To the uninitiated, "Eastern European cuisine" calls to mind a bleak, unappealing spread of heavy, colorless dough, unappetizingly pickled fish and flavorless broths: gulag fare. Not so! Eschew these Dr. Zhivago motifs, because the popular Bulgarian-born London chef, Silvena Rowe, brings out the fresh, delicious and unexpected aspects of Central and Eastern European cuisines. If I could, I would eat only Georgian food (as in, the Republic of Georgia): handfuls of fresh herbs, unexpected savory treatments of fruit (dried and fresh), walnuts in everything and pomegranates to round things off. The cuisine of Central Europe has absorbed the Turkish influences of piquant eggplant, feta, and peppers to original, flavorful effect. The book is brimming with photos of cottage preserves and Georgian street vendors. For autumnal revelry, I recommend the eggplant stacks with feta and pumpkin (page 108) and the pomegranate, pumpkin and lamb stew (page 42). And if you're waxing nostalgic for Dr. Zhivago, there is a dumplings chapter.
