Mediterra
Across the Mediterranean, from Spain to Morocco, via Italy, Sicily, Greece and Lebanon, one delicious food influence gives way to the next. The whole region is a rich seam of deeply delicious food, and the recipes in this mouth-watering collection are gathered far and wide from anywhere the Mediterranean Sea touches the shore.
They are recipes full of passion, colour and flavour, simple and accessible, and will instantly transport you to the sun-soaked shores of your favourite holiday destinations with minimal effort in the kitchen.
These are dishes inspired by the Mediterranean classics, by how locals eat or by single ingredients – think olive oil, the perfumed zest of lemons and oranges, fresh herbs, ripe seasonal tomatoes, juicy stone fruits, oozy figs, sizzling garlic, crushed, aromatic spices, smoky grilled meats and plenty of flatbreads to mop up the juices.
Recipes include:
Burek with honey-roasted pumpkin, goat's cheese and mint from Croatia
Oven-baked black rice from Spain
Lebanese seven-spice falafel
Cumin-roasted aubergines from Tunisia
Cretan grilled smokey sardines
Sicilian sea bass crudo with blood orange and cumin
Pork belly gyros from Greece
Turkish-style spiced lentils with pumpkin, chicken and aleppo pepper
Moroccan pastilla with slow-cooked pheasant
Quince and honey tart from Syria
and a classic Italian Tiramisu
Travel across continents and delve into these pages to not only cook like a Mediterranean but eat like one too: take time, invite friends and family, pour a glass of wine and lay the table. Bon appétit!
Ben Tish is the Chef Director of Cubitt House, where he oversees the food offering across a number of pubs and eateries in London. With a love of the Mediterranean, the food and it's history, one of Ben's passions is recreating the flavours and dishes of his travels in his own home and restaurants.
Ben regularly appears on tv, including Saturday Kitchen, Sunday Brunch and Masterchef, and writes for Delicious, Guardian, Telegraph, Times, Noble Rot and Chef Magazine, among others. He has written 4 books and contributed to many others.
Ben lives in East London with his wife Nykeeta and his French bulldogs.
@ben_tish / chefbentish.co.uk