Greece is the word

WITH the holiday season approaching, sun worshippers will be heading for the sea, sand and sumptuous tastes of Greece.

But if you're staying put this summer, you can still experience a little Mediterranean magic. We can't promise sun and clear blue sea but according to Rosemary Barron, author of Flavours Of Greece, one way of getting to the heart of Greek culture is through your stomach.

"In few other countries are food and its traditions so much a part of the fabric of life, playing an important role in the rituals associated with birth and death and everything in between," she says.

The philosophy of Greek food is simple - make it fresh and full of flavour and serve with warmth and flair. The resulting feast is colourful, pungent and fragrant, perfumed by fresh herbs and spices and consumed with gusto.

In Barron's book, there is no haute cuisine, just fine food. There are more than 250 recipes for regional and national specialities such as olives, fetas and seafood mezes - little appetizers which can make a meal in themselves - lemon broths, hearty bean soups, grilled meats and fish, baked vegetables and pilafs and gooey honey pastries.

Greek cuisine, influenced by the cultures of its neighbours - Turkey, the Middle East and the Balkans - is also entrenched in history.

"Just because a recipe is ancient doesn't mean it will taste wonderful but with Greek food much of it does," says Barron, who founded Kandra Kitchen Greece's highly acclaimed cooking school in the early 1980s.

"When I open a recipe book I often recall that the first recorded collection of recipes dates from the days of ancient Greece, that Greeks established the first schools for chefs and that a fastidious Greek gourmet invented the fork."

But don't worry if this is your first foray into Greek cooking and you don't know your mezedes from your mezedakia. Barron provides a glossary of key ingredients as well as a useful appendix of suggested menus - may the (Greek) gods be with you!

MEZEDAKIA (small appetizers)

Marinated Olives (Elies Marinata)

450g/1lb Kalamata olives

4 tbsps dried rigani (Greek oregano)

1 tbsp dried rosemary

tbsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried marjoram

5 cm/2 inch strip of orange zest

3 sprigs of dried rigani or thyme, about 7 cm/3 inches long

Extra virgin olive oil

Spread the olives between layers of paper towels and blot dry to remove most of the brine. Mix together the olives, dried herbs and orange zest in a bowl. Pack loosely in a glass jar, lay the herb sprigs on top and add olive oil to cover. Cover tightly and store for two days to a week.

SALTED ALMONDS (Amigdala Alatismena)

350g/12oz almonds, with brown skins intact

Juice of 2 lemons

3 tbsps coarse-grain sea salt

Heat the oven to 160C/325F/gas mark 3. Combine the almonds and lemon juice in a non-reactive bowl and set aside for 10 minutes, stir the almonds with a wooden spoon occasionally so they are evenly coated.

Arrange them on a baking tray in a single layer and sprinkle with the salt. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring once or twice. Let cool and serve or store in small airtight containers for up to one month.

PEPPERED DRIED FIGS (Sika Piperata)

24 good-quality moist dried figs

4 tbsps cracked black pepper

12-18 bay leaves

Trim the fig stems. Gently roll each fig in the pepper to lightly coat.

Cover the bottom of a glass jar with a few of the bay leaves or make an overlapping circle of leaves on two layers of cling film. Then make alternate layers of figs and bay leaves, finishing with a layer of leaves. Gently press down on the leaves with the palm of your hand, then tightly cover the jar or pull the edges of the cling film together into an airtight packet. Store at room temperature for up to one month.

Serve the figs on a bed of bay leaves.

BAKED SUMMER VEGETABLES (Briami Mystras). Serves 6

2 medium aubergines (about 350g/12oz)

Sea salt

2 green bell peppers, roasted and skinned

1 large onion, cut into quarters and thinly sliced

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

6 large ripe tomatoes, skinned and diced, juices reserved

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp dried rigani (Greek oregano)

5 tbsp coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

450g/1lb new potatoes

450g/1lb courgettes, cut into 6 mm/ inch slices

5 tablespoons hot water

40g/1 x oz lightly toasted fresh breadcrumbs

50g/2oz grated kasseri (Greek cheese) or Parmesan

For serving: Juice of 1 large lemon

Trim the ends of the aubergines and cut into 4cm/1 x inch cubes. Sprinkle with a tbsp of salt and set aside in a colander to sweat for 30 minutes. Slice the tops off the peppers, discard the cores and seeds, rinse off any remaining seeds, and cut lengthways into 6 mm/ inch strips.

Heat 4 tbsps of the olive oil into a large heavy saut pan and cook the onion over a medium-low heat until soft, about eight minutes. Add the garlic, tomatoes and their juices, honey, cumin, rigani, half the parsley, salt and pepper. Raise the heat, bring to a boil and simmer for ten minutes or until reduced by about one third, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.

Heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Place a second large heavy saut pan over medium heat and add 4 tbsps of the remaining olive oil. Thoroughly dry the aubergine with paper towels and fry until golden brown on all sides, about ten minutes. Drain between layers of paper towels.

Peel the potatoes and cut into 6mm/ inch slices. Arrange them in the bottom of a deep heavy baking dish. Combine the aubergine, pepper and courgettes and spread over the potatoes. Pour over the sauce, remaining olive oil and the hot water, firmly shake the dish to distribute the sauce, cover and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and bake 20 minutes longer. Stir the vegetables, taking care not to break the potatoes and bake uncovered 25 minutes longer or until the potatoes are just tender.

Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper if desired. Combine the breadcrumbs and cheese and sprinkle over the vegetables. With the back of a spoon, gently press down on the vegetables so a little of the juices reaches the breadcrumbs. Bake, uncovered, 15 minutes longer or until golden brown.

Sprinkle with the lemon juice, pepper and add the remaining parsley. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.