The Bottom Line
This book is a great introduction to the use of Greek herbs in cooking and to the uses, history, and folklore of Greek herbs in general.
Pros
- Beautifully illustrated with full-color photos
- Fascinating information on folklore as well as culinary uses
- Authors are experts who know how to write clearly in an entertaining fashion
Cons
- Some Greek herbs may be hard to find abroad
- A few of the recipes may be too "nouveau cuisine" for the average cook
- Buy it in Greece - it's difficult to locate elsewhere
Description
- Pick this up early in your trip and enjoy learning the herbs of Greece
- While designed for cookery, the exceptional photos also make htis an identification guide
- Folklore and history abounds. My favorite? Page 60 "The Capers of the Most Famous Concubine!"
Guide Review - Book: Herbs in Cooking
Herbs in Cooking
Maria and Nikos Psilakis
Karmanor Press, Heraklion
ISBN: 960-7448-29-4 (English edition)
Interested in herbs, Greece, or cooking? This beautifully-produced book from Karmanor Press is worth acquiring. Over 250 recipes cover virtually every aspect of herbal cookery, including the making of a myrtle-leaf liqueur that would delight the heart of Aphrodite.
The volume is available in multiple languages and is found at many tourist stands in Greece as well as at bookstores throughout Greece, or on line at Cretashop. Since foreign publications are not so afraid of the somewhat anti-herb medical establishment in the United States, these authors don't pull any punches on promoting the use of herbs to promote health rather than just add flavor.
While a few of the herbs mentioned in the book, such as Dittany of Crete, are hard to find outside of Greece, the majority of them can be found at your local grocer. Just bear in mind that Greek, and especially Cretan, herbs are believed by many experts to be more potent than their counterparts grown elsewhere.
By the way, dried herbs are generally not considered "food", and usually can be brought through without difficulty.
