Mazi: Modern Greek Food

This gorgeous debut cookbook from Mouratoglou and Carré, who opened their restaurant, Mazi, in London in 2012, introduces North American readers to their fresh twists on classic Greek cuisine. Mazi means “together” in Greek, and the authors explain that their menu emphasizes dishes to be shared. They open the book with recipes for “amuse shots,” including a watermelon and mastiha liqueur aperitif. Recipes for breads, such as sesame-coated koulouria or lagana, tend toward the traditional. The recipes for sharing dishes of meat, vegetables, and seafood include squid ink fava with fried calamari, deconstructed spanakopita, and spicy tiropita with leek and chili. The chapter on salads and raw foods features oysters mojito and a salad with figs, warm talagani cheese, and rakomelo brandy vinaigrette. Mazi’s updated main dishes are exemplified by “cool souvlaki” (which replaces the traditional pita bread wrap with rice paper and spit-roasted meat with shredded pork belly) and seared scallops with black quinoa and baby beets. Desserts include a reinterpreted orange and cinnamon melomakarona cake done as a tart with chocolate ganache. Thanks to beautiful full-page photos of the food and of Greece, readers will enjoy perusing this book almost as much as cooking with it. (Sept.)