Food for the gods, updated

With the flame burning at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, you might want to light your own in the kitchen. In my experience, guests tend to become antsy and hungry during torch-related activities and archery. Just in time -- you’d almost think the publishing industry plans these things -- there are two new books on Greek food and cooking that will help.

The first is “The Olive and the Caper” by Susanna Hoffman (Workman Publishing, $19.95). Hoffman is an anthropologist whose sharp eye for human manners adds dimension to her food writing, which has a scientist’s precision and a humanist’s warmth. She describes, for instance, the custom of eating mezedes (the plural of meze) as “counterpoints taken with drink ... meant to mitigate the effects of alcohol, satisfy any stirring hunger, and hold the social verve in bounds.”

In classic Workman style (remember “The Silver Palate Cookbook”?), this is a big, chunky and energetic paperbound volume (589 pages, more than 300 recipes), decorated with fanciful graphics and lettering. Slick it’s not: The only color photos are in a 16-page insert in the front of the book.

The recipe margins are packed with ancillary information -- in this case, historical tidbits and stories of contemporary manners that help convey a sense of the great Greek food culture.

Here Hoffman brings a delightful personal touch. As a prelude to a delicious eggplant and yogurt spread, for instance, she provides the story of Miltiades, the 80-year-old father of one of her friends, who told her his tale on an Athens balcony as they were watching eggplant “wrinkle over hot coals as if aged by Kronos, the god of time, right before our eyes.” As a young man from Crete with a taste for the earthy and rough cuisine of his region, Miltiades fell in love with a delicate, high-born woman who had lost her wealth and home when her family was forced out of Turkey. To woo her and her refined palate, he searched out a more “haute” and smooth eggplant recipe and thus was able to “move into her heart and, more important, into her kitchen.” The story somehow enhances one’s enjoyment of the dish’s creamy texture.

Her recipes are simple, tasty and very Greek. She gives us marinated shrimp Cretan style (which simmer in wine, oil, garlic, parsley, oregano and lemon juice), made vibrant by a last-minute drizzle of salty lemon dip with capers.

She’s created a satisfying taramasalata with potato, which achieved the right level of mysterious sea taste even though I could find neither the carp roe nor the codfish roe she called for. I used the more ubiquitous whitefish roe instead and was not sorry.

Hoffman supplies a complete range of recipes, including one for field greens, fennel and ouzo pie; a traditional, roasted lamb shank with spices; and baklava. I felt compelled to try my hand at one of the Mediterranean’s best-known mezedes, stuffed grape leaves. Big surprise: Hoffman’s are much more interesting than the soggy ones you find at many Middle Eastern eateries all over town. Hers are stuffed with short-grain rice, pine nuts, currants and golden raisins.

Beef and rice meatballs known as youvarelakia are simmered in a wonderful yogurt-tomato sauce. Tender and tangy, this dish is delicious.

However, like many of the recipes I tested, it wants a little more salt than Hoffman specifies, and she often neglects to include an “adjust seasonings” instruction.

The tastes of the ancients

However similar in subject, “The Philosopher’s Kitchen” (Random House, $35) is strikingly different in tone and aesthetic. This book is elegant, pristine and beautifully photographed by Tim Turner. Author Francine Segan turns a neat trick: She takes cursory recipes from ancient Greece (and Rome) and makes them vibrant and cook-able.

As a writer she is less than inspiring -- her introduction, for instance, has all the excitement of the World Book encyclopedia. (“The ancients’ legacy includes the Mediterranean diet and many insights into medicine, health, and longevity from Hippocrates and others. It was Hippocrates who first noted the diagnostic value of interpreting a patient’s dreams, and still today all physicians take the Hippocratic oath.”)

But Segan’s recipes are excellent: simple, sophisticated and delicious, with enough latitude to give a creative cook room to maneuver. Each of the four I tried was a keeper.

Among my favorites: lamb on skewers with a piquant and rich mint marmalade (which works brilliantly for any cut of lamb, by the way); assorted fig appetizers (easy and impressive looking); and pork chops that are simmered first in a dry white wine, then finished with a dessert wine.

Segan sometimes supplies quotes from various BC luminaries as headnotes. She reminds us that it was Aristophanes, in his play “The Birds,” who first observed, “Women! Can’t live with them, or without them” and that women always ate after the men had finished (no wonder they were so hard to get along with).

Perhaps most interesting, Segan follows many of her creations with the ancient “original recipe,” usually written by men named Apicius or Athanaeus.

These tend, as most ancient recipes do, to be fascinating in their brevity. The original instructions for cooking what Segan has transformed into “salmon with berry glaze,” for instance, reads as follows: “A huge dog-fish is put in my hands; I baked the middle slices, but the rest of the stuff I boiled, after making a mulberry sauce.”

Segan’s recipes make you grateful for modern recipe standards. They also will guide you, during the archery event, to hit a bull’s-eye in the kitchen.

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Lamb on skewers with mint marmalade

Total time: 25 minutes, plus

marinating time

Servings: 8

Note: From “The Philosopher’s Kitchen” by Francine Segan. This sauce recipe is one of more than 100 such accompaniments for grilled meats listed by the Roman gourmet Apicius; it may also be served with grilled vegetables, fish and chicken. We have doubled the author’s published cooking time to 8 minutes total for medium rare.

1/4 cup raspberry or other fruit vinegar

2 tablespoons golden raisins

4 pitted dates, minced

1 teaspoon honey

2 tablespoons pine nuts

2 tablespoons grated

Parmesan cheese

1 cup fresh mint leaves

3 tablespoons extra-virgin

olive oil

16 (1-inch) cubes leg of lamb, about 1 pound

Salt and freshly milled

pepper

8 small wooden skewers, soaked in water

1. Simmer the vinegar, raisins, dates and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat until the raisins are soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

2. Puree this mixture, along with the pine nuts and cheese, in a food processor until smooth. Add the mint leaves and pulse until minced. Slowly add the oil and continue blending until smooth. (Makes 1/2 cup.)

3. Toss the lamb cubes with half of the mint marmalade in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours. Put the remaining marmalade in a small serving bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate.

4. Heat the grill or broiler. Liberally sprinkle the lamb with salt and pepper. Place 2 lamb cubes on each wooden skewer and grill or broil until the lamb reaches the desired doneness, about 2 minutes per side for medium rare.

5. Serve with the reserved marmalade on the side.

Each serving: 162 calories; 13 grams protein; 6 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 10 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 43 mg. cholesterol; 44 mg. sodium.

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Assorted fig appetizers

Total time: 25 minutes

Servings: 6

Note: From “The Philosopher’s Kitchen.”

18 whole dried figs

1 cup white wine

3 teaspoons mascarpone cheese

Grated zest of 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios

1 teaspoon honey

2 ounces thinly sliced

prosciutto

1. Bring the figs and wine to a simmer in a saucepan over low heat and cook until the figs are soft, about 5 minutes. Remove the figs with a slotted spoon. Continue cooking the wine until very thick and syrupy, about 10 minutes. Reserve.

2. Cut 1/4 inch off the tops of 6 figs and set the figs, cut side up, on a serving platter. Top each with one-half teaspoon of the cheese and sprinkle with the lemon zest.

3. Remove the stems from 6 more figs and halve the figs lengthwise. Pile the pistachios on a small plate and press the cut portion of each fig into them until the nuts adhere. Arrange the pistachio fig halves on the serving platter and drizzle with a little honey.

4. Remove the stems from the remaining figs and halve the figs crosswise. Make a small cavity in each center with the tip of your finger. Cut the prosciutto into one-half-inch-wide strips; roll each into a bundle and press into each fig. Place the stuffed figs on the serving platter and drizzle with the wine syrup.

Each serving of 3 pieces: 222 calories; 5 grams protein; 39 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams fiber; 4 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 11 mg. cholesterol; 192 mg. sodium.

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Marinated shrimp Cretan style in salty lemon dip

Total time: 20 minutes plus chilling time

Servings: 6

Note: From “The Olive and the

Caper,” by Susanna Hoffman

Salty lemon dip

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

2 teaspoons chopped capers (optional)

1. Whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, oregano, pepper and capers together in a small bowl, making sure to blend the salt thoroughly. Use right away or store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Shrimp

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped or left whole

3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 pound medium to large raw shrimp, shells on, deveined and rinsed

2 tomatoes, each cut into

6 wedges

18 kalamata, Amfissa, cracked green or other good olives

1/3 cup salty lemon dip

1. Place the wine, oil, garlic, parsley, oregano and lemon juice in a nonreactive skillet or saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Add the shrimp, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring, until the shrimp begin to turn pink, 1 1/2 to 3 minutes depending on size. Transfer the shrimp and the cooking liquid to a bowl and refrigerate, covered, until well chilled, up to several hours.

3. When ready to serve, drain the shrimp. Divide them among individual plates, placing them tails up. Arrange the tomato wedges and olives around the shrimp. Drizzle the lemon dip over all and serve right away.

Each serving: 261 calories; 10 grams protein; 5 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 20 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 90 mg. cholesterol; 419 mg. sodium.