"...a charming paean to the kinds of foods that require time to prepare, but are worth the wait." (Publishers Weekly, August 4, 2003)
"...Wolfert's celebration of the pleasures of (slow cooking), with its dozens of delicious and unusual recipes, is highly recommended." (Library Journal, September 15, 2003)
"if you buy only one cookbook this year, make it this one." (Metropolitan Home, November 2003)
"I defy a passionate cook (or a passionate cookbook collector) to resist The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen, Paula Wolfert's newest." (New York, October 27, 2003)
"Anyone craving the unparalleled flavors that slow cooking coaxes from ingredients will be amply rewarded for his or her time." (Fine Cooking, January 2004)
"Already a classic, this book is full of lusty Mediterranean dishes you can eat with abandon." (New York Post, January 7, 2004)
"The difference between this particular book and a slew of others is Wolfert herself: decisive, imaginative, and well versed." (Gourmet, February 2004)
"It is not likely that anyone outside Morocco knows more about that country's cooking than Paula Wolfert," (The New York Times, February 25, 2004)
Mediterranean cooking expert Wolfert invites readers to sit back and relax, in this, her eighth book (the first has been in print for 30 years)--a charming paean to the kinds of foods that require time to prepare, but are worth the wait. That doesn't mean these are complicated recipes. In fact, most are paragons of the simplicity and highlighting of flavors that have made Mediterranean cooking so popular. Dishes such as a classic Cassoulet use long periods in the oven to produce meltingly soft meat. The dough for Turkish Flatbread Stuffed with Melted Cheese needs to rise overnight, but is produced in a food processor with little effort. A chapter on soups celebrates simmer-it-and-forget-it dishes such as Turkish Red Lentil Soup with Paprika and Mint Sizzle and Mediterranean Marinated Fish Soup, which calls first for soaking fish filets in a mixture of Pernod, wine, thyme and garlic, then covering them with hot broth to cook off any residual rawness. Other recipes simply need to sit for their flavors to meld, as is the case with Cypriot Fresh Fava Bean and Purslane Salad and El Churrasco's Gazpacho with Pine Nuts and Currants. Wolfert does her us ual practiced job of seeking out unusual flavors in all corners of the Mediterranean, such as a Butternut Squash and Potato Pie with Tomato, Mint, and Sheep's Milk Cheese from Crete, and providing interesting historical background, like the headnote for Seven-Hour Garlic Crowned Lamb, a recipe culled from a 1929 cookbook of the foods of France's Perigord region. (Sept.)
Forecast: Wolfert has become the brand name for Mediterranean cooking, and this polished effort should sell well on the basis of name recognition and general excellence. The only possible impediment is its title and subtitle, which may scare off potential buyers who fear overly complicated recipes or even give the impression that these recipes require a slow cooker. (Publishers Weekly, August 4, 2003)
In her many previous books (e.g., the now classic Couscous and Other Good Foods from Morocco), Wolfert wrote about the Mediterranean lifestyle, and here she seeks to recapture that way of life whose "friendly but voluptuous eating experiences" are no longer so easy to find, regrettably. To that end, she offers recipes intended to be both satisfying to prepare and delicious to eat, homey and comforting dishes from all the countries of the region: brodetto Pasquale (Italian Easter Lamb Soup), Expatriate Roast Chicken with Lemon and Olives from Morocco, and Catalonian Fall-Apart Lamb Shanks. Although many recipes call for braising, stewing, and other techniques of long cooking, others are not limited to those techniques, for Wolfert's definition of slow cooking also encompasses marinating and similar technique - i.e., cooking that requires forethought but not necessarily hours at the stove: Overnight Gorgonzola with Saba Spread, for example, or Mediterranean Marinated Fish Soup, prepared in btwo stages. Slow-cooked food has become popular with home cooks and restaurant diners alike, and Wolfert's celebration of the pleasures of that approach with its dozens of delicious and unusual recipes, is highly recommended. (Library Journal, September 15, 2003)
Quick and easy may rule the day even in Rome, but in The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen, Paula Wolfert celebrates a more leisurely way of cooking. Her carefully written recipes do require patience, effort, and the occasional uncommon ingredient (Wolfert thoughtfully provides mail-order and Internet sources). But anyone craving the unparalleled flavors that slow cooking coaxes from ingredients will be amply rewarded for his or her time. (Fine Cooking, January 2004)
"Already a classic, this book is full of lusty Mediterranean dishes you can eat with abandon." (New York Post, January 7, 2004)
"It is not likely that anyone outside Morocco knows more about that country's cooking than Paula Wolfert," (The New York Times, February 25, 2004)
From one of the leading lights of contemporary gastronomy comes an irresistible collection of slow-cooked, flavor-drenched dishes from the cuisines of the Mediterranean
Who can resist the sensuous delights of a slow-simmered stew, salmon fillet slow-roasted until it is soft as silk, or leg of lamb braised until it is meltingly tender? Slow cooking is the hottest new trend in food, and no one better captures the art of sumptuous, unhurried cooking than renowned food writer Paula Wolfert. In The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen, she returns to her favorite culinary regions and shares an enticing treasure trove of more than 150 authentic recipes that wend their way from North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean to Italy, Spain, and the South of France. With her trademark passion for detail and curiosity about cultural traditions and innovations, she offers loyal fans and new converts the secrets to simmering, slow roasting, braising, poaching, and marinating their way to flavor-drenched dishes that capture the enchanting tastes and aromas of the Mediterranean table. Perfect for anyone who loves to cook, this rich resource is a must-have for the bookshelf of everyone who is serious about food.
Paula Wolfert (Sonoma, CA) is widely acknowledged to be the premier food writer in America. Her writing has received many awards, including the Julia Child Award, the M.F.K. Fisher Award, and the James Beard Award. She has a regular column in Food & Wine magazine, and her articles have appeared in such major publications as the New York Times, Saveur, Bon Appétit, and Cook's Illustrated. She is the author of six other cookbooks, including Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco, Mediterranean Cooking, and The Cooking of South-West France.
