Tessa Kiros - Tessa Kiros: The Recipe Collection

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Born in London to a Finnish mother and Greek-Cypriot father, Tessa Kiros grew up in South Africa in a family that cultivated her love of good food and provided her with a rich store of recipes from both sides of the family tree. After spending her twenties working in restaurants in London, Athens and Mexico, and completing a degree in anthropology and sociology, she travelled to Italy to study Italian and learn about Italian food. She met her husband, Giovanni, while in Tuscany and they still live there today with their two children.

Inspired by the recipes and charms of her adopted homeland, Tessa wrote the first of her many cookbooks, Twelve , in 2002. Passionate and enthusiastic about her cookbook, she self-published and quickly attracted the attention of her publisher, Murdoch Books. She returned to Italian life as inspiration with her 2012 cookbook, Limoncello and Linen Water , a tribute to the domestic traditions and recipes of her Italian family.

Tessas diverse family heritage and love of travel provided rich material for the eight cookbooks that followed Twelve . Some of these capture her visits to countries close to her heart and take readers along for the journey as she explores villages, laneways and local restaurants. Other books draw inspiration from the quiet pleasures of day-to-day family life, and her heritage expressed through recipes, stories and traditions handed down from past generations.

This collection is a celebration of Tessas publishing journey to date. It offers a taste of the hundreds of recipes she has written, collected and treasured over the years and reflects her love of many cuisines and cultures. Above all, it highlights her passion for family and good simple food. The recipes have been carefully selected from five of her best-selling books Falling Cloudberries , Apples for Jam , Piri Piri Starfish , Venezia and Food from Many Greek Kitchens and they cover Italian, Greek, Portuguese, South African and Finnish cuisines at their homemade best.

Whether you have well-thumbed copies of Tessas earlier cookbooks on your bookshelf, or have yet to enjoy her warm and relaxed cooking style, we hope this book opens up a world of recipes, reunites you with old favourites, and introduces you to many, many more.

GLOSSARY

BRESAOLA

Bresaola is cured beef that has been air-dried and salted. It is aged for around two to three months and is usually deep red in colour when you buy it. The top inside round of beef is used for this particular cut, and the end product has a very full, rich flavour. Italians eat bresaola on its own, sliced very, very finely, sometimes with a drizzle of nice olive oil and perhaps a few leaves of rocket (arugula). You can find it in good food stores, delicatessens and some supermarkets.

CHOURIO

This is the Portuguese equivalent of Spanish chorizo . It is a cured meat sausage made with pork, fat, paprika and salt. Once the sausages are stuffed, they are dried slowly over smoke, achieving a wonderful smoky flavour that shines through in many Portuguese dishes (like ). Chourio is often cut open and grilled over a barbecue and can also be flame-cooked with alcohol. Portuguese specialty shops or good delicatessens should have chourio , but you can always substitute with chorizo .