A Mediterranean Feast:

The Story of the Birth of the Celebrated Cuisines of the Mediterranean From the Merchants of Venice to the Barbary Corsairs, With More Than 500 Recipesby Clifford A. Wright

Morrow, 815 pp., $35

A Mediterranean Feast by Clifford A. Wright is one of those cookbooks that falls between the cracks in terms of classification. But this is precisely what makes it so appealing. Because of its scope, there is something in it for everyone. The novice cook will find a comprehensive introduction to the world of Mediterranean cuisine, the experienced cook will find diverse, well-conceived recipes that rarely appear in less-specialized texts, and the culinary historian will find a Bible.

Beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire, Mr. Wright traces the role of food, cookery, and consumption throughout the countries ringing the Mediterranean Sea. Taking up the challenge from French historian Fernand Braudel, who once issued a call to scholars for a historiography of food, Mr. Wright takes an Annales School-approach to the history of Mediterranean gastronomy. That is, he views his subject as the “product of societal changes that occurred over a period of one thousand years, in terms of the economic, political, agricultural and social history of the Mediterranean.” In this cookbook, he shows us connections of varied foodstuffs, relating them to political events and economic changes over more than a millennium. The food historian will find in it a work of excruciatingly researched historiography, wherein each recipe illustrates a particular point or theme being developed in the text. In a chapter titled “Bread for Princes, Bread for Dogs,” Mr. Wright introduces the subject of staple grains found throughout the Mediterranean. Wheat, rice, couscous, and bulgar — these are the foundational commodities upon which not only gastronomy, but also empires were constructed. He then presents 40 pages of recipes for pies, calzones, bread salads, empanadas, pilafs, paellas, and risottos which do not merely tell but also show the reader the importance of these grains in Mediterranean cuisine. Through its recipes, A Mediterranean Feast tells us the story of a world united by immigrants and of their role in the transmission of technological, domestic, and cultural knowledge. It vividly illustrates the linkages between the culinary traditions of diverse regions.

With over 500 recipes, A Mediterranean Feast, however, is still very much a cookbook, providing detailed instructions on how to prepare traditional foods of the Circum-Mediterranean. Mr. Wright’s directions for cooking a simple couscous covers several pages of text. Follow them, and be rewarded with perfectly cooked traditional couscous that is light, fluffy, and full-flavored. Served with a tajine of chicken, chick peas, and caramelized onions, this sweet and savory Moroccan creation is simply gorgeous.

The recipes in this book span the Balkans, Turkey, Greece, North Africa, and Southern Europe. They range from the absurdly simple to the impossibly complex. A lamb pie from Crete is so easy that one is tempted to add ingredients in order to make the flavor more complex. Trial preparation, though, proves that a few elements blend together so harmoniously that no extras are needed. On the other hand, beginning cooks may be frightened by the time-consuming recipe for bouillabaisse, which, true to tradition, instructs the cook to first make a fish stock, while soaking the saffron and preparing the fish, then to strain the stock not once but twice before serving. Meanwhile, many of the older recipes may not appeal to the modern cook. The pig’s feet in cloves and aspic, for instance, will likely find few adherents within the American appetite. However, the author assures us that this medievally spiced dish is a favorite on Christmas tables in Greece.

Wright, who was originally a researcher specializing in Middle Eastern studies, spent over 10 years working on this book. It bears the unmistakable stamp of his background. Exhaustively researched and well-presented with recipes that work, A Mediterranean Feast is a cookbook to learn from. Like the Mediterranean region itself, it is a work that one can revisit for many years and find something new on every trip.

This article appears in September 1 • 2000.

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Rachel Feit is an archaeologist by trade who worked her way through college in kitchens in Chicago and Austin before discovering that dishing up words was more satisfying that dishing up meals. She has been writing about food and restaurants for The Austin Chronicle for more than a decade, but still loves to cook.