PIRI PIRI STARFISH

by TESSA KIROS

For more books by Tessa Kiros, click here

New hardcover book, 256 pages, published 2008, full of beautiful colour photos throughout.

Portugal Found

I would have come here just for a pasteis de nata. Never mind the piri piri flattened chicken, grilled prawns, sardines and prego rolls. Oh, and for the azulejos, wine and fado. But nobody told me about the bread. Or about the kindness of the Portuguese people.

Tessa Kiros believes that food is the essence of any country's people - a quilt that is patchworked together with their language, culture and songs. When she takes her family to live and travel in Portugal, she is captivated by the country and charmed by the old- fashioned way of doing things. Portugal has everything she loves - the markets, the sea, the beautiful old poussadas - but she would have gone for the pasteis de nata alone (so would I!). In Piri Piri Starfish , Tessa embroiders the recipes, traditions and Portuguese way of living together with her own unique colours and threads. Some of the present day wonder of this small country can be attibuted to its great history during the Age of Discovery: when the world beyond nearby lands and seas was little more than a mysterious dream to most Europeans, this land of bay leaves, baccala and piri piri stretched out her roots over the globe.

About the author

Tessa Kiros was born in London to a Finnish mother and a Greek-Cypriot father. The family moved to South Africa when Tessa was four and, at the age of 18, she set off to travel and learn all she could about the world's cultures and traditions, and new ways of living and eating. She has cooked at London's The Groucho Club and in Sydney, Athens and Mexico. On a trip to Italy to study the language and food she met her husband Giovanni, and now lives in Tuscany. Tessa's fifth book is Venezia , following the international success of her previous titles: Twelve, Falling Cloudberries, Apples for Jam and Piri Piri Starfish.

See other International cookbooks click here

Piri Piri Starfish by Tessa Kiros