In The Essential Mediterranean, Nancy Harmon Jenkins writes about the 25 years she’s spent living, cooking, marketing, gardening, and happily eating her way through the Mediterranean region. She explores the culinary life of the Inner Sea, offering recipes and cultural history from North Africa, Turkey, Lebanon, Italy, France, Greece, Spain, and the Middle East. Chapters serve as extended introductions for 120 recipes that best make use of staple ingredients shared across all Mediterranean cuisines: salt, olives/olive oil, wine (including vinegar), tomatoes/peppers, pork products, seafood, and cheese/dairy products.

The book is filled with folklore, anecdotes, history, interviews with Mediterranean experts, chefs, artisans, and home cooks, and conveys a deep understanding of the fundamentals of Mediterranean cooking and culture.