In this interview, Diane Kochilas discusses the role of olive oil in Greek cuisine from her home in Athens, Greece.
Diane Kochilas is a chef, award-winning cookbook author, and cooking school owner—has been at the forefront of bringing healthy, delicious Greek cuisine to a wide international audience for many years. She is the host and co-producer of My Greek Table, a national cooking-travel series on public television. She is consulting chef at Committee Restaurant, a meze concept in Boston and has worked with many of the top Greek restaurants in North America. Every summer, she runs the Glorious Greek Cooking School on her native island, Ikaria, a Blue Zone, renowned for the longevity of its inhabitants. Kochilas's latest book is My Greek Table: Authentic Flavors and Modern Home Cooking from My Kitchen to Yours, (St. Martin's Press). Her previous book, Ikaria: Food, Life and Longevity from the Island where People Forget to Die (Rodale, fall 2014), won an IACP Award for Best Cookbook, International Category; the 2015 Books for a Better Life Award by the MS Society; and was nominated for an Art of Eating award. She has authored more than 18 cookbooks in both English and Greek, including another IACP winner, The Glorious Foods of Greece, and The Greek Vegetarian. Diane has worked with several universities around the United States to bring healthy Greek cuisine to student dining, including UMass Amherst, Harvard, and Yale. She divides her time between New York City, Boston, the Greek island of Ikaria, and Athens.
This recipe and video were produced by The Culinary Institute of America as an industry service, thanks to the generous support of the International Olive Council.
Learn more about olive oil at https://www.plantforwardkitchen.org/olive-oil-and-the-plant-forward-kitchen