Vefa's Kitchen by Vefa Alexiadou

This, like Tuscany, is a Phaidon book and is beautiful and well put together. There are a shortage of illustrations though and I have to use my imagination when trying to choose a recipe as most of them do not have a picture to show the finished product. I love Greek food and there is a fantastic Greek Restaurant, Alexandros, in Carlisle which serves up delicious food. Mike bought me this book so I could try and make some of this delightful cuisine at home ... but I haven't made anything! Like the Tuscan book it is too authentic for me which I know sounds really pathetic but I lack the confidence to try the fish recipes because I have not been eating fish for long and don't like the idea of having to have to eat round the bones once served. There is also a lot of shell fish, aubergine (which Mike hates and whenever I try to cook it it turns out to be a disaster!) and sweet cakes none of which feature much in our day by day diet. The book is also huge at 703 pages and heavy. It is not easy to navigate due to its size but I do feel that the recipes are well represented and with careful attention should turn out well. I need to take a leap from my comfort zone and try something different. After all isn't that what cookbooks are for?