Rick Stein's Mediterranean

Published to accompany Rick Stein's new ten-part television series for BBC2, this new book starts where 'French Odyssey' left off - at the mouth of the Rhone in the port of Marseilles. Reluctantly abandoning his idyllic canal boat, the Anjodi, Rick takes to the public ferry system which plies between the islands and coastlines of the Mediterranean.

The book contains over 100 recipes divided by types of ingredient or types of dish - from mezze and tapas to calamari and couscous. Although Mediterranean food is always considered to be very healthy, by virtue of its ingredients, Rick will not shy from luxurious ice creams and sticky pastries and the book will also include basic recipes, accompaniments and sauces. He introduces the book with a diary of his gastronomic journey, recounting the many interesting characters and interesting dishes he discovered en route.

Mediterranean food is first and foremost the simple cooking of simple ingredients so it translates extremely well into everyday dishes that cooks of all levels will enjoy making, and above all, eating.