The Mediterranean diet

"It is not really an exaggeration to say that peace and happiness begin, geographically, where garlic is used in cooking."

Marcel Boulestin

This picture is from the cover of my copy of the second revised Penguin Edition of Elizabeth David's A Book of Mediterranean Food, which she first wrote in 1950. This version was published in 1965 and cost me the princely sum of 3s and 6d. The statement about the garlic is a quote from her introduction to the original, and I guess doesn't really just apply to the Mediterranean. Back then, although we didn't eat garlic in England they certainly ate it throughout France, and of course the whole of Asia uses it a lot too. Nevertheless the peace and happiness bit is apt because the Mediterranean diet has made itself on to UNESCO's list of threatened intangible cultural heritage. Threatened because, it seems, that the Mediterranean lands - or some of them anyway do not eat much of a Mediterranean diet these days. Indeed:

"Greece topped the OECD child obesity league published in 2014, using data from 2010, with 44% of boys aged 5-17 overweight, followed by Italy on 36%." Sarah Boseley - The Guardian

Even America has a lower rate of child obesity it seems. But I digress a bit from peace and happiness. In the UNESCO summary they say:

"The Mediterranean diet involves a set of skills, knowledge, rituals, symbols and traditions concerning crops, harvesting, fishing, animal husbandry, conservation, processing, cooking, and particularly the sharing and consumption of food. Eating together is the foundation of the cultural identity and continuity of communities throughout the Mediterranean basin. It is a moment of social exchange and communication, an affirmation and renewal of family, group or community identity. The Mediterranean diet emphasizes values of hospitality, neighbourliness, intercultural dialogue and creativity, and a way of life guided by respect for diversity." UNESCO

Claudia Roden, in her book Mediterranean Cookery says much the same. All of which is interesting, because that is not about the food is it? It's more about the cultural customs of the people who live around the Mediterranean, with the emphasis on sharing, family and community. Which is, of course, a very fashionable foodie thing these days. But maybe not a family thing - the nuclear family holds sway and nobody has time to cook. Fast food reigns supreme and as one commentator said, even France has lost the battle with MacDonalds. So maybe UNESCO is not so much lamenting the loss of the actual food, but maybe more of a way of life that no longer exists. It seems there is not much physical activity and craftsmanship these days. Well maybe. I'm personally not sure about that - at least in France, where they still seem to labour in the fields and spend lots of time making delicate pastries and thousands of different kinds of cheeses.

To take this slightly sideways the Guardian's Health and Diet reporter, Sarah Boseley says:

"It is not a weight-loss regime such as the Atkins or Dukan diets. It is actually not a prescriptive diet at all, rather a pattern of eating."

Well it's certainly not prescriptive - there doesn't even seem to be real agreement on what a Mediterranean diet actually is. What do you think?

When I think of Mediterranean food I first of all think of the basics - tomatoes, garlic, lemons and olives. There were a few pictures of these four on the net - this is one of them - so it's obviously not just me.

In fact it seems to me that without at least one of these ingredients you are probably not eating a Mediterranean dish. To expand on the basics I would include those Mediterranean vegetables that we all love - eggplant, zucchini, capsicum.

But of course, these are all summery things. Because don't we all think of summer when we think of the Mediterranean? It's probably the only time that any of us go there, though my son is taking his family there over our summer holidays this year - which will be winter there of course. I wonder if they eat the kind of dish we see on the left in the winter? Nowadays of course we can get any vegetable at any time of year, but that is not, of course an economical way to go.

So what do the 'experts' think a Mediterranean diet is and why should we eat it - apart from the fact that it tastes good and its fun to share?

To start with Elizabeth David, who many writers declare as the person who started all the fuss about the Mediterranean diet way back in the 50s and 60s. The 60s really - nobody in the 50s in England could cook Mediterranean food as there were just not the ingredients available. The picture at right is the frontispiece drawing in her book and shows a selection of Mediterranean foods. It's probably pretty similar to the modern versions that you find online - featuring fresh vegetables and fruit, legumes of all kinds, fish, grains, olive oil, nuts and herbs. Maybe there's a bit of poultry and cheese in there as well, but these seem to be frowned upon by those who promote it.

Here is Elizabeth David's interpretation of Mediterranean food:

"The ever recurring elements in the food throughout these countries are the oil, the saffron, the garlic, the pungent local wines; the aromatic perfume of rosemary, wild marjoram and basil drying the in the kitchens; the brilliance of the market stalls piled high with pimentos, aubergines, tomatoes, olives, melons, figs , ad limes; the great heaps of shiny fish, silver, vermilion, or tiger-striped, and that long needle fish whose bones so mysteriously turn out to be green. There are, too, all manner of unfamiliar cheeses made from sheep or goat's milk; the butcher's stalls are festooned with every imaginable portion of the inside of every edible animal ... There are endless varieties of currants and raisins, figs from Smyrna on long strings, dates, almonds, pistachios, and pine kernel nuts, dried melon seeds and sheets of apricot paste which is dissolved in water to make cooling drinks.

All these ingredients make rich and colourful dishes. Over picturesque, perhaps, for every day, but then who wants to eat the same food every day?"

Claudia Roden - my other Mediterranean authority says in her book Mediterranean Cookery:

"With Mediterranean food, flavour is all-important and you must keep tasting and adjusting the seasoning as you go along. Like tuning a musical instrument, you must play it by ear. Flavours should be strong but they should not dominate. Always use fresh herbs, if possible, and spices which have not lost their scent. Mediterranean food is aromatic, sometimes spicy, occasionally peppery, bu the natural flavours of the main ingredients should never be drowned or masked."

Neither Elizabeth David nor Claudia Roden are not quite the same as the modern version. There is hardly any meat in that - well no red meat in the modern version although what about all those roast lamb and pork dishes and kebabs, not to mention steak et frites? Both those ladies, though, give meat and cheese their full attention.

Above are two different versions of the typical Mediterranean diet and both feature fish as the main thing. I suppose there is quite a lot of fish to be found in restaurants around the Mediterranean, but it's ironic really because I believe the whole area, into the Atlantic too, is in danger of being overfished. I suspect a lot of their fish now comes from elsewhere. And the shellfish - particularly the oysters and mussels are farmed.

The diet is actually quite high in fats and carbohydrates - fatty fish, olive oil, pasta! So no - it is not a diet to slim by. But those fats are 'good' fats and of course nobody would question the benefits of fresh fruit and vegetables. No sugar though. Well - how about lemon tart, all those beautiful Sicilian cakes and pastries - Greek and Middle-Eastern ones too - not to mention the sugar in all this fresh fruits? The other non slimming elements are the nuts, the olive oil, the grains and the legumes. So not a slimming diet - but a healthy one. Good for the heart, cancer and Alzheimers too - well some people think so.

The reason I am talking about this is because there was a recent Catalyst on the television that was talking about how to prolong your life. In one segment the presenter had a market stall with all those foods that are supposed to be super foods and she asked people to rank them in order of 'goodness'. At the end she revealed whether any of them had proven benefits - none of them did - although some were possibly beneficial - like the Omega-3 - which is, of course, why the fish are included in the Mediterranean diet. The gingko though was positively harmful. (Must do gingko some time.). At the end she said that actually we should all just eat a Mediterranean diet and that then we would improve our chances of living longer by 60%. I'm sure she said 60% but when I looked today at sites like the Mayo clinic their estimates were somewhat less but still significant - around 30% I think.

So we should all eat more fish - twice a week is recommended - munch nuts several times a day, eat more legumes and whole grains and no red meat. Surprisingly though they seem to think you can drink a glass of wine per day (for women), two for men. I confess we don't do well enough on the legumes and the fish. Well I do have quite a lot of sardines on toast, but I don't cook fish dinners very often. David's sourdough bread is full of grains so we probably don't do too badly there, and we do eat a lot of rice and pasta. Not enough legumes though - I must start putting more of them into stews and soups because we do like them. We do quite well on the fresh fruit and vegetables though probably not well enough. The experts seem to think you should have 7-10 portions of these per day. We do eat considerably less red meat these days though, and I do remove the fat from chicken when we have it. And we probably have too much cheese. We are trying not to drink wine at all during the week, unless there is a social occasion of some kind. David doesn't drink much at all these days.

Fish and fresh and olive oil - that seems to be the thing.

"Notably, none of this comes in a box. The supermarket spaghetti bolognese does not count. The Mediterranean diet has no preservatives. It is freshly picked, plucked and cooked." Sarah Boseley- The Guardian