"Orexi!" by Theo A. Michaels

REVIEW and GIVEAWAY

Orexi!:
Feasting at the Modern Greek Table

by Theo A. Michaels

Orexi! by Theo A. Michaels is currently on tour with Silver Dagger Book Tours. The tour stops here today for my review, an excerpt, and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.

Description

In this enticing collection of more than 80 recipes inspired by the flavours of Greece and Cyprus, MasterChef UK’s Theo Michaels pays homage to his family heritage, championing traditional dishes and sharing his own modern cooking.

Presenting a feast for the eyes as well as the tastebuds, his fresh and delicious food is organized into chapters entitled Meze, Sea, Land, Sun, Fire and Sundowners, evoking the Greek way of life.

You too can eat like a Greek by celebrating simplicity, seasonality, abundance, healthy balance and most importantly, the joy of sociable eating.

Beautiful food sings from these pages: from juicy watermelon, glossy kalamata olives, to fragrant oregano-roasted meats and delicate fish wrapped in vine leaves. Choose a selection of mouth-watering dips and sharing plates to create a Cypriot-style meze; enjoy the freshest fish and seafood, perfectly grilled or fried and served with nothing more than a dusting of salt flakes and a squeeze of lemon juice to season; cook tender yogurt-marinated lamb on skewers over charcoal and wrap it in fluffy homemade pita to experience souvlaki at home; or whip up vibrant vegetable and pulse dishes, from cracked wheat pourgouri to slow-cooked fasolia beans. Finally, make rich Greek desserts the sweet note to end your meal; serve just enough syrup-drenched baklava with a bitter black coffee to satisfy that craving or unwind with an Ouzo Sour or Brandy Sunburn Cocktail.

Recipe Video

Watch Theo cook Skewered Goat’s Cheese, Date & Pancetta Parcels.

Excerpt

[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]

Praise for the Book

“Michaels, a former contestant on MasterChef UK, debuts with an inspired collection packed with anecdotes and excellent recipes from Greece, with a focus on the food of Cyprus, where his family has roots. The fare is appropriately light and well-suited to sunny climes […] This is a transporting book that beautifully blends flavor and memory.” ~ Publishers Weekly

“Amazing, detailed, well written, delicious! Orexi! is beautifully photographed and printed on high quality paper. The layout and design is easy to use and understand and I love the Greek translations.” ~ Kathy

“This book is filled with mouthwateringly divine dishes. Everything we tried was company-worthy. I adore Greek cookbooks and this one’s my personal favorite to date. Super fresh, super flavorful, good for you, and pretty to boot. Most of the recipes are pretty easy, and if there are a few extra steps, it’s worth it. Everything was absolute perfection.” ~ Jennifer Guerrero

“MasterChef UK’s Theo Michaels is clearly cooking from a place of love and understanding of his family’s culture. While adding his unique perspective and modern touches. A beautiful book to have very visible in a kitchen. Sure to be a favorite in many homes.” ~ M.C.V. Egan

My Review

By Lynda Dickson

The book’s title, Orexi!, comes from the Greek Kali Orexi!, meaning good appetite. In this cookbook, you will discover over 80 Greek and Cypriot-inspired recipes from the author’s childhood memories, his work in professional kitchens, and time spent cooking for family and friends. “The Greek diet is regarded as one of the healthiest in the world, largely due to the high content of vegetables, fruit, grains, pulses, seafood, olive oil and also fermented dairy foods like live yogurt and feta cheese.” These ingredients feature heavily in the recipes, which are divided into seven sections: Yogurt & Pita, Meze (appetizers, salads, and dips), Sea (seafood), Land (meat), Sun (salads and vegetables), Fire (barbequed dishes), and Sundowners (drinks and desserts).

The author states that “… the heritage of Greek food is not simply about the ingredients, […] but it’s also the stories that cradle a plate of food, the childhood memory of eating something all together and the conversations around a table.” To this end, at the beginning of each section, he brings us a slice of Greek life, explaining the traditions behind the dishes or childhood memories associated with particular foods. He also introduces each recipe with a brief story detailing the origins of the dish or his inspiration for creating it. The recipes don’t follow the boring, traditional format we’re used to in other cookbooks. These are more conversations with the author, in which he provides tips and tricks learned through experience, as well as humorous asides such as, “tomatoes are very self-conscious and would hate to feel overdressed” and “serve with a green salad and smug expression”.

As a bonus for readers from all parts of the world, both metric and imperial measurements and temperatures are included in the recipes, and ingredients and cooking utensils are listed under both British and US names (e.g., courgette/zucchini, aubergine/eggplant). However, there were a few terms I wasn’t familiar with (e.g., orzo pasta and petit poi which I deduced are risoni and baby peas from the photos). Recipes names are also provided in English and Greek. The book is illustrated throughout with gorgeous full-color photographs of Greek scenery. Plus, each recipe takes up a whole page with the facing page featuring a full-page color photograph of the finished dish. The recipes are followed by a comprehensive Index, including both Greek and English names and British/US ingredients. Unfortunately, there are a few typographical errors throughout the text.

I wanted to cook a moussaka on the weekend but was disappointed to find there isn’t a recipe for it in the book. I only just cooked lamb shanks last week, but I’ll try the Cypriot Lamb Shanks in Sticky Sauce (see excerpt above) next time. My husband’s birthday is coming up next week and, for our dinner party, I’m excited to try out the Skewered Goat's Cheese, Date & Pancetta Parcels (see recipe video above), Spicy Chicken Souvlaki, and slow-cooked Lamb Shoulder Kleftiko, accompanied by Grilled Aubergines & Feta, Charred Courgettes, and Greek Salad.

The author’s personality and humor radiate from the pages. This cookbook is as entertaining to read and look at as it will be to cook from. Mostly it’s about combining fresh ingredients with splashes of ouzo, glugs of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and of course, family. As the author states, “I always find that food never fails to start a conversation and bring people together.” Kali Orexi!

About the Author

Theo A. Michaels was born in London and comes from a large Greek Cypriot family. Theo lived in America for five years, has eaten his way around the world with a backpack, and now lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and three children.

After reaching the heats of the semi-finals on Masterchef UK 2014, Theo resigned from his position as a Board Member of a PLC to follow his passion for food.

Theo started by hosting his own sell-out pop up restaurant in Hertfordshire, cooking an 8-course taster menu championing modern Greek cuisine inspired by his family.

When people couldn’t get a table at Theo’s pop-up restaurant (the waiting list still remains at over 700), he worked as a private chef creating exclusive dinner parties for private clients, eventually receiving recognition in The Financial Times and Telegraph.

Theo’s private dining and popup restaurant won the regional Best Lifestyle Service award – you can find out more about his private dining service and read reviews here). Theo is now the full time Executive Chef for Elsewhere Events, creating imaginative dining experiences for Elsewhere’s venues and popup events around the world.

In Theo’s spare time, he has been a guest chef for the Sheraton Grande in Bangkok, a regular judge for the annual Quality Food Awards, and is frequently in the press and other media, including The Food Network, BBC Radio, and usually has one or two other projects up his sleeve.

Theo Michaels is known for cooking elegant village food inspired by the flavors of Cyprus and his travels, but also for creating innovative family friendly food that satisfies the reality of modern life.

Theo has appeared on BBC Breakfast News, Sky TV, The Food Network, is a regular on BBC 3CR Weekend Kitchen show, and is a regular guest chef on ITV’s This Morning. He is called upon by the national press for comment and interview on private dining, food, and drink trends and for recipe inspiration. He’s also regularly spotted cooking at food festivals. Theo’s inspiration for food varies from his roots, his travels, to cooking for his family, and his love of anything cooked over charcoal.

Giveaway

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"Accessible Fine Dining" by Noam Kostucki with Quentin Villers

REVIEW and GIVEAWAY

Accessible Fine Dining - The Art of Creating Exciting Food in Your Everyday Kitchen

by Noam Kostucki with Quentin Villers

Accessible Fine Dining - The Art of Creating Exciting Food in Your Everyday Kitchen by Noam Kostucki, with chef Quentin Villers, is currently on tour with iRead Book Tours. The tour stops here today for my interview with the author, an excerpt, and a giveaway. You can also read my review. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.

Description

Six months after opening my first restaurant, one of my dishes was selected as “25 dishes to travel around the world”, featuring me next to culinary legend Heston Blumenthal.

Exciting and healthy food doesn’t have to be complicated, and it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Over the years, I have seen some of the most exciting dishes come from the simplest kitchens and the most modest ingredients. The purpose of this book is to focus our attention away from the distractions of fancy kitchen equipment and luxury produce and instead focus our attention towards ingenuity in the kitchen and culinary innovation.

For some strange reason, cooking is taught in books as a series of mechanical steps to follow and repeat with precision. I see cooking as a creative art like painting or playing music: it is the freedom of expression that is most interesting to me. When we create from an artistic perspective, we give birth to something new and potentially magical.

The purpose of this book is not to teach you specific recipes, because the ingredients you will find in your local organic food market will likely not be the same as the ones we see here. Nor is the purpose to show you how to imitate us. The purpose of this book is to guide you into thinking about your dishes in a way that elevates them to a fine dining level, from ingredients which are easily accessible to you. Naturally, you will find a few recipes, but most importantly you will find a new way to look at food.

We will share how we think about food shopping, searching for unusual ingredients, the combinations of flavors, techniques, textures, nutritional value, and of course, plating. The purpose of this book is to guide you to become a more exciting, creative and adventurous version of yourself in the kitchen. What separates a craft from an art form is the story behind it; cooking is a craft, while fine dining is an art form.

If you want to create fine dining dishes, start to focus your attention on the different stories a dish can tell. Some stories can be told through your cooking, and others are told through words. Taking the time to present your dishes before people eat is crucial to creating anticipation for the food they will eat.

Book Video

Excerpt

Introduction to Accessible Fine Dining

Creating exciting and healthy food doesn’t have to be complicated, and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Over the years, I have seen some of the most exciting dishes come from the simplest kitchens and the most modest ingredients.

The purpose of this book is to focus our attention away from the distractions of fancy kitchen equipment and luxury produce and instead focus our attention towards ingenuity in the kitchen and culinary innovation.

For some strange reason, cooking is taught in books as a series of mechanical steps to follow and repeat with precision. I see cooking as a creative art like painting or playing music: it is the freedom of expression that is most interesting to me. When we create from an artistic perspective, we give birth to something new and potentially magical.

Praise for the Book

“This book is inspiring. It gave me new insights into foods, presentation, and endless possibilities. […] This is a book I will probably read several times because it is a fast read and I think I will pick up on new tips and tricks each time I stroll through the pages and view the images.” ~ StoreyBook Reviews

“I am so intrigued by Accessible Fine Dining. What the author tries to draw out of us in the kitchen is our creativity. There are no recipes. It simply talks about his journey from marketing to becoming a chef, and then what makes for fine dining in our homes. From aroma to presentation to the food's story to the taste, the food journey you offer your guests can be inspiring and originate from deep within. I can't wait to apply these principles the next time I have people over.” ~ Marilyn R Wilson

“I felt like I've joined Noam in his jungle ‘hut’ (that's a respectful term!) and witnessed him not only talking about his approach but seeing him do everything he describes. It is not a ‘cooking book’ - it's more of a manifesto and values statement that anything else. And that's what makes this book unique and amazing. A true feast for senses!” ~ Adam

My Review

By Lynda Dickson

This book is written by businessman Noam Kostucki and chef Quentin Villers, who together have set up HiR Fine Dining, a restaurant in Costa Rica equipped with only a very basic kitchen. Their ability to combine fresh and unusual ingredients has brought them worldwide recognition. In this book, they demonstrate how anyone can cook the way they do. “The purpose of this book is not to teach you how to create carbon copies of our dishes. It is to inspire new ideas so that you can be amazed by your original creations.” Follow the twelve principles they lay out, perform the challenges they set, and don’t be afraid of failure, for “the more mistakes you make, the better the chef you will become.”

I love the book’s imaginative presentation, with the look of a well-worn handwritten notebook, the quirky and colorful text, the authors’ biographies (complete with hand-drawn portraits), handwritten reviews from diners, and gorgeous color photographs of the locale, wildlife, and food. Unfortunately, there are several editing errors including missing words, repeated paragraphs, poorly phrased sentences, misused words (e.g., desert for dessert, conversing for conserving), inconsistent spelling (e.g., tartar and tartare), and inconsistent formatting (e.g., “Challenges” become “Adventures” and are positioned after “Quentin’s Comments” instead of before).

After reading this book, you will “become a more exciting, creative and adventurous version of yourself in the kitchen.” The authors invite you to post photos of your creations on their Facebook page or Instagram page.

Interview With the Author

Noam Kostucki with Quentin Villers, entrepreneur, and chef Noam Kostucki stops by today to discuss his new cookbook, Accessible Fine Dining.

Who is this book for?

This book is for people who enjoy cooking for themselves and want to lift their cooking to the next level up without breaking the bank account and without necessarily needing to spend more time in the kitchen. If you like hosting dinners, lunches, or brunches, this book will give you ways of creating a more memorable experience for your guests. You will learn about different principles and practices to make the dish not only flavorful and visually beautiful, but also to give it stories that enhance the experience of the dish. So anyone who enjoys cooking and likes to create memorable experiences may enjoy this book.

Now that you’ve got the restaurant established and the book published, what’s next?

We’re building the ship as we sail, so there’s still a lot of work ahead of us. The first year was what’s called in the world of tech startups “minimum viable product”. It was a year to test the concept, and it all happened in the minimum space possible: in my neighbor’s tiny little cabina.

Halfway through the first year, I started building on the land I bought and, in the second year, I moved everything to the unfinished house. For a year, we ran the restaurant in a temporary kitchen with a house still in construction. We had guests eat next to a pile of cement, walls of concrete blocks, and nobody ever complained. It’s amazing because, anywhere else in the world, people would have complained, and we would have been shut down. But here, guests were excited to see the contrast between the peaceful jungle, the refined food, and our house still in construction. It’s been a blessing that guests were so happy to experience our lives as it is happening.

Now the kitchen is 80% finished, the house is 60% finished, and the garden only 10% ready. In 2019, we want to get the kitchen completely functional, our living space comfortable, and the garden big enough to produce the majority of produce we cook for guests. The next big step is growing the garden big enough that we can be our own organic food supplier and really be a farm-to-table experience. In the longer-term future, it’d be amazing to have a butterfly conservatory and tree houses so that guests can sleep overnight and spend some of their days gardening, meditating, or doing business or personal coaching with us.

Who are your biggest inspirations with cooking?

I see this question in two ways: the inspirations with “food” and the inspiration for the jungle culinary adventure “HiR Fine Dining”.

When it comes to food, it has to be my parents. My parents love food. They always got me to try different things and got me to eat in the most amazing places. They opened my world of food in the most extraordinary way. Seeing my mom cook also inspires my cooking style because she had this amazing talent for repurposing. Today’s pasta became tomorrow’s lasagna. The lasagna became an Indian curry. The curry became a soup. The soup became a sauce for a fish dish. The fish dish became a spread for sandwiches. And so on. It was amazing to see how she made things with what seemed like nothing. She also tried cooking things from all over the world and adapted the recipes with what she didn’t have. I cook very much like that. My dad’s cooking is very different. He didn’t cook very often. But when he did cook, he made it a big thing. He always made his cooking a special experience. He researched his dish and cooked experimental things he’d tried in the world’s best restaurants. I remember one dish with a deep-fried salmon that he tried every week for several months until he finally got it right because the trick was to get the croquette cooked on the outside while keeping the tuna mostly raw on the inside… but not cold or frozen. When he finally got it right, it was amazing. It felt like such an accomplishment. He also loved shopping for special produce. He would find these guys who were in love with their produce, tell us stories, and get us to taste things that they didn’t sell to the public because it was “weird” or “unusual”.

So, they put me on the path of loving food and enjoying to cook.

When it comes to the fine dining experience I created here in Costa Rica, my biggest inspiration is David Copperfield. I remember going to see David Copperfield with my parents and what amazed me most is looking at the adults in the crowd: for the duration of the show, they were back to being children. That’s when I understood that magic is when we’re surprised and we can’t explain how something is done. We know there’s a trick and there’s a technique to do it, but we don’t know how what we’re seeing is done. When we have that experience, it’s like being kids again and then we’re open to new experiences. When I do the dinners, that’s the experience I want people to have. I want people to leave thinking “WTF?! How did these dishes come out of this place and these people? How is this possible?” I love people going back with a story to tell their friends because, when they do, they get to relive the experience over and over again. That thought makes me very happy.

Has anything ever gone wrong during preparation or dinners?

A lot has gone wrong, many times. I have a Japanese knife that I sharpen religiously. Once, I put it in the sink and started washing a chopping board. While cleaning the board with a sponge, my fingers touched the blade, and I cut right through my fingers. I was bleeding everywhere and, of course, that was my first night with a group of twelve people and a helper. When the Michelin star chef cooked with me, I ran out of gas. It was my first month, and I hadn’t thought about it. I didn’t even know where to get gas. I felt like such an idiot. He was so angry at me. These guests never forgave me: I invited them to another dinner for free or to be reimbursed, and they chose neither. Once, I put a ladle that had a bit of water in a pot of very hot oil for deep frying … and it exploded. I burned the top of my forehead. Luckily Nadia didn’t get hurt at all, and I wasn’t hurt too bad. It could have been a lot worse. I got really worried. I’ve had dishes go wrong as I’m cooking them, and I suddenly have to improvise a completely new dish. So far, nothing has been so bad that it ruins the dinner. My biggest fear is to drop a plate and not have any more food to make a new dish. I see that happen in front of my eyes every time I pick up a plate. I’m so happy it hasn’t happened so far!

Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to us, Noam. Best of luck with your restaurant and book.

About the Authors

Noam Kostucki

My name is Noam Kostucki and I create spaces for magic to happen.

I was an awkward child, so I changed school 5 times. I spent most of my life trying to please others and be the kind of person I believed everyone else wanted me to be. I wasn't happy and I struggled to get what I want. Everything changed when I started changing.

I spent the last 12 years creating the life I dream of. I've had the privilege to be homeless twice, and to speak at Harvard about entrepreneurship. I have grown to be myself more fearlessly than ever before. I am now surrounded by people I love, and who love me.

I traveled over 40 countries, and I've helped over 25,000 people create magic. For example, Patryk Wezowski who raised $500,000 in 8 weeks and Esther Perel who gave the 30th most viewed TED talk. Some less public successes include a blind eyed student who experienced his blind eye for the first time and a journalist who left an abusive relationship.

As a university drop out, I was surprised when my first book (personal branding) became required reading at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, as well as receiving the UK Business Speaker of the Year runner up award, and a honorary degree in Business from Hofstra University. As an artist, I was honored to exhibit my photography at the European Union's Innovation Conference.

My most recent venture is HiR Fine Dining, a jungle culinary adventure. I create a discovery menu of 7 plates per person for groups of up to 12 people. HiR Fine Dining became #1 fine dining on TripAdvisor in Tamarindo within the first month. Within 6 months one of my plates was selected out of 40,000 restaurants by OpenTable as one of "25 dishes to travel around the world for". I was invited to speak at Chateau 1525, Costa Rica's most reputable cooking school and our guest chefs include a blind chef who traveled all the way the United Kingdom.

Quentin Villers

Quentin has been cooking in restaurant since the age of 18. He helped his brother build a restaurant for which they received a Michelin Star. Quentin moved to Costa Rica to consult for hotels and restaurants. He managed 3 of the 4 restaurants at Hotel Nayara in La Fortuna, for which he lead a team of over 20 people to be selected to enter Relais & Chateaux, a prestigious network of unique luxury hotels with exquisite cuisine. Quentin is a regular guest chef at HiR Fine Dining and consults for a number of fine dining restaurants in Costa Rica.

Giveaway

Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a 4-seat dinner at HiR Fine Dining in Costa Rica (value $580) OR one of 10 paperback or 20 ebook copies of Accessible Fine Dining (open internationally to wherever Amazon delivers).

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"30 Noodles" by Reut Barak

EXCERPT and GIVEAWAY

30 Noodles

by Reut Barak

30 Noodles by Reut Barak is due for release on 18 May but is currently available for pre-order. Follow the tour with Goddess Fish Promotions. The tour stops here today for an excerpt and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.

Description

Join the fun!

This book is all about the warm crunch: pesto, fettuccine, pad thai, and even coconut chicken, all in their raw vegan version. It’s a great way to have a quick, impressive healthy meal.

30 recipes for 30 days of a spiralizing adventure. It’s a whole new way of cooking!

“It’s always great to share food with the people we love, and Raw Munchies book series is all about making something special to have together. It could be an exotic smoothie, a healthy spaghetti, or a portobello mushroom steak. It’s been my greatest challenge and joy to create this book series and open up to this new art: to bring popular and gourmet recipes from around the world to the raw vegan table.” ~ Reut Barak

Book Video

Excerpt

Kelp Noodle Salad

A rich blend of nutrients from the sea with fresh colorful vegetables.

Ingredients

Dressing

1 tablespoon almond butter
½ cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon cold-pressed olive oil
the juice of 3 lemons
½ teaspoon coconut aminos

Vegetables

1 cup red cabbage
½ red bell pepper
½ cup mint leaves
1 cup parsley
2 tablespoons maple syrup
½ teaspoon oregano

Noodles

12 ounce (340 grams) bag of Kelp noodles

Garnish

Avocado
sprinkle of chili flakes

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves Two

Method

Dressing

In a food processor or high-speed blender, blend the Dressing ingredients until smooth.

Vegetables

Chop cabbage, pepper, mint, and parsley, and mix with the rest of the Vegetables ingredients.

Noodles

Wash the Kelp noodles well. Mix with the vegetables. Add the Dressing.

Garnish

Garnish with chopped avocado and chili flakes.

About the Author

RawMunchies.org is a raw vegan website dedicated to making healthy, gluten-free recipes, that are delicious, easy, and great for detox.

Reut Barak has been an online influencer in the Raw Vegan world since her transformation in 2015:

I started cooking when I was 7, on my own making Challah bread. I was brave. The result was what could only be described as beginner’s luck. I have since had every possible failure in the book (and some of my own).

But I always succeeded in the end, and over the 25 years in the kitchen I mastered cooking. I could make anything I wanted to make. Until I went raw.

A chance night of late Googling on May 25, 2015 exposed me to this new great challenge and I learn new things every single day. Join me!

Love,
Reut

Giveaway

Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a $20 Amazon or B&N gift card.

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Plus, purchase your copy of 30 Noodles by Reut Barak on the launch date of 18 May 2018 to receive a stack of freebies. Find out more here.

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