MEDITERRANEAN DIET
The Mediterranean Diet is a valuable piece of cultural heritage that from simplicity and variety has resulted in a complete and balanced combination of food based on fresh, local and seasonal food as much as possible. It embraces all the people of the Mediterranean and consists of landscapes, crops, cultivation techniques, markets, elaborations, culinary spaces and gestures, flavours and fragrances, colours, social gatherings and celebrations, legends and devotions, joys and sorrows, as well as innovation as well as traditions.
What is the Mediterranean Diet?
The ancient Greek word “diaita”, from which the word diet derives from, means balanced lifestyle, and this is exactly what the Mediterranean Diet is; it is much more than a nutritional pattern. The Mediterranean Diet is a lifestyle, not just a food pattern that combines ingredients from local agriculture, recipes and cooking methods of each place, shared meals, celebrations and traditions, coupled with moderate physical activity, favoured by a welcoming climate, completes a lifestyle that modern science recommends us to adopt for the benefit of our health; making the Mediterranean Diet an excellent model for healthy living. (+ more)
History
Over millennia the people of the Mediterranean have built their own identifiable habits that bring to the table singular and differentiated cultures and landscapes. Iberians, Celts, Greeks, Romans, Barbarians and Arabs all have contributed to the ongoing “Mediterranean triad” of bread, olive oil and wine. From the Near and Middle East arrived to the Mediterranean cereals, legumes, carrots, onions, garlic, plums, peaches, cherries, apricots, apples, pears, walnuts, hazelnuts and chestnuts. From Northern Europe came beets, chicory, cabbage and asparagus, from the Far East, chickpeas, sesame seeds, cucumbers, eggplants, mustard, basil, citrus fruits and Indian millet, from Southeast Asia and Oceania came rice, rosemary, peppers, cardamom, ginger, watermelon, dates, and from the Americas came corn, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and squash. Few could imagine Mediterranean meals without these contributions. Thanks in part to these contributions, arose one of the healthiest food patterns in the world. (+ more)
TEN PRINCIPLES | FOOD PYRAMID | SEASONAL FOODS
Recipes
Five last published recipes
All published recipes..
Each moth the Foundation publishes a Mediterranean recipe and gives advice as to the method of preparation and ingredients that closely follow the traditional recipe, the nutritional contribution is valued and experts comments on its value and relationship with the Mediterranean culture.
