Mediterranean cuisine is the food and preparation methods used by the inhabitants of the Mediterranean basin. The idea of Mediterranean cuisine originates in. The idea of Mediterranean cuisine originated in A Book of Mediterranean Food (1950), by the cooking writer Elizabeth David, and was amplified by other writers who worked in English. Middle Eastern food and Mediterranean cuisine fall into the same category, since both use olive oil, have a similar palette of spices, use a lot of fruits and vegetables in food preparation, and have some similar dietary preferences.
The focus is on fresh products, pronounced flavors and simple preparation. Basically, Mediterranean cuisine is comprised of plant foods and minimally processed staples, where herbs and spices are essential ingredients. The Mediterranean diet, known primarily as a dietary model, improves the quality and safety of food and its relationship with the land of origin. It offers simple cuisine, but rich in imagination and flavors, that makes the most of all aspects of a healthy diet. It is an ethical choice that preserves the traditions and customs of the peoples of the Mediterranean basin (.
Food can profoundly affect people's health; this is because good nutritional status helps to maintain a good level of health and to prevent metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, etc. The Mediterranean diet is also a “resource for sustainable development that is very important for all countries bordering the Mediterranean, because of the economic and cultural effect that food covers throughout the region and because of the ability to inspire a sense of continuity and identity in the local population (. Countries commonly associated with Mediterranean cuisine usually include those bordering the Mediterranean Sea, such as Greece, Italy, Morocco and Libya. Middle Eastern cuisine considers Western Asian countries, including Iraq, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. Some countries, such as Israel, Turkey and Lebanon, lie on both sides of the dividing line between the two regions and can be included in either region.
Mediterranean food also focuses primarily on including vegetables, fish, portion control, and walking after eating. The type of cereals consumed, as well as the methods of transformation, assume different facets depending on the geographical connotations and traditions that characterize the populations of the coastal countries of the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean Diet is a nutritional model so universally appreciated that it belongs to the cultural, historical, social, territorial and environmental aspects and is closely related to the lifestyle of Mediterranean peoples throughout their history. The US, which simply represents a fair and balanced way of eating, shows the proportions and frequencies with which food should be consumed, a style that matches the Mediterranean model identified by the physiologist Ancel Keys.
Since David wrote about Mediterranean food in 1950 and, in fact, since dietary researchers demonstrated in the 1950s that Mediterranean inhabitants had less coronary heart disease than the peoples of Northern Europe, traditional Mediterranean lifestyles and diets have changed. A Mediterranean meze can include tzatziki, mozzarella cheese for babies or grilled halloumi, serrano ham or salami, and sauces such as beetroot tzatziki (a yogurt spread with beetroot puree) or skordalia (a mashed potato with lots of garlic).In Mediterranean cuisine, some herbal combinations include thyme, coriander and basil, which enhance the flavor of the chicken, while dill balances the flavor of the fish. Many studies and clinical trials have shown that the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and metabolic syndrome. It was clear from this study that populations that had adopted a diet based on the Mediterranean diet had a very low blood cholesterol level and, consequently, a minimum percentage of coronary heart disease.
Therefore, to prevent a heart attack, it is essential to eat not only a balanced diet (such as the Mediterranean diet), but also a healthy lifestyle (as Ancel Keys had already pointed out). The belief in a common nucleus, which emerges from a claim to authority over that Mediterranean core, is what underlies the writings that describe the culinary Mediterranean, but it seems that only from afar does a unified Mediterranean exist. From Gibraltar to the Bosphorus, through the Rhone Valley, through the large seaports of Marseille, Barcelona and Genoa, through Tunisia and Alexandria, covering all the islands of the Mediterranean, Corsica, Sicily, Sardinia, Crete, the Cyclades and Cyprus (where Byzantine influence is beginning to be felt), to the Greek mainland and the highly contested territories of Syria, Lebanon, Constantinople and Izmir. The oil is cultivated extensively in the Mediterranean region and has been exported to neighboring areas for centuries.
That is, the food of people who live along the Mediterranean Sea, from Spain to Morocco, through Italy, Greece, Tunisia and other countries. Mediterranean Italian cuisine includes much of Italy outside the north and the mountainous regions of the interior.
