It's official!
Our first cookbook, Meze (Appetizers & Petite Plates), has made its way from dream to reality and will complete its gourmet journey when it arrives in your home! We dedicate this week’s blog to all of you who have supported us and have repeatedly asked, When is your cookbook coming out? You’ve become an important part of our Kukla’s Kouzina family and we’re happy to finally share Meze with you! To purchase Kukla’s Kouzina: A Gourmet Journey~Greek Island Style, Meze, find us on Amazon. The print version is available today and the eBook launches on July 12 (currently available for pre-order). Go to our BOOK page for details about the book and us!
In past blogs we’ve given you a peek into the nuts and bolts of writing a cookbook of this genre, including the elements and stages a first-time author goes through to get a cookbook published—as well as the uphill climb along the way. We were (and are) continually inspired by the woman at the heart of it all (our mom, Kukla), the involved process of documenting her legacy, and the magical memories she created in our kouzina.
In past blogs we’ve given you a peek into the nuts and bolts of writing a cookbook of this genre, including the elements and stages a first-time author goes through to get a cookbook published—as well as the uphill climb along the way. We were (and are) continually inspired by the woman at the heart of it all (our mom, Kukla), the involved process of documenting her legacy, and the magical memories she created in our kouzina.
The journey
The journey began with us wanting to honor and share our mom’s legacy of incredible food and the amazing example she set for us. At the top of my to-do list was translating over 150 recipes into English that were in our mom’s Greek script and our yiayia’s (grandmother’s) run-on words. Then came editing the recipes and getting into the kouzina (kitchen) to start testing them—some of which took multiple times to get them to the point of perfect—Kukla would have it no other way! It didn’t take long to realize we were being drawn back into the Karpathian world our mom told us about as children. This journey brought us full circle to our mom’s and family’s roots, the roots that gave us wings to embark on the creation of this cookbook series.
Once the recipes were finalized it was time to photograph them, design the cookbook, and edit each and every page. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, not so much! We had a few photo shoots (the fun part), went through multiple stages of the design process (the watching-the-dream-take-shape part), and finally edited/proofed until everything was correct (the boring-and-really-tedious part). It was our good fortune that we had some seriously talented friends—an art director (Nancy Karamarkos), a food photographer (Anastassios Mentis), and a copyeditor (Mark Amundsen)—who graciously offered their time and expertise. Our deepest thanks go out to them for all their hard work on this project.
Once the recipes were finalized it was time to photograph them, design the cookbook, and edit each and every page. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, not so much! We had a few photo shoots (the fun part), went through multiple stages of the design process (the watching-the-dream-take-shape part), and finally edited/proofed until everything was correct (the boring-and-really-tedious part). It was our good fortune that we had some seriously talented friends—an art director (Nancy Karamarkos), a food photographer (Anastassios Mentis), and a copyeditor (Mark Amundsen)—who graciously offered their time and expertise. Our deepest thanks go out to them for all their hard work on this project.
Meze
For this cookbook we selected some of our favorite Meze recipes to share from our collection. They’re accompanied by stunning full-color photographs that explore the diversity of flavors and culture that have intertwined to form Kukla’s Karpathian cuisine. There are recipes for every event, whether simple or elaborate, with sections on Spreads & Dips, Pastries, and Petite Plates, including: Eggplant-Salad Spread (Melitzanosalata), Mini Cheese Pies with Homemade Dough (Tyropitakia), and Cocktail Meatballs (Keftedakia).
Timeless and unique, these recipes instruct the average cook precisely how to make extraordinary dishes, bringing new excitement to Greek cuisine. We spent more than fifteen years translating recipes for this series, testing them until they worked perfectly, and editing them so they’re easy to understand and reproduce. Accompanying the recipes are preparation and cooking times, difficulty levels, and time-saving/do-ahead Kouzina Tips to help you plan your day. A chapter on Greek cooking techniques with step-by-step instructions, a glossary for equipment, ingredients, cooking methods, and food terms, as well as a sources guide, give you the tools you need to make your journey to our Greek island table a fun and attainable experience. Now step into our kouzina and learn firsthand about what makes our cuisine so different from that in the other corners of Greece, and what makes it so irresistible.
I hope you enjoy Kukla’s Kouzina: A Gourmet Journey~Greek Island Style, Meze. Buy now on Amazon. I’ll be sharing more of our cookbook’s behind-the-scenes with you in upcoming blogs, so check back to see what’s cooking at Kukla’s. For photos of our foods, visit our GALLERY page.
Sign up for our e-newsletter (if you haven’t already) and stay connected on social media for cooking tips and recipes, as well as for all Kukla's Kouzina updates and news.
Thanks for following us and we’ll see you next Monday!
FROM OUR KOUZINA TO YOURS,
Kali orexi! Καλή όρεξη! Good appetite!
Kelly
Timeless and unique, these recipes instruct the average cook precisely how to make extraordinary dishes, bringing new excitement to Greek cuisine. We spent more than fifteen years translating recipes for this series, testing them until they worked perfectly, and editing them so they’re easy to understand and reproduce. Accompanying the recipes are preparation and cooking times, difficulty levels, and time-saving/do-ahead Kouzina Tips to help you plan your day. A chapter on Greek cooking techniques with step-by-step instructions, a glossary for equipment, ingredients, cooking methods, and food terms, as well as a sources guide, give you the tools you need to make your journey to our Greek island table a fun and attainable experience. Now step into our kouzina and learn firsthand about what makes our cuisine so different from that in the other corners of Greece, and what makes it so irresistible.
I hope you enjoy Kukla’s Kouzina: A Gourmet Journey~Greek Island Style, Meze. Buy now on Amazon. I’ll be sharing more of our cookbook’s behind-the-scenes with you in upcoming blogs, so check back to see what’s cooking at Kukla’s. For photos of our foods, visit our GALLERY page.
Sign up for our e-newsletter (if you haven’t already) and stay connected on social media for cooking tips and recipes, as well as for all Kukla's Kouzina updates and news.
Thanks for following us and we’ll see you next Monday!
FROM OUR KOUZINA TO YOURS,
Kali orexi! Καλή όρεξη! Good appetite!
Kelly
Copyright © 2018 Kukla's Kouzina: A Gourmet Journey~Greek Island Style / The Naked Truth About...Greek Cooking!
Web design by Kelly Salonica Staikopoulos
Web design by Kelly Salonica Staikopoulos
