From KCRW, I'm Evan Klimin and you're listening to good food.

I know that many of you in LA are already back to school, but me, well, I'm still

lingering in that summertime limbo, spending the days reading, weaving, refreshing my glass with ice, and

daydreaming of a Mediterranean coastline.

Today's show is all about places I would rather be, Greece, Italy, France, and the cookbook authors

that transport us there through headnotes and spice blends. Many of these regional cuisines can be multi-stepped and labor intensive,

but Georgina Hayden wanted to make her Greek Cypriot family recipes more achievable and straightforward for the everyday cook.

What resulted is her latest cookbook Greekish.

Hello Georgina?

Hello, thank you so much for having me.

Oh, we're thrilled to have you.

Tell us a little bit about your background where you grew up and

a little bit about the travel that your family did.

So I am born and raised in London, England

but my, all my family are from Cyprus.

So, you know so an island in the very, very sort of end bit of the

Mediterranean Sea that's surrounded by all the continents you've got Africa, Middle East

Europe and my family are sort of from the Greek. all the continents you've got Africa, Middle East Europe.

And my family is sort of from the Greek side.

So my grandparents and my dad actually,

they all grew up there and,

but they came over to England between the sort of 50s

...