Every cuisine has its signature foods and the Mediterranean diet is no exception. Mediterranean food is simple but surprisingly tasty and healthy. The health benefits of the diet are due to its nutritious, high plant content dishes which are prepared in a simple way to bring out their flavour. The added drizzle of good olive oil, squeeze of lemon juice and aromatic herbs make it even easier to enjoy! Here is an A – Z list of Mediterranean foods for some inspiration. How many of the foods listed below make it to your plate?
Artichoke
Broccoli, Broad beans, Blood oranges
Cavolo Nero, Capsicum, Chicory, Chestnuts, Chili pepper
Dandelion leaves
Eggplant, Endive, Eggs
Fennel, Figs, Fish
Garlic, Goat meat
Herbs (basil, oregano, garlic); Honey
Ice-cream (or gelato as it’s commonly referred to)
J – the original Latin alphabet contained no ‘J’.
Not surprisingly, there are no foods with the letter ‘J’!
Kale, Kohlrabi
Legumes (Borlotti, chickpeas, lentils); Lemons; Labneh, Liver
Mushroom, Mulberry, Milk (sheep, cow, goat, buffalo)
Nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, pinenuts, pistachio)
Olives, Olive oil
Purslane, Pesto, Pomegranate, Persimmon, Pasta, Polenta
Quail
Radicchio, Romano lettuce, Rocket, Rabbit
Sardines, Seeds, Spinach
Tomatoes, Tahini
Vino (sounds nicer than wine, don’t you think?)
Walnuts, Watermelon
Yoghurt
Zucchini
Enjoy!