Mediterranean food

•Emphasis on variety of minimally processed and seasonally fresh locally grown food •Olive oil, grains spaghetti, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nut oils and less red meat are consum

Mediterranean food

•Three continents (Europe, Asia, Africa), 15 countries

•Dry hot summers and cool pleasant winter

•Staples are wheat and rice

•Olive groves, fig trees, vineyard, almonds, walnuts, lemons, apricots, etc are characteristic of local produce

•Traditional Mediterranean diet

derives 40% of total daily

calories from fat yet, people

have low incidence of chronic

diseases and high life

expectancy rates.

•Emphasis on variety of

minimally processed and

seasonally fresh locally grown

food

•Olive oil, grains (spaghetti),

fruits, vegetables, legumes, nut

oils and less red meat are

consumed Plus fish was eaten a

few times a week (Omega-3

fatty acids) Moderate

consumption of wine (1-2 cups

per day) and cheese

Healthy Food Habits

Olives

•The first olive tree sprung in the

greater Mediterranean basin

•Greece was the first to started

cultivation of Olive tree in 3500BC

(Crete island)

•Olive tree became a symbol in

ancient Greece and olive oil used not

only for its valuable nutritional

quality but also for medicinal

purpose.

•Olive tree branch was awarded to

Olympic game winner along with

olive oils – 5 tons for the first place.

• Beauty oil-body’s cells incorporate the fatty acids from oil, making arteries more supple and skin more lustrous

• Many herbs and spices added to olive oil to prevent it from being oxidized and improve its flavor (negative affect olive oil: garlic, onion, peppers, peels of acidic citrus fruit)

Three Culinary regions

• North Africa (Morrocco: spices

boldly flavors food)

• Eastern Mediterranean (Egypt,

Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Syria,

and Turkey)

• Southern European (Italy,

France, Spain: wine and herb are

central)

Egyptian dinning

Primary Mediterranean

climate, alpine climate

in far north and hot and

dry in the south

Cooking of Italy

• Is the cooking of regions, each has distinct its style and cultural (only after

1861 these regions were became Italy)

• Two dominant aspects of landscape: Mountain and Sea Long growing season permit lush profusion of fruit and vegetables

• Basic difference between north and south (by

geography and historical reasons)

Italian have continuous conscious intensive attention

to growing vegetables

• First agricultural books were written by

Romans

• Local specialty: best asparagus, spinach

(better than French which is better than

American), rice was so good that was

smuggled illegally out of the country by

Thomas Jefferson; plum tomato was

re-imported to U.S; Italian names of

vegetables: broccoli, zucchini, fava

beans, tender tasty peas (petits pois was

named by French by was from Italy);

• Because of good quality vegetables,

cooking veg Is a simplest treatment

The food of Italy is a function of the history of Italy

North: prosperous, fertile,

industrialized and affluent; using

butter as cooking fat, flat fresh

noodles made with eggs are favorite

form of pasta; veal is male calf

(female kept for milking); more and

better coffee; more meat dishes;

South: parched, sparsely settled and

historically poorer; using olive oil

(cheaper), dried tubular pastas like

spaghetti and macaroni, more

robust and highly seasoned; veal is

female calf, male kept as drafting

animal; drink 1/5 of coffee that

northerner does; fish dishes;

Foundations of Italian cooling are

the three customs:

Etruscans (the north)

Greeks (the south)

Origin of the three main influences

Etruscans: 3 theories:

(1) Entered Italy from some

unspecified territory to the

north

(2) it has always been there

(migrate from nowhere)

(3) From Lydia (similar religions)

Greeks and

Saracens: came from east end of

Mediterranean where

countries shared the same

general type of cooking

Trademark food and

foreign influences

• Etruscans: polenta – a mush made from grain like

porridge or crumbly cake (in northern Italy once

occupied by Etruscans)

• Greek: fish chowder now called brodetto

• Saracens: Millefoglie, rice, ice cream and sherbet

(learned from Hindus who learned from Chinese),

drying fruit, meat drying and salting

• America: contributed to new material-tomato, maize, turkey, potato, peanut, vanilla, chocolate, Virginia strawberry, string bean, pumpkin, Jerusalem artichoke

• Normans: salt cod

Tuscany: the heart of Italy

• Purest Italy cooking

• Great attention paid to high quality

raw material

• Simple and avoid unnecessary

complications

• Beef: heaviest and tallest breed in

the world-named Chianina

• Beans: appears in every stage of

the meal except desert: soup, with

beef, fish, vegetables, side dishes,

etc

• Chianti: wine

Bologna: northern center

• One of the flattest and fertile part of mountainous Italy (best Asparagus, cherries)

• Richest food (Bologna the fat)

• Veal

• delicate pasta: Tagliatelle, tortellino, Lasagne,

cappelletti (the hat)-fresh made with eggs

• ham : Parma ham (more later)

• Sausages: mortadella (made of finely hashed/ground heat-cured pork sausage which incorporates at least 15% small cubes of pork fat (principally the hard fat from the neck of the pig) It is delicately flavored with spices, including whole or ground black peppers,

myrtle berries, nutmeg, coriander and pistachios)

• Cheese: parmesan cheese (the husband of Italy

cooking).

• Vinegar: aceto Balsamico (herbs perfumed vinegar)

Parma Ham

• Parma ham is a type of dry-cured ham from the Parma region of Italy It is one of the

most well-known varieties of prosciutto crudo, an uncooked ham

• Parma ham is cured in Parma because of the unique geography of the place, which ensure constant gentle breezes coming across the hills More than two-hundred curing facilities are found in Parma, and all the world’s Parma ham is made there

• Parma ham begins its life as a Duroc or Landrance pig, the only breeds which are allowed to be turned into Parma ham They are fed on full cereal diets, often enriched with whey to give them added calcium The pigs are sent to butchered and sent to the curing house at about 26-30 pounds (12-14kg) They’re then trimmed down to the classic ham leg shape The ham skin is then wet salted, and the flesh itself is dry salted, and the entire leg is hung in a refrigerator for about a week at between 34 and

39 degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 4 degrees Celsius), with humidity of around 80%.

• At the end of the week, the excess salt is brushed off, and the Parma ham is put through a round of quality control, where experts appraise the scent and texture of the ham Ham that makes it through this quality control is salted again, and placed in another cold chamber, this time at 34 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) with humidity of 60% The ham remains in this chamber for two weeks

• Next, the Parma ham is rested It is placed in a chamber with humidity of 75%

between 34 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 5 degrees Celsius) and left there for eight weeks or so The hams are then rinsed with warm water, to get rid of most of the excess salt When they’ve dried, they are placed in the actual curing chambers, where they will remain for three more months The curing chambers are not artificially cooled or humidified, and are at the whim of nature to dictate how the ham cures, assisted a bit by people opening and closing windows to regulate the temperature as best they can.

• During this penultimate curing the Parma ham is also covered in a mixture called suino, which contains salt and pepper, lard, and occasionally a bit of ground up rice This keeps flies off of the meat, and stops it from drying too quickly Coating the meat is all done by hand, and there are scores of workers whose job consists solely of dipping their fingers in the lard pots and reapplying the mixture.

• Finally, the Parma ham is moved into a cellar, where it will finish curing in the dark They’ll stay in the dark for a year or more, before being tested for final quality, and ultimately branded with a seal of approval Parma ham in Europe is usually sold on the bone, where it will keep maturing and becomes even more delicate over time For export, however, it is usually stripped and packed, making it somewhat rougher in texture.

Venice and the Northeast

• Austrian, German, Hungarian, Slavic, Balkan, and tourist influences

• Herbs and spices; food are colorful

• Known for scampi (preparing breaded seafood with butter and

Genoa and Liguria

• Herbs and vegetables are basic to the local cuisine (little spices) “result of sailor’s yawning for fresh green

foods when they return home”

• Pesto sauce (from basil and cheese)

• Staple food is from sea: mussels, clams (sea truffle-eaten raw with lemon juice), varieties of fish

(dolphin)

• Ravioli (rubbish or leftover)

• Cappon magro (sea food and veg Salad)

Milan and Lombardy

• Slow cooking over a low

steady fire (hearty meal before

or after opera)

• Wheat, millet, barley,

sorghum, rice are staple

• Plenty of pasture land

produces butter, cheese:

Gorgonzola (creamy), Bel

Paese (soft), mascarpone

(fresh cream cheese); branzi and taleggio (soft, runny),

crescenza, robiola,

Milan and Lombardy-continue

• Ossobuco: veal shank

• Panettone: egg-yellow

cake

• Stufato (beef stew)

• Risotto alla milanese: rice dish

• Mostarda (fruit with

syrup) and torrone

(almond flavored dessert)

Naples and the Deep

South

• Culinary capital of the south

• Pizza (27 different kinds), macaroni, spaghetti

• Classical pizza is a disk of rough leavened

dough, saturated with olive oil, and filled with diced mozzarella cheese (buffalo milk), bits of fresh tomato or tomato paste, oregano (or basil

or other herbs), an usually anchovy fillets

(sometime garlic is added)

• Wheat, maize, millet, oyster cultivation

• Favor vegetables are tomatoes, eggplant,

artichokes, and peppers.

• Fish stews or vegetable soup with pasta (inland areas)

• Sweets: sfogliatelle (cream or chocolate or jam inside), babá (rum cake), ice creams

The islands

• Sicily: a mountainous island; Sardinia: a rolling land of low hills

• Staple: pasta and bread and imaginative efforts

to make a little go a long way

• Tuna and swordfish, and other all kinds of fish, shell fish; anchovy is a favor

• sheep, wine, beef, pork and lamb (not much meat in Sicilian’s diet though)

• Corda : sheep tripe grilled or stewed with peas and beans

• Casu marzu: rotten cheese (worm filled)

• Fiore sardo: Sardinian’s preferred cheese (from Sardinian sheep)

• Pasta con sarde (pasta with sardines), farsu magru (beef or veal roll stuffed with hard

broiled eggs and spices), caponata (eggplant with tomato sauce)

Three key techniques for

preparing base

• Battuto: comes from the verb battere, means

“to strike” Cut-up (finely) mixture of

ingredients such as lard, parsley, onion,

garlic, celery, carrot, etc.

• Soffritto: Battuto is sautéed in a pot or skillet until onion becomes translucent (first into

pot) and garlic (second) becomes colored a pale gold.

• Insaporire:”bestowing taste” It adds usually vegetables, which is critical ingredient in

most first courses to the soffritto until they are completely coated with the flavor of the base May also include grounded meat

• Balsamic vinegar: specialty in the province of

Modena (north of Bologna), use sparingly, a few drops on the top for final touch

• Basil for pesto;

• Bay leaves in pasta sauces for preserved foods,

marinades meat for barbecue

• Beans: soup

• Bottarga: roe of the female thin-lipped gray mullet, which has been extracted with its membrane intact, salted, lightly pressed, washed and dried in the sun

It is spicy and briny, added to green salad, boiled cannellini, or serve as appetizer on thin, toasted

rounds of buttered bread with a slice of cucumber, grated and tossed in pasted (never cooked)

Components (continue)

• Bread crumbs: made from good stale bread

with nothing added, very dry and gummy,

tossed in pasta

• Broth: used for risotto, soups, braising meat

and vegetables Made principally meat and

some bones veal, beef, chicken)

• Capers: in sauces for pasta, meat, fish, in

stuffing's

• Fontina: unpasteurized milk of cows that

graze on mountain meadows in the Alpine

region of Italy that adjoins France and

Switzerland Melting in fonduta, over

gratinéed asparagus, bind a slice of

proscuotto to a sautéed scallop of veal

• Garlic

• Marjoram: herb (sweet pine and citrus

flavor) used in pasta sauce, savory pies,

stuffed vegetables, seafood salad

• Mortadella: sausage

• Dried porcini mushrooms

• Proscutto: salted and air cured hog’s thigh

or ham

• Radicchio: bright-red veg

• Radicchietto: small/young greens

• rice

Components (continue)

• Rocotta: recooked cheese

• Romano cheese: from sheep milk, sharp and pungent

• Tuna

• Veal scaloppine

Pesto Stuffed Potatoes

Mushroom Risotto

Sea Bass filet

• http://www.mediterraneandiet.gr/oliveoilhistory.html

• http://www.trincoll.edu/~jvillani/Mediterranean.htm

• http://www.cuisinenet.com/glossary/med.html

• Hazan, M., 2003: Essential of Classic Italian Cooking

Alfred A Knopf, New York, pp688.

• Root, W., 1971: The Food of Italy Atheneum, New York, pp750.

• Root, W., 1974: The Cooking of Italy Time-Life, New York, pp208.