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The Mediterranean Way, East and West

Chicken souvlaki with pitta, tomatoes and tzatziki

The Greek kebab, made at home, from The grill.

Thai green chicken curry with green beans

From a shop paste, fried first, from The pot.

Mezze bowl with baked falafel, bulgur and hummus

The kebab shop’s vegetarian order, from The bowl.
Learn to cook the dishes you would normally order in, from two of the healthiest food traditions in the world. Five methods, 25 recipes, and a cupboard that will feed you on a Thursday night.
Two coasts, one table. The Greek grill, the Thai curry, the noodle bar and the kebab shop are all cooking from the same two tables, and you can too.

Five methods, taken in any order

The traditional food of the Mediterranean and of Asia has more in common than you might think: vegetables in quantity, beans and fish most days, meat in small amounts, grains at the centre of the plate, and meals eaten slowly with other people. It also happens to be the food most of us order in. This course takes the five things those kitchens do well and teaches each one as a method you can use without a recipe, then gives you five recipes to practise on, with every ingredient from an ordinary supermarket and every step timed. Beside each method sits the nutrition that belongs to it, told plainly: where the salt is, which fats to use, why the vegetables come first. A short final part, The table, covers what both coasts do after the cooking stops. It is written for anyone who wants to eat better and is more likely to reach for a menu than a cookbook. No technique is assumed. Nobody is put on a diet. The first section is free to read.

The sauce

The five sauces and dips that make food taste like the shop version, from the cupboard in minutes. You will learn to taste for salt before you add any.

The wok

A stir-fry in an ordinary frying pan. Everything cut before the heat goes on, the pan hotter than feels right, and things in the right order.

The grill

Marinate in the morning, brown in the evening, in the oven, on a griddle pan or in an air fryer. Fish often, meat seldom.

The pot

Curry from a paste that has been fried first, and beans braised in tomato until they taste like they took all afternoon. Everything here freezes.

The bowl

A grain, a protein, two vegetables, a sauce and something crunchy. Once you can see the formula you do not need the recipe.
Meet your instructor
Kim Close is a nutritionist, lecturer and food writer based in Northern Ireland. With a background in psychology and culinary nutrition, she has spent over a decade teaching how food influences mood, cognition and long-term health.

She is Head of Cognition at the Food for the Brain Foundation and the founder of Whole Health 360, where she combines evidence-based nutrition with practical cookery and behaviour-change science. She holds a BSc in Psychology (1st class) and qualifications in Behaviour Change, Health Coaching and Nutritional Therapy, and is a fully qualified higher level lecturer. Kim is currently studying and carrying out research for a PhD in Lifestyle Medicine.
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