Mediterranean cuisine
Mediterranean cuisine is the food from the cultures adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea.
Mediterranean cuisine comes from the 21 countries that surround the Mediterranean Sea such as Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, and various other countries on the Mediterranean. The food consists primarily of fresh fruits and vegetables with an emphasis on poultry and seafood, rice, grains, beans and pastas. Grilling or broiling is the prevalent method of cooking, with olive oil the most prevalent fat or oil used in the preparation of salads, marinades, vegetables, poultry and seafood. Eggplant, artichokes, squash, tomatoes, legumes, onions, mushrooms, okra, cucumbers, and a variety of greens are served fresh, baked, roasted, sautéed, grilled and puréed. Yogurt and cheese are also major components of Mediterranean cooking. Close proximity to the Mediterranean Sea provides access to fresh seafood. Fresh herbs are used in abundance.[1] Classic Mediterranean dishes include Spanish paella and Italian risotto with seafood.
Mediterranean cuisine is characterized by flexibility, a wide range of ingredients and regional variations.[2]
Around 1975, under the impulse of nutritional directives, Americans discovered the Mediterranean diet.[3]
See also
- Anatolian cuisine
- Arab cuisine
- Balkan cuisine
- Greek cuisine
- Latin American cuisine
- Levantine cuisine
- Middle Eastern cuisine
- Ottoman cuisine
- Sephardic cuisine
- Turkish cuisine
References
- ^ An Introduction to Mediterranean Cuisine
- ^ Braudel, Fernard (1995). The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Phillip II. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-20308-2. http://www.amazon.com/Mediterranean-World-Age-Philip-Vol/dp/0520203089.
- ^ Massimo Alberini, Giorgio Mistretta, Guida all'Italia gastronomica, Touring Club Italiano, 1984, p. 37
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