Diane Kochilas Talks About the REAL Mediterranean Diet

Food with Mark Bittman

Sweetness and Light

Nutrition, Arts, Food, Culture, Cooking, Health & Fitness, Society & Culture

4.9 • 947 Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this unreleased episode from 2023, Mark visits Diane Kochilas at her home in Greece; the two talk about Ikaria eating, how Greek cooking and cuisine has changed over the last couple decades—and where it seems to be heading, and why chefs in Greece have less emotional baggage (which could be a good or a bad thing, depending on which way you look at it).

Read an excerpt from Diane Kochilas's Athens: Food, Stories, Love on The Bittman Project: https://bittmanproject.com/athens-a-love-story/

...and get Diane's recipes for Greek Salad Crepes: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/greek-salad-crepes/

...and Bean Soup Sandwich: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/bean-soup-sandwich/

...and Chickpea Soup That Emulates Diporto’s Legendary Revithada: https://bittmanproject.com/recipe/chickpea-soup-that-emulates-diportos-legendary-revithada/

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to food. I'm Kate Bitman, and we are so glad that you're here with us. If you want more,
0:08.2	remember to check us out online at bitmanproject.com. We've got more than 1,500 recipes with new ones
0:14.6	added daily, plus some really wonderful food writing from some really wonderful food writers,
0:20.5	and recommendations for products
0:22.4	and more.
0:23.4	Bitmanproject.com.
0:25.0	And as always, email us with any questions or Athens, food stories, love, a cookbook, came out last week.
0:57.6	Diane and I didn't quite grow up together as food writers, but we were early contemporaries.
1:03.2	I've known her for at least 30 years, and I would never do anything Greece- related without talking to Diane first.
1:13.1	She is a native-born American with deep roots in Greece and lives there most of the time.
1:19.7	These days in Athens and variously in Ecaria and other places.
1:26.0	But she is probably the words leading expert on Greek food who writes in English and really
1:32.9	has a wonderful, deep understanding of Greece and its culture and its people and, of course,
1:38.2	especially its food.
1:39.9	She also happens to be a wonderful person and such a joy to visit her.
1:50.5	I had a wonderful visit with her in Athens spring before last,
1:56.0	and we are finally getting around to running this interview, cooking session, et cetera,
1:58.3	which was total fun, as you will, here.
2:04.4	So here am I with Diane Coachellus.. So, hi, Diane, thanks for joining me. Hi, Mark. Thanks for inviting me. Well, let's start here. We're in Athens. I had
2:11.8	dinner with a food anthropologist last night, and I mentioned that we went back a long way and we're friends.
2:21.3	And she just said she had the most respect for you. She said, in the English language, there's
2:26.8	like no more important person in Greek cuisine than Diane, which is really, it's a great thing.
	...

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