Yiayia Next Door
Recipes from Yiayia’s kitchen, and the true story of one woman’s incredible act of kindness
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
When Daniel and Luke Mancuso lost their beloved mother Teresa to domestic violence, the Greek grandmother next door stepped in and started looking after them, passing home-cooked meals over the fence. This simple act of kindness helped Daniel and Luke navigate the fog of grief that followed, and captured the hearts of Australia when they started to share the meals and their special relationship with 'Yiayia' on social media.
Now we can all enjoy Yiayia's home cooking, with this collection of traditional recipes from her kitchen and those of yiayias all around Australia. Yiayia's food is pure comfort: pastries such as spanakopita and tiropita; warming soups made with chickpeas, lentils and beans; hearty pasta and rice dishes such as moussaka and yemista; the unmistakable flavours of barbecued lamb and keftedes; and delicious desserts such as baklava and custard-filled galaktoboureko.
This is a book about the power of food to bring people together. It's about love forged in tragedy, the importance of connection and how simple gestures, such as giving someone a home-cooked meal, can transform lives and restore hope.
A percentage of the sales of this book will be donated to the Australian Childhood Foundation.
This is a specially formatted fixed-layout ebook that retains the look and feel of the print book.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ABIA ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ABDA BOOK DESIGN AWARDS 2023 BEST DESIGNED COOKBOOK
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gestures of neighborly love give rise to soulful recipes in this collection of Greek comfort foods. In the family home where their mother's life was tragically cut short by domestic violence when they were young, the Australian brothers were the beneficiaries of pastries, soups, and casseroles passed over the fence by a neighbor they called yiayia ("grandmother" in Greek). Here, they share her recipes and their "Mum's," as well as memories of their own Greek heritage cuisine. While the classics are covered in recipes that often draw upon vegetables fresh from the brothers' backyard garden (eggs with peppers, spanakopita, avgolemono soups), there are novelties, too, like lamb racks glazed with a strawberry jam and red wine sauce. Though "yiayia" prefers to keep her identity private, step-by-step photos show her hands working translucent filo dough for cheese pie, and braiding Easter bread. Her kitchen tips, meanwhile, reflect a no-fuss, no-waste sensibility: home cooks are encouraged to wash and reuse foil and zip-top bags, while excess chilies from the garden are strung together and hung to dry. Cooking recipes like their Mum's cannelloni "helps fill a void in our hearts," the Mancusos say, and their book is sure to do the same for others. This delivers the goods on every level.
