5-Ingredient Mediterranean Cookbook

This cookbook features both new and classic Mediterranean recipes that require just five main ingredients (plus salt, pepper, cooking oils and water). The opening pages provide ‘a concise guide to the Mediterranean diet’, alongside attractive photos of the region. Recipes include breads, appetizers, soups and salads, vegetable sides, ‘protein-powered entrees’ (main courses), sweets, drinks and desserts. Each recipe lists prep and cook time, yield, and nutritional details.

The book is clearly pitched at the USA market, given the references to ‘Americans’ scattered throughout the book and the emphasis on what’s available in the United States. It’s helpful that measurements and temperatures are given in both metric and imperial units, although there are some terms in the book that may leave New Zealand cooks puzzled. Some produce isn’t available in New Zealand or has a different name here: Bibb lettuce, for example, which we know as butter lettuce. Keen cooks will be able to find local substitutes.

I’m cautious about cookbooks that don’t identify an author. Who is backing the recipes – and have they been tested in a professional kitchen? The small print reveals that the content in the 5-Ingredient Mediterranean Cookbook was previously published in three other books. Although the original authors are named in the fine print, there’s no detail about their role in this collection or how the recipes were selected. Many of the photos are Shutterstock images of ingredients rather than finished dishes. Although this is a hardback, the pages are lightweight and give the book a magazine-like feel.

The asparagus frittata recipe asks you to set aside the tips – the most tender and flavourful parts – but doesn’t explain why, or what to do with them. Other content also feels a bit odd. For example, the Greek island of Rhodes is described as ‘tourist-infested’, pasta is cooked ‘until very al dente’, and cashews are ‘chopped through twice’. I was surprised to read that ‘lemon’s antibacterial properties are coveted for killing bad bacteria in undercooked foods, making them both safe and delicious to eat’. There’s no evidence provided in the book to back up this claim.

The press that published the cookbook focuses on ‘culinary, parenting, and lifestyle’ topics. The book pulls those elements together by including information about the health benefits of particular foods, Mediterranean-centred travel tips and food origin stories, ideas for adapting some recipes for picky eaters (including children), and ‘Ground Rules for Rewarding Family Meals’. Rule Number 2: No off-limit or unpleasant topics is uncannily similar to Rule Number 5: Discuss pleasant topics and good news.

The 5-Ingredient Mediterranean Cookbook may appeal to cooks who are pressed for time, keen to try Mediterranean‑inspired meals, and eager to discover new ingredients and creative combinations.

Reviewer: Anne Kerslake Hendricks

Allen & Unwin