In recent years we have become used Cialis Jelly to the expression the Mediterranean diet; however the expression was actually coined by a Harvard Professor Dr Willett. It described a diet prevalent in Southern Europe in Spain, Greece, Crete and Southern Italy in the sixties. It was characterized by a high level of plant food, little red meat and lots of fish and salads. The principal fat is olive oil and there is a lot of cheese, pulses and yoghurt eaten for protein. Basically the total fat content eaten is less than a quarter of the food intake a substantially smaller amount than in America.

However there is no such thing as a Mediterranean diet, the food of North Italy for instance is representative of the food of North Europe as Northern Italy is next to the Austrian empire; they eat a lot of wheat products and little pasta. In the South pizzas and pasta prevails and the people and food are separated by a chasm almost as wide as the Med and that describes the characteristics of only one of the 23 countries that straddle the Med.

In Spain the classic dish is the Paella a one pot Gypsy food brought by the Moors. There are as many recipes for Paella as the people of Spain. Each region has its own specialty and the only thing that unites them is the fact that they all contain short grain rice. The paella of Valencia is made from large seafood and traditionally does not contain meat. Whilst the paella of Andalucia has seafood, white fish and either pork, rabbit or chicken in it.

The Eastern shores of the Mediterranean, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey and North Africa have another dish that is popular, hummus. Hummus is a chick pea dip laced with loads of olive oil, garlic and lemon juice, though in some areas it is enriched with tahini a paste made of lightly roasted sesame seeds.

Again this reflects the Arab influence as hummus is the Arabic word for chickpeas; it is served with traditional flat breads to scoop up the fragrant paste. Some areas of the Lebanon and Syria add roasted red pepper, or spinach and Sumac a Middle Eastern Spice.

Another popular Mediterranean food is pasta and it is served over a very wide area. Italy does not have the monopoly on pasta the Greeks have a delightful dish made called Pastistio. However Kamagra jelly the classic comfort food has to be Spaghetti and meatballs I mean what is there not to love about spaghetti and meatballs?

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Category: Food and Drink
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