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Matthew Kenney's Mediterranean Cooking

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Matthew Kenney’s Mediterranean Cooking:
Dishes from Tangiers to Toulon for the American Kitchen (Canada, UK)
By Matthew Kenney and Sam Gugino
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: September 1997
ISBN: 0811814432

Exotic yet ancient threads of balance and depth are woven throughout the cuisines of Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia, Spain, Algeria, Greece, Egypt, Sicily, Lebanon, and France’s Provence. The Mediterranean Rim cultures that inspire Matthew Kenney’s cooking have been crisscrossed and intermingled for centuries.

Kenney, whom Food & Wine named one of the "Ten Best New Chefs in America" in 1994, now heads several restaurants and has quickly built a strong following. He infuses bold flavors like cumin seed, rosemary, garlic, pomegranate, anise, and ginger, creating an orchestral resonance that is deeply satisfying, rather than edgy or egotistical. His book is all about sharing the textures, aromas, and tastes that he loves — so that we will love them also. In a way that is both artistic and honest, he lets the soul of each ingredient he chooses sing out and harmonize deeply with the others.

Many of the ingredient combinations are based on traditional dishes such as Moroccan lemon chicken, Spanish paella, Greek moussaka, or Provençal tapenade. Kenney says he is not trying to replicate the authentic flavors or produce simplified versions of these classic dishes; rather, he uses his professional training to accommodate his exacting personal taste. Examples of this approach are found in his sublime, crisp-skinned Lemon Chicken with Pine Nuts and Green Olives, or his Spicy Shrimp Paella with Clams and Fava Beans, which and substitutes freshly-shelled fava beans for the traditional dried white beans and so produces a creamier effect. He presents a lighter taste, using zucchini instead of eggplant in Moussaka with Zucchini, and prefers a more liquid consistency for his tapenade, which is a sauce-like garnish for his Tuna Tartar with Fennel, Caraway Toast, and Tapenade.

Occasionally, Kenney introduces his favorite North American ingredients to North African or Eastern Mediterranean flavors. His Cumin-Cured Salmon, paired with warm flatbread and tahini-yogurt sauce, is on my “must-try” list.

Kenney provides readers with a good, basic understanding of how to combine flavors and foods creatively within the context of Mediterranean rim cultures and cross-cultures. He encourages readers to stock their pantries with great staple foods — and his list is well-considered and realistic, no matter where you live or what your budget looks like. Although a list of specialty food purveyors is included, most of his recipes call for ingredients that are easily found in any well-stocked supermarket. When preparing to make the skinned Lemon Chicken with Pine Nuts and Green Olives, though, I had to settle for 3-3/4-lb chickens (needing a little longer cooking), rather than the 2.5-pound birds that Kenney uses. I was told at the market that such small chickens are rarely available.

My husband prepared the Roasted Pork Loin with Pistachio and Dried Apricot Stuffing one evening when friends joined our family for dinner. It was splendid, perfumed with fresh rosemary, garlic, ginger, and cumin. (We heard grumbles about how long it took to shell enough pistachios to make the 2/3 cup called for in the recipe… but it was worth it!) I thought that whole cumin seeds were the perfect, toasted complement to the rich, naturally-caramelized exterior on this roast, but more timid palates found the whole-cumin crust too zesty to eat directly — although we all enjoyed the way that the cumin infused the meat.

After trying several recipes from this book, and reading it cover-to-cover, I was ready to believe that every recipe of Kenney’s was outstanding. Others have certainly expressed similar sentiments. But we found a dud. Eat wonderful basmati rice steamed with a few cumin seeds or shreds of carrot, and save your saffron for worthy uses, but don’t disappoint yourself or mar your enjoyment of this book by making the Basmati Pancake with Saffron, Honey, and Mint. Focus instead on the many wonderful recipes that Kenney himself more obviously loves (you can gauge his engagement by the notes offered in the margin of each recipe)

Paul Franz-Moore’s photography is an elegant and fitting complement to this well-designed book. He captures our attention and imagination with many stunning photos; one of the best is of Fennel Salad with Clementines and Moroccan Olives, which has to be the most inviting salad I’ve ever seen. Jet-black oil-cured olives, very fresh arugula leaves, chives, toasted anise seeds, and shards of fresh fennel typify Kenney’s attention to flavors, textures, colors, and contrasts. Traditionally made with oranges, Kenney introduces more contrast with the sweeter, more delicate taste of clementines, and recommends this as a good finish to a heavy meal or as part of a mezze table.

This is a cookbook to live with and love.

Matthew Kenney’s Mediterranean Cooking (Canada, UK)

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