Ela! Ela!: To Turkey and Greece, Then Home

Ela! Ela! is a collection of recipes and stories from cook and food writer Ella Mittas.

Inspired by her time working in a village in the mountains of Crete and the hot, loud streets of Istanbul, as well as her Greek heritage, they represent a journey of food, culture and belonging.

These simple, comforting recipes are a mix of things Ella saw, ate and was taught on her travels, though years of cooking them have made them something more her own. Above all, they represent community - the reason Ella ever wanted to cook at all.

Ella Mittas has built her career in food working under Brigitte Hafner, Annie Smithers and Ismail Tosun in Australia, honing her skills in London at NOPI, in Tel Aviv at Romano and in Istanbul at Lokanta Maya. Her recipes have been featured in The Design Files and Broadsheet, and her food writing published in The Saturday Paper. Ella teaches cooking classes, curates and caters food events, and hosts dinners in collaboration with venues across her hometown of Melbourne. Her self-titled project is derived from her name but also comes from a Greek word έλα - which means come.