A Mediterranean Feast

When we first went to the library to start our research on Mediterranean food, we were both surprised by the prominence of the words fresh, seasonal, simple, and local in many book titles.   Perhaps we shouldn’t have been so surprised.  Given our own personal interest in using local, seasonal, and fresh produce to prepare simple yet delicious food, we were naturally drawn towards a cuisine that prides itself on honouring the same values. 

There are so many things that we could say about Mediterranean cuisine, but we think it’s best to start by defining what we had in mind when we decided to focus our first series of recipes on this particular European region.  In the largest sense possible, Mediterranean cuisine refers to food produced and eaten by societies living along the Mediterranean Sea.

A map of the Mediterranean Sea

Of course, this region spans a number of different countries, touches two continents, and encompasses a number of different cultures and traditions; however, the historical similarities and trade relationships that these diverse cultures have shared over time have led to a number of culinary convergences.  

Although the term “Mediterranean food” is a contested one, it is undeniable that most Mediterranean diets share a few things in common: olive oil is often the main source of vegetable fat, yogurt and cheese intersperse the diet, and many recipes rely on fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs for their flavour base.  Moreover, just as much as generalizing about dishes presents its own set of issues, so does saying that Mediterranean flavours do not exist.  No history of food or cuisine evolves in isolation.  Food traditions are shared, altered, and interpreted in different ways across time and space.  Linking ingredients, recipes, and common traditions despite their subtle (and sometimes less than subtle) differences allows us to better understand the shared history of much of what we eat.  In many ways, food unites us and shows us the positive ways in which new encounters and cultural sharing has inevitably shaped our daily lives and appetites. 

As we navigated our way through history and recipe books, it became clear to us that we wanted to focus predominantly on Greek and Italian Mediterranean cuisine.  First, Greek and Italian flavours are quite common in Canadian (and North American) cooking and we often take the history of many common ingredients and recipes for granted.  Secondly, as we were planning the menu for our first dinner party, it occurred to us that many of the ingredients in southern Italian and Greek cooking could be found locally.  As you will soon discover, we adapted many of the Italian and Greek recipes to accommodate the types of fresh produce that were in season and available.

Two dishes we served for dinner.  Look for the recipes in our upcoming blog posts

In the next few weeks you will be reading recipes that we prepared for our dinner party.  We will present them in the order that they we served them and give you some background information about the recipes themselves and some cooking tips and tricks we discovered along the way.