Unless you’ve been living on Mars (or Venus), you’ve probably heard that the my first cookbook is coming out this Fall (late October/early November). I’m getting excited as the release of the book is imminent and I am in the amidst of organizing a launch party and some other events for the coming months.
I am going to be very busy and that’s why being organized in the kitchen is very important. One needs to have clarity and have everything in its place. One of the first things I do is putting on some cloves that are apropos for the kitchen: when at home I wear jeans and a short-sleeve T-shirt or bowling style shirt.
When I am catering or cooking for one of my Greek Supper Clubs, I put on a chef’s uniform – something more formal, clean-looking and it feels kinda cool. I’ve been enjoying my Happy Chef shirt, all white, short sleeve with a cool cotton fabric.
One also needs the proper tools to in the kitchen to be efficient in preparing the many dishes in this book. My kitchen isn’t full of fancy gadgets. I rely on a few trusty kitchen tools to help create my meals. Invest in a good chef’s knife. Ask to feel the knife in your hand, that’s most important along with the quality of steel.
A mortar and pestle is necessary to ground spices, make pastes, mix dips and make pestos . A box grater is used alot in this book: you could grate cheese, vegetables (like tomatoes and zucchini), garlic and onions. A food processor is one of modern man’s great inventions and everyone should splurge to include one in their kitchen. For frying or for some desserts, a candy thermometer gives me an accurate read of hot oil or when making sweets.
For the savory side, a meat thermometer will take ensure you don’t undercook or…overcook your meats. A microplane and/or zester are wonderful for citrus peels and some spices can even be freshly ground using them (microplane).
Finally, invest in a pizza stone. They are cheap, widely sold at many kitchenware stores and with their use, one can recreate pizzeria style pizzas, flatbreads and bread that rivals anything bought from a shop.
*You have just read part of my upcoming Everything Mediterranean Cookbook and you may pre-order your copy now, through Amazon.
Congratulations Peter. I have bee following you from Melbourne Australia. Love your posts. I too launched my first cookbook called
Sweet Greek,
Simple Food and Sumptuous Feasts
It has almost sold out and we are getting ready for the 2nd edition. For this reason I know how exciting it is for you. It is so important to keep our cuisine heritage and culture alive. Good luck.
Many congratulations Peter, this is very exciting and so well deserved for you – I personally can’t wait for my own copy! All the best and I will do my best to spread the word,
Cheers
Ozlem
Dear Peter !
Many congratulations !
It looks amazing !
Best wishes,
Marianne Kraaijeveld, Chania,Crete.
Big congrats Peter, I am very excited for you!
Your cookbook “The Everything Mediterranan Cookbook” was well written and recipes were very useful and meaningfully. Congratulations on writing a very good Greek Cookbook.