MEDITERRANEAN COOKERY

This reprint of a British companion volume to a BBC series is essentially a beginners' guide by a knowledgeable native daughter. Roden (The Good Food of Italy—Region by Region, 1990, etc.), a London resident of Egyptian-Jewish heritage best known for her classic A Book of Middle Eastern Food (1972), traveled throughout the Mediterranean (southern Europe; North Africa; the Middle East) selecting these examples of home cooking that meet her standard of simplicity and robust flavor. She has come up with a fund of interesting new dishes and good variations on old standbys that might energize the most jaded Mediterranean food fan; but the basic simplicity of the recipes, as well as the survey format and pages of identifying photos, makes this most valuable for unsophisticated cooks.