The result is a kind of Greek "best of" and anyone who thought that Greek cuisine was the stuff you were served on your annual holiday - moussaka, kebabs, Greek salad - is in for a surprise. In the chapter on mezedes (or meze), for example, there are nearly 120 dishes. Yes, taramasalata, tzatziki and hummus are all there, but so too is cuttlefish in wine, salt cod fritters and squid served with nettles.

There is a big chapter on lamb, "many Greeks' favourite meat", full of delicious-sounding slow-cooked stews, as well as a wonderful section on fish. One surprise about the book is how well it caters for vegetarians. Much of Greek cooking, Alexiadou tells me, follows the teaching of the church. Traditionally, Greeks fast 40 days before Easter and 40 days before Christmas and during these times meat and dairy products are banned. Thus, a wealth of sophisticated vegetable dishes emerged on the Greek menu. So the book includes recipes for stuffed celery root, braised okra, fennel bake and, unsurprisingly, endless suggestions for what to do with an aubergine.

Vefa's Kitchen by Vefa Alexiadou is published at the end of June