Synopses & Reviews
The eating style proven to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.Spanning the Mediterranean from Spain to France, Italy, and Greece, with side trips to Lebanon, Cyprus, and North Africa, this revised and updated edition of Nancy Harmon Jenkins’s acclaimed cookbook offers ninety-two mouthwatering new dishes plus the latest information about the nutritional benefits of one of the world’s healthiest cuisines. But best of all are the recipes—bursting with flavor, easy to prepare, and sure to please everyone at your table, whether you’re cooking for yourself, your family, or your friends.
Known for classic favorites like tabbouleh and ratatouille, flatbreads, pastas, zesty herbs, and flavorful oils pressed from succulent olives, the Mediterranean diet combines delicious taste with health-supportive ingredients as few other cuisines do. With an emphasis on fruits and vegetables, grains and legumes, fish, lean meats, and heavenly desserts, here are recipes for over 250 outstanding dishes created for today’s American kitchens. You’ll also find new cooking techniques and a simplified approach to cooking—because simplicity is what the Mediterranean way of eating is all about.
Experienced and novice cooks alike will be inspired by these delectable, seasonally inspired recipes ranging from sweet young Roman-style peas for spring to skewered shrimp for summer, robust North African Pumpkin Soup when autumn is in the air, and warming winter dishes like Lebanese Garlicky Roast Chicken and Cypriote Braised Pork with Wine, Cinnamon, and Coriander—plus a variety of fabulous pizzas and dinner pies, hearty salads like Tuscan panzanella, and satisfying small dishes known as tapas. Also included is a special selection of traditional dishes prepared for Islamic, Jewish, and Christian holidays that can be enjoyed year round.
Rich in flavor and healthy nutrients but low in saturated fats and cholesterol, here are recipes that will delight your palate, nourish body and soul—and can be prepared with ease in your home kitchen.
Review
andldquo;In
Virgin Territory, Nancy Harmon Jenkins makes a compelling case that our most important cooking mediumandndash;olive oilandndash;is the one we know least about. She teaches us how to tell a great oil from a mediocre one, and why the difference matters--then clinches her point with exceptional recipes, from orange and red onion salad, to pasta with raw tomato and olive oil sauce, to salmorejo. This is the definitive book on olive oil, and one that should change the way you shop.andrdquo;
andmdash;and#160;Amanda Hesser, co-founder of Food52.com and author of The Essential New York Times Cookbook
and#160;
andldquo;Virgin Territory is so essential because its subject is so well-colonized. Equal parts cookbook, autobiography, and culinary history, itand#39;s a compelling education in cookingand#39;s most essential oil.andrdquo;
andmdash;and#160;Dan Barber, chef and co-owner, Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns
and#160;
andquot;This is the tasty and nutritious food for thought which olive oil enthusiasts have been hungering for. Jenkins draws on decades of experience in the Mediterranean to tell the people and places, the beauty and the uses of great oil andndash; and the practicalities of choosing and using it. An invaluable guide to a luminous yet often murky world.andquot;
andmdash;and#160;Tom Mueller, author of the best-selling Extra Virginity
and#160;
andldquo;Virgin Territory takes a deep dive into the history, culture, and taste of olive oil. Jenkins grows olives, harvests them, and cooks with her own oil. A terrific cook, she passionately wants everyone to know the difference a high quality extra-virgin olive oil can make to any dish. I learned so much about olive oil from this book and canandrsquo;t wait to try every one of her recipes.andrdquo;
andmdash;and#160;Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University and author of What to Eat
and#160;
andldquo;I love this book! Nancy explains olive oil well, writing from vast and personal experience. She pokes holes in our cherished myths and is well qualified to do so, and of course, her recipes are always good to cook. Virgin Territory is smart, fun to read, and relevant--thank you Nancy, once again, for such good work.andrdquo;
andmdash;and#160;Deborah Madison, author of Vegetable Literacy and The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
and#160;
andldquo;Studying olive oil with Nancy Harmon Jenkins has profoundly influenced my cooking. I recommend her book to any food lover, professional or otherwise--Nancyand#39;s lessons and recipes will make anyone a better and healthier cook.andrdquo;
andmdash;and#160;Anita Lo, chef/owner, Annisa
and#160;
andldquo;Olive oil may be the most important food in the Western cooking, and Nancy Jenkins is a rare expert. No one brings more love and knowledge to the subject with all its fascination and complexity. She is one of our finest writers, and she happens to be a talented cook.andrdquo;
andmdash;and#160;Ed Behr, editor and publisher of The Art of Eating
and#160;
andldquo;In Virgin Territory Nancy Harmon Jenkins tells us about several of her andldquo;Olive Oil Gurus.andrdquo; Well, Nancy is now my olive oil guru. This is an eloquent book that has the bonus of also being a bit of a memoir as well as a cookbook filled with beloved, mostly Mediterranean, recipes. It will help us understand everything we didnandrsquo;t know, or thought we knew but really didnandrsquo;t, or that we might have thought was complicated about olive oil. Nancy tells us just what we need to know in the most understandable, forthright and personable fashion.andrdquo;
andmdash;and#160;Martha Rose Shulman, recipes for Health on nytimes.com and author, most recently, of The Simple Art of Vegetarian Cooking
and#160;
andquot;Nancy Harmon Jenkins takes a deep look at the complexities of a key component in Mediterranean cookingandmdash;extra-virgin olive oil--and draws on her years of experience to tell us what itandrsquo;s all about, why some is good, some is bad, how to know the difference, and, most importantly, with lots of appealing recipes, how to use this healthy ingredient in our kitchens and on our tables.andquot;
andmdash;and#160;Paula Wolfert, author of The Food of Morocco and many other books
and#160;
andldquo;Nancy Harmon Jenkins is the leading American authority on olive oil. No doubt about it. She has been studying, writing, lecturing and guiding tours about olive oil for nearly 40 years. She even makes her own extra-virgin from the trees on her property in Tuscany. She, above all, knows that knowledgeable consumers are the key to more, better, genuine extra-virgin olive oil for us all. Virgin Territory is a much-needed, thorough and easy-reading education, from the sensory to the science. Plus olive-oil centric recipes! I couldnandrsquo;t ask for more.andrdquo;
andmdash;and#160;Arthur Schwartz, author of Naples At Table and The Southern Italian Table
Synopsis
The eating style proven to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
"An irresistible invitation to share the healthiest diet in the world. It has one alluring recipe after another, each one fragrant with the fresh aromas of the ingredients I love the most: fish right out of the water, ripe vegetables from open-air markets, herbs from the garden. This book makes an overwhelming argument that the things that taste the best are good for you."
--Alice Waters Spanning the Mediterranean from Spain to France, Italy, and Greece, with side trips to Lebanon, Cyprus, and North Africa, this revised and updated edition of Nancy Harmon Jenkins's acclaimed cookbook offers ninety-two mouthwatering new dishes plus the latest information about the nutritional benefits of one of the world's healthiest cuisines. But best of all are the recipes--bursting with flavor, easy to prepare, and sure to please everyone at your table, whether you're cooking for yourself, your family, or your friends.
Known for classic favorites like tabbouleh and ratatouille, flatbreads, pastas, zesty herbs, and flavorful oils pressed from succulent olives, the Mediterranean diet combines delicious taste with health-supportive ingredients as few other cuisines do. With an emphasis on fruits and vegetables, grains and legumes, fish, lean meats, and heavenly desserts, here are recipes for over 250 outstanding dishes created for today's American kitchens. You'll also find new cooking techniques and a simplified approach to cooking--because simplicity is what the Mediterranean way of eating is all about.
Experienced and novice cooks alike will be inspired by these delectable, seasonally inspired recipes ranging from sweet young Roman-style peas for spring to skewered shrimp for summer, robust North African Pumpkin Soup when autumn is in the air, and warming winter dishes like Lebanese Garlicky Roast Chicken and Cypriote Braised Pork with Wine, Cinnamon, and Coriander--plus a variety of fabulous pizzas and dinner pies, hearty salads like Tuscan panzanella, and satisfying small dishes known as tapas. Also included is a special selection of traditional dishes prepared for Islamic, Jewish, and Christian holidays that can be enjoyed year round.
Rich in flavor and healthy nutrients but low in saturated fats and cholesterol, here are recipes that will delight your palate, nourish body and soul--and can be prepared with ease in your home kitchen.
Synopsis
One of the first books to promote the Mediterranean diet, Jenkins's work was a bestseller when it was published 15 years ago. Bursting with good health and great flavors, this updated edition features more than 250 recipes that highlight one of the healthiest diets in the world.
Synopsis
An illuminating look at olive oil withand#160;100 recipes from the country's leading authority on the subject.
Synopsis
An illuminating look at olive oil with 100 recipes from the countryand#8217;s leading authority on the subject and#160; Olive oil is more popular than ever, thanks to its therapeutic and preventative effects in treating different diseases, as well as the growing variety of brands and imports available. Nancy Harmon Jenkins, arguably the leading authority on olive oil and the healthy Mediterranean diet, presents more than 100 dishes that showcase olive oil, ranging from soups to seafood to sauces to sweets. Along with favorites like tapenade and pesto, youand#8217;ll find other exciting dishes like North African Seafood Tagine, Oven-Braised Artichokes with Potatoes and Onions, and Quince and Ginger Olive Oil Cake. But this book isnand#8217;t just a collection of hearty and healthful recipes; Jenkins also covers the history and culture of olive oil as well as how to buy it and cook with it. Aand#160;thing of beauty with the stunning photographs of exquisite dishes as well as Jenkinand#8217;s own Tuscan olive tree grove, Virgin Territory captures the delights of making and cooking with olive oil.
About the Author
Nancy Harmon Jenkins is a food writer with a passionate interest in Mediterranean cultures and cuisines, sustainable agriculture, and farm-to-market connections. Author of half a dozen highly acclaimed cookbooks, she writes for the New York Times, Saveur, and Food & Wine, and divides her time between her farmhouse outside of Cortona, Italy, and the coast of Maine.