
Mediterranean Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Mediterranean Books
Los Guisos de Chari Díaz (Spanish Edition)by Manuel Cepero Molina
Signatura Ediciones, SL; Published: 2010-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.93
Cocinar para dos/ Cooking for two (Yumelia Cocina) (Spanish Edition)by M. Angustias Torres Rojas
Published: 2007-05-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.61
Price in other shops:
The Way They Ate: Origins of the Mediterranean Dietby Dario Giugliano
Idelson Gnocchi Pub; Published: 2001-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $418.86
Mediterranean Cooking (Great Cooks Cookbooks)by Arlene Feltman-Sailhac
Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers; Published: 1996-01-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.84
Price in other shops:
Low-Fat Vegetarian Mediterranean Recipesby Anne Sheasby
Anness; Published: 2007-01-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.94
Price in other shops:
Mediterraneo: Delicious Recipes from the Mediterraneanby Clare Ferguson
Ryland Peters & Small; Published: 2004-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.25
Price in other shops:
Marrakesh Express: Recipes and Memories of Moroccoby Nisrine Merzouki
BookSurge Publishing; Published: 2009-11-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $23.99
Invitation To Mediterranean Cookingby Claudia Roden
Rizzoli; Published: 1997-10-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops:
The Mediterranean Collectionby Louise Pickford
Hamlyn; Published: 2002-03-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.56
Price in other shops:
Wine Bar Food: Mediterranean Flavors to Crave with Wines to Matchby Cathy Mantuano, Tony Mantuano
Clarkson Potter; Published: 2008-04-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.50
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The New Spanish Tableby Anya von Bremzen
Workman Publishing Company; Published: 2005-11-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops:
The Book of Tapasby Simone Ortega, Inés Ortega
Phaidon Press; Published: 2010-05-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.85
Price in other shops:
Weir Cooking in the City: More than 125 Recipes and Inspiring Ideas for Relaxed Entertainingby Joanne Weir, Penina Meisels
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2004-02-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops:
Pintxos: Small Plates in the Basque Traditionby Gerald Hirigoyen, Lisa Weiss
Ten Speed Press; Published: 2009-02-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
Joanne Weir's More Cooking in the Wine Country: 100 New Recipes for Living and Entertainingby Joanne Weir
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2001-04-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.84
Price in other shops:
Wine Country Cookingby Joanne Weir
Ten Speed Press; Published: 2008-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.49
Price in other shops:
Tapas: Sensational Small Plates From Spainby Joyce Goldstein
Chronicle Books; Published: 2009-05-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.59
Price in other shops:
El Farol: Tapas and Spanish Cuisineby James Campbell Caruso
Gibbs Smith; Published: 2004-04-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops:
Small Bitesby Jennifer Joyce
DK Publishing; DK ADULT; Published: 2005-09-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
Tapas (Revised): The Little Dishes of Spainby Penelope Casas
Knopf; Published: 2007-02-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.00
Price in other shops: