Cooking with Loula: Greek Recipes from My Family to Yours

by Alexandra Stratou

Overview

Named a Best Cookbook of the Year by Epicurious

In Cooking with Loula, Alexandra Stratou invites readers into her Greek family’s kitchen, revealing their annual traditions and bringing their recipes to life—with touching remembrances of Kyria Loula (Kyria means “Mrs.” in Greek), the woman who cooked for three generations of Stratou’s family and who taught her that the secret ingredient in any beloved dish is the spirit the cook brings with her to the kitchen.

Many classic dishes are represented here, such as pastitsio and dolmades, as well as inventive, unconventional creations such as a green salad with avocado, apple, and Dijon mustard and a spinach gnocchi in which feta cheese appears alongside Gorgonzola. The nearly 100 recipes are all hearty and unfussy, and organized the way real home cooks think, with chapters for simple, healthful weekday dishes; more languorous Sunday meals; and traditional holiday fare. With hundreds of mouthwatering photographs and whimsical illustrations, this book is truly a gem.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781579656683
Publisher:	Artisan
Publication date:	05/03/2016
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Alexandra Stratou, an Athens native, attended the Luis Irizar Cooking School in San Sebastián, Spain, after graduating with a bachelor of arts from Brown University in 2006. Stratou has worked in restaurant kitchens both in Spain and Greece. She self-published the original edition of Cooking with Loula (then called Cooking to Share) through a Kickstarter campaign in 2013. Currently based in Athens, she travels the world as a chef, creating events large and small, in both public and private spheres under her brand, Cooking to Share.

Editorial Reviews

Top 10 Cooking & Food Books for Spring 2016.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Real Greek home cooking: healthy, homey, traditional, and seasoned here with Stratou’s stories.”
—BookPage

“Chapter titles (e.g., Weekdays, Sundays, Traditions, Essential Recipes) will make perfect sense to home cooks, who will find it easy to determine which dishes can be made every day and which meals should be saved for weekends and special occasions. There’s a handy chart that orders all the recipes by cooking time, as well as an array of inviting, unfussy photographs. VERDICT: Stratou’s unique and intensely personal cookbook is a breath of fresh air. Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal

“This is not just another Greek cookbook—it is a cookbook with heart.”
—Booklist

“Stratou approaches Greek food in a soulful and imaginative way that honors the generations of cooks who have come before her.”
—Alice Waters

From the Publisher

03/15/2016
Originally funded through Kickstarter and self-published as Cooking To Share, this new edition of chef Stratou's debut is an intimate collection of Greek recipes gleaned from a beloved family cook. Peppered with poetry and memoir, the book contains such homey dishes as lavraki plaki (oven-baked sea bass), taramosalata (cod roe dip), oven-roasted lamb, and baklava. Unconventional chapter titles (e.g., Weekdays, Sundays, Traditions, Essential Recipes) will make perfect sense to home cooks, who will find it easy to determine which dishes can be made every day and which meals should be saved for weekends and special occasions. There's a handy chart that orders all the recipes by cooking time, as well as an array of inviting, unfussy photographs. VERDICT Stratou's unique and intensely personal cookbook is a breath of fresh air. Highly recommended. Libraries should note that the book has an exposed binding and partial dust jacket that may not withstand heavy circulation.

Library Journal