■ If you visited Mediterranean kitchens, you’d feel very much at home. Fruits and veggies of the region are as familiar as those at your nearest market, perhaps with the exception of fresh, tender vine leaves you’d need to make dolma (stuffed vine leaves). Few, if any, surprises turn up among the nuts, grains, beans or pastas popular there. As for seafood, tender frog legs, cockles, skate and sea urchin share space with squid, octopus, prawns, lobster and fish families you’d recognize: swordfish and tuna (usually sold as steaks); sea bass; mackerel; mullet; and barracuda. Olives flourish throughout the Mediterranean and are considered the most crucial ingredients everywhere.
Squid With Turnips (Tunisia)
(from “Mediterranean Cooking,” by Claudia Roden)
l½ pounds baby squid
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil…