A Book of Mediterranean Food

First published in 1950, this is a cookery book of dishes from the Mediterranean littoral-France, Italy, Greece, the Levant, and North Africa-written for a British kitchen still shaped by rationing. David presents recipes for mezze, fish, meat, vegetables, oils, wines, and fruit, intercut with quotations from earlier travellers and cooks. The emphasis is on garlic, olive oil, tomatoes, herbs, and the markets that supply them, rather than on restaurant showpieces. Headnotes describe ingredients and occasions as much as method. The book is practical instruction and also a portrait of a regional cuisine offered to readers for whom those flavours were then uncommon at home.

Quarter-bound in buckram, with textured white paper sides printed with a green, black and yellow design by Sophie MacCarthy. Dark green slipcase.