Ελλάδα

If the Mediterranean diet has a passport, it is Greek. Olive oil poured without apology, wild greens, beans, yogurt, fish grilled over charcoal, lamb when there is lamb. The meze table is not a starter — it is a way of staying. Feta is not a garnish. Phyllo is not a novelty. On the islands the same lunch has been packed for a thousand years: bread, oil, tomatoes, cheese, a little wine. The recipes in this chapter are the ones that still taste like that lunch, even when they take all afternoon.