Martha Rose Shulman is the author of more than twenty-five books, including Mediterranean Light, the Julia Child Award-winning Provençal Light and the IACP Award-winning Entertaining Light. Her latest book, Mediterranean Harvest, was published in fall 2007 by Rodale Press. To learn more about Martha, visit her website at www.martha-rose-shulman.com.

Guest Blogger Martha Rose Shulman--

There is no one Mediterranean cuisine; there are many. They include not only the cuisines of the dozen or so countries with shorelines on the Mediterranean Sea, but within those countries, the cooking of specific regions. Yet every cuisine in the Mediterranean reflects a way of eating that we refer to collectively as “The Mediterranean Diet,” a diet that is inherently healthy and very long on big flavors. Those big flavors may be at the heart of the health matter: When food is satisfying, it’s much easier to know when you’ve had enough; you don’t overeat.

I love the cooking of the Mediterranean because local produce is at the heart of it, and bread and grains (mainly wheat and rice) are its backbone. It has always been of necessity, both economic and religious, spare of meat. A typical Middle Eastern or Greek table will sparkle with vegetable dishes – salads, hummus, pureed yellow split peas, bright green fava bean puree, glistening rice-and herb-stuffed grape leaves; crispy hot spinach-filled phyllo triangles and vegetable pies, tomatoes and peppers stuffed with fragrant herb-flecked rice. Walk into a food shop along the Riviera from Nice to Genoa, and you’ll find a variety of enticing fresh salads, marinated cooked vegetables, savory tortes filled with and pizzas topped with every vegetable under the sun. Produce markets from Spain to Morocco are dazzling. Everything is fresh, everything in season, and it is all cooked in olive oil.

The widespread use of olive oil has been shown to link the Mediterranean diet with longevity. The focus on fresh produce is just as significant. We don’t yet fully understand why, but many studies have shown that the micronutrients in fruits and vegetables have a protective role against a variety of illnesses, including several types of cancer, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s, and other chronic diseases.

Moderate consumption of red wine, too, has been shown to be associated with a lowered risk of coronary artery disease. The way in which wine is consumed in the Mediterranean is significant; it is taken at meals, thus it has an association with food and with friends and family.

A Question of Lifestyle

Scientists can measure HDL and LDL cholesterol in the blood; they can assess the amount of monounsaturated fat and saturated fat in a person’s diet; they can count calories and record their source. What is a little more elusive is the manner in which food is consumed, and the effect this may have on one’s overall health, both physical and spiritual. Mediterranean food is meant to be savored. It’s not supposed to be scarfed down in the car. Its far-reaching flavors have the effect of slowing you down. Enjoying food in the presence of other people, at a table, with or without wine but with the pleasure of company, has got to be good for your health.

Related:

Mediterranean Diet Is Rich In Antioxidants And Low In Harmful Fats

Rosemary Kills Childhood Cancer Cells

Hummus

Update on Mar 31, 2008 by At Basil & Spice

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