Kevin Woodford’s 60 Best Holiday Recipes: Recreate the dishes you loved eating on holiday From Ready, Steady, Cook’s popular chef

Gone are the days when the Mediterranean was a far-off land, full of alien inhabitants and even more alien food. Nowadays it’s not unusual for a British pantry to be stocked with extra virgin olive oil, oak-aged balsamic vinegar and sun-dried tomato paste. We have all grown up and our palates have acquired a certain sophistication. Thanks to a surge in package tourism and the sudden growth of the restaurant culture, our eyes and appetites have widened to the sights, smells and tastes of Europe.

So, now we know our feta from our fusilli, the next stage is to appreciate the full range of cooking styles and the ease with which they can be recreated at home. Once you’ve tried a few of the recipes in this book, you’ll discover that good food is not as hard to prepare as it looks. In no time your friends will be congratulating you on the tremendous efforts you’ve clearly made at a dinner party. You’ll thank them, saying it was nothing, and only you’ll know what was involved.

In this book I have put together a few of my favourite dishes from Greece, Spain, Italy, France and Portugal. Some will seem familiar, others less so, but all will surprise you in some small way. The biggest shock of all will be how simple it is to achieve excellence. So loosen your belt, broaden your mind and tuck in!

Greek islands have long served as magnets for summer funseekers in pursuit of glorious sunshine, crumbling old columns and ancient Greek tragedies – and I don’t mean the food. The damage done to Greece’s culinary reputation by the greasy kebabs sold from vans and takeaways across Britain almost exceeds the bloodshed at the fall of Troy. Greek food, in truth, is excellent – loads of fresh fruit and vegetables, a fantastic variety of fish and shellfish, lamb, pork, goat and chicken. The horror stories of overcooked Greek food, left to go cold and swimming in oil, are simply unfair. One belief that we do have to suspend, however, is that good food should be piping hot. Greek cooks choose to serve dishes tepid, firmly believing that hot food is bad for the soul – or at least the digestion. And there is no doubt that flavours are indistinguishable at a searing 30°C. If you want to savour aubergines, lamb and cheese cooked in the traditional manner, then lukewarm moussaka – trust me – is a must.