Mediterranean Diet: A Myth

According to modern-day culinary mythology, there is a nutritional system known as the Mediterranean Diet, and it goes something like this: whole gardens full of vegetables, glorious fruit straight from the tree, copious quantities of grains and legumes, very little meat or animal fat, an abundance of just-caught seafood (simply grilled or roasted, then dressed in delicate olive oil and scattered with fresh herbs), a bit of crusty homemade bread, a bit of wine -- everything fresh and bright and perfect, and in admirable moderation.

That's a very attractive idea, of course. But in truth, it sounds more the way people eat at Chez Panisse or Spago than the way they eat, and have traditionally eaten, in the Mediterranean, or at least in the part of the Mediterranean.

The so-called "Riviera" region that extends from Nice across the border into Italy and along the coast of Liguria, past Genoa, all the way to the Gulf of La Spezia and the Tuscan border has traditionally been a poor one. The single most important source of nourishment in the mountains for those who worked the land was probably the chestnut tree. Chestnuts were dried, then reconstituted in broth or milk as a kind of soup, or were ground into a flour that could be used to extend white flour (which was imported and expensive) in breads and pasta dough.

The favored seafood, for those who could afford it, was not fresh tuna but stockfish, the long-lasting air-dried cod (a little of which went a long way) imported from Norway. In fact, much of the food consumed, even by the wealthy, was preserved: dried fish, dried fruit and vegetables, dried pasta, olives and vegetables pickled or marinated in oil, cured ham and sausages.

Moderation was imposed by insufficiency and by the dietary laws of the Catholic Church (mandating periods of fasting and of abstinence from meat and other animal products), not elected as a secular moral -- or nutritional -- choice. Pork products, organ meats, cheese and eggs were all used enthusiastically when they could be obtained (and were permitted). Those who could afford it were gourmands; the ideal in 19th-Century Nice, for instance, was to be able to eat a crepa pansa -- until you had to unbutton your waistcoat.

If all this is true, then what is Mediterranean diet all about? The respective name given to the diet doesn't suit it at all.

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