Book Review: Greek with Gusto! Greek Cuisine - Easy & Delicious by Nicholas and Julie Roukes

Greek with Gusto! is a staple in my kitchen that gets used more than the rest of my cookery books. It is a great book that helps to inspire me in the kitchen when I am all out of inspiration. I bought this book on a trip to Canada for $19.95 and it has been useful to me since that time.

The book is beautifully illustrated. The front cover alone has an illustration of Greek salad and souvlaki (kebabs). Illustrations play a big part in whether or not I buy a cook book. There are six colour photographs in total that contain at least two dishes on each page. This is useful for people who are not familiar with Greek food and who would like to see how their dishes should turn out.

This book is well organised into categories, making it easy to find the kind of meal option you want to prepare. For example, vegetables (lahanika), soups (soupes), poultry & meat (kotopoula kai kreata) are easy to find, with an easy to follow Greek pronunciation straight after the English in brackets.

I was impressed with the lively introduction that Nicholas and Julie Roukes included in their book. They explained how they travelled extensively through Greece collecting more recipes to add to their existing knowledge of Greek cuisine. As one who was raised on Greek cuisine, I could relate to what was included in the introduction on how dishes use simple ingredients to create delicious, nutritious meals. The health benefits of olive oil were also extolled as a means to help reduce bad HDL cholesterol levels in the blood.

My two favourite recipes that I enjoy from Greek with Gusto! can be found on pages 126-127, where you will discover how to make moussaka and then the tomato rice pilaf that is found on page 80. Moussaka is very time consuming to make. There is no avoiding this fact, whether you follow a recipe or make it from memory. You only have to look over the two pages of ingredients and directions to see that. But do not be put off. As long as you follow the recipe closely, you will have an aromatic, tasty meal before you by the time you finish. The rice pilaf is also well worth trying.