Mediterranean Cookbook

'To write about the foods of all the countries that surround the Mediterranean could seem an impossibly ambitious task. Some fifteen countries border the sea, to say nothing of its many islands, and they span three continents. Yet when one starts to consider the matter it becomes clear that all these countries have a great deal in common, and the task seems simpler than first imagined. It is as if the sea itself has imposed a strong unifying effect on the areas surrounding it. Different as the countries may be, in terms of race, politics, religion and culture, in the end we are forced to acknowledge that food is based on quite other matters.'

So says Arabella Boxer in the Introduction to her meticulously researched and beautifully organized book which constitutes a gastronomic grand tour of the region where spices, olives, tomatoes, yogurt, salads, fruit and the clever use of fish and meat combine so satisfyingly and memorably. Within these pages she conjures up the rich and colourful world of Mediterranean food.

Arabella Boxer was born in 1934, in Scotland, of Scottish and American parentage. As a child, she lived first in Scotland, then in London, and spent the summers in the United States with her grandparents. She has travelled widely, and was Food Editor of Vogue from 1975 to 1991. She has also written extensively for the Sunday Times Magazine and the Telegraph Magazine. Her books include among others First Slice Your Cookbook, The Sunday Times Complete Cookbook, Arabella Boxer’s Book of English Food and A Visual Feast with Tessa Traeger. She was awarded the Glenfiddich Cookery Writer of the Year Award in 1975 and 1978. In 1992 she won the Andre Simon Award and a Glenfiddich Special Award for Food Writing. A founder member of the Guild of Food Writers, she lives in London.