MEDITERRANEAN FOOD

SUSTAINABILITY IS SERVED
ANCIENT
ROMAN
EMPIRE
 DIET From the greek word δίαιτα
Diet means LIFESTYLE
Lifestyle includes the food you eat and the sports
you play
 FEATURES OF
Mediterranean Diet Dutch Diet
• Discovered in 1951 by Ancel Keys, • It is simple and straightforward, with
interested in the healthy way of eating in many vegetables and little meat;
Italy. breakfast and lunch are typically
• He discovered the TRIAD (for which bread with toppings while dinner is
this diet is particularly healthy). meat and potatoes, supplemented
Based on with seasonal vegetables.
wheat olive oil wine

• It contrast with another way of eating, the

“germanic” diet, typical of Northern Europe.
This diet had its own triad: meat, butter and milk.
 A BIT OF HISTORY…
ITALIAN
•Mediterranean diet comes from ancient times;
the Italian peninsula was divided into Roman and
Greek territories.
•Greek people built colonies in South Italy and
brought here their traditions and foods (like oil)
and mixed these with the other population that
was in Italy Romans
• Using laws, Romans improved the agriculture
(in particular cereal production) and shared to the
neighboring tribes the way to grow up
vineyards.
•They extended commercial trades and they
brought their products to other people living in
the northern Europe, in the northern part of
Africa and in some west parts of Asia.
DUTCH
•In the 12th and 13th century the Low Countries
(consists of the Netherlands, Belgium and
Luxembourg) diet consisted of milk, beer, water, root
vegetable, peas or grain and sometimes a piece of
meat. The content changed throughout the seasons.
This is still the main diet in The Netherlands.
•In the 17th century, the golden age, other dishes
became available to the wealthy middle class as the
Netherlands became richer. Those dishes often
consisted of a rich variety of fruits, cheeses, meat,
wine and nuts.
•The Dutch East Indian Company was the first one to
import coffee on a large scale to Europe. The
availability of relative cheaper spices resulted in a
tradition of spiced cookies called ‘speculaas’.
 MEDITERRANEAN
DIET
• it promotes social interaction
• it is based on respect for the territory and on
biodiversity
• it guarantees the conservation and the
development of traditional trades and
professions associated with fishing and
agriculture in Mediterranean communities
According to the definition by FAO:
• food models that have a low environmental
impact
• contribute to the security of food
• promote a healthy lifestyle for the current
and future generations
• respect biodiversity and ecosystems
are sustainable

Mediterranean diet has been recognized as one of the most sustainable food models in numerous
occasions; in fact it uses a lots of vegetables and cereals and prefers fresh, local and seasonal
products. This products are cooked according to traditional recipes. For this reasons the
Mediterranean diet reduces the environmental impact and the production in conservatories.
 Ancient Roman
CEREAL PRODUCTION and Greek thought
it was a gift of the
goddess of the
• Ancient people in the Mediterranean area took the 80% of calories from harvests Demeter
the use of cereals.
• The most cultivated was the barley, that doesn’t require heavy rains and a
long time of germination. It’s the most fast in ripening, less exposed to
diseases, it can thrive up to 1500 m above sea level and it can tolerate cold
and warm weather.

• Then, they cultivated wheat, that requires more rich soil. It can grow up
with the rainfall or the irrigation, but it’s more exposed to diseases. Its
cultivation couldn’t be done in all the places, but only in specific areas
(Campania and Po valley).

• Spelt was also cultivated and it became very important in the Republican
Age in Rome.

• Mile was used in extreme cases, when there had been a bad harvest,
because it could be seed in spring or summer and it was very drought
resistant.
 THE BREAD
After the harvesting of cereals, the Romans prepared bread with them. We make the same
thing nowadays, both in Italy and in the Netherlands, baking brown bread

Panis Candidus, for Panis Sordidus, for poor Panis Furfureus, made only
rich people, made of people and made of not of bran and used by the most
sifted flour sifted floor poor people in the society.
 It comes from the Roman
VITICULTURE and Greek worship of the
god of wine Dionysus
WINE IN ROMAN SOCIETY
Only the upper classes could drink wine
Romans find out lots of useful
techniques
They harvested grapes with their hands
and they separated the ripe grapes from
the unripe one
They pressed the grapes with their feet
The must (unfermented pressed grapes)
was put into terracotta vases for the
fermentation
WINE WE MAKE TODAY
 Everyone can drink wine because it’s not
very expensive
 We use some ancient techniques still today
 The machines harvest only the ripe grapes
 The machines press the grapes
 The must is put in containers for the
fermentation and then in barrels or casks.
TRIP TO THE WINERY
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS
CONVIVIALITY
•the pleasure of spending time with others
•one of the fundamental elements of the
Mediterranean diet
•meals have become a significant ritual and
taken on a symbolic value amongst people of
ξενία
the Mediterranean. Respect for all the other
•thanks to the concept of eating together the population
cultural foundations of interpersonal
relationships are reinforced
FOOD PYRAMIDS
ITALIAN DUTCH
 FOOD IN THE
FOOD IN ITALY NETHERLANDS
•Pizza •Boerenkoolstamppot
Made of different type of flour, tomato Made with patatoes, small pieces of bacon and the
sauce and mozzarellla cheese. vegetable Boerenkool.

•Hagelslag
•Focaccia bread Eat it on the sandwich at breakfast and sometimes at
Made of different type of flour, water, lunch.
yeast. It is baked in the oven or on Invented by: B.E. Dieperink (Owner of a ‘drop’
embers. company)
Made of chocolate.
 THE END
From this experiences we discovered that the historical,
weather and social differences between the
mediterranean and the north european coutries caused
the different diet and the use of food in the populations
living today in the two areas of Europe.