Tessa Kiros's cookbook, Falling Cloudberries, is a marvelous trove of family recipes and photographs. Arranged by region, the recipes are lavishly illustrated and each is annotated with a small paragraph regarding its history and meaning to Kiros.

However, while the recipes are accurate (based on a random sampling), the instructions are, sadly, sometimes lacking. While this may be fine for experienced cooks, a novice may find some of the instructions difficult to follow. For example, “Cinnamon and Cardamom Buns” requires a rather tricky bit of cutting and twisting to shape the buns. Kiros attempts to make the directions clear, but an illustration (even a pen and ink drawing) would not go amiss.

The regional arrangement of recipes lends a tone of credibility to the cookbook, but the home chef should be cautious in making authoritative statements that a recipe is actually from a particular location. In particular, the South African section has a number of recipes (“Garlic Bread”, “Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dressing”, “Fried Chicken”, “Barbecued Spare Ribs”) that while accurate, are not necessarily unique to the region. Her few truly South African recipes (including “Milk Tart”) are far better examples of true South African cooking.

These few issues may be easily overlooked, though, in favor of the lush photography, and the unique combination of Finnish, Greek, and Cypriot recipes that comes with a diverse and well-preserved heritage. The small show more vignettes that Kiros provides for each recipe’s context are beautiful, and I often wished for deeper and longer stories to match with the family photographs.

This is a cookbook that will not go awry on a home cook’s shelf, and the Mediterranean recipes will make a fantastic addition to any cook’s repertoire. show less