The Classic Mediterranean Cookbook [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION The countries of the Mediterranean enjoy a cuisine rooted deep in classical traditions. This, after all, was the sea crisscrossed by the Minoans, Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans, as each built their empires. Then came the Arabs, with their love for gardens and fruits. For centuries the countries bordering this bountiful sea may have suffered under conquering armies, but they also found themselves on major trade routes. The cooks traveling with these armies and courts brought new ideas for the kitchen. The fish soups that are now found throughout the region are credited to the Greeks, while Arabs taught the Sicilians to make water ices. There is even a theory, hotly disputed, that the Romans were introduced to the art of pasta making by the Chinese. With the precious cargoes from the East and India arrived exciting new foods to supplement the basic crops of wheat, olives, and grapes; not just spices, but citrus fruits, melons, eggplant, peaches, and pomegranates. And if the discovery of the New World at the end of the 15 th century led to a collapse in the old trading empires, it did not halt the flow of new ingredients carried back by the different armies - tomatoes, peppers, and beans being some of the most important introductions. The Mediterranean region has always enjoyed a cross-fertilization of culinary ideas, and the gastronomic borders are still blurred. In Sicily you can eat a fish couscous that bears a remarkable similarity to that served over the water in Tunisia; you can enjoy figs baked in honey in Provence just as well as in Greece. And if there are similarities, there are also constants — wherever you are in the Mediterranean, you will find olives, bread, lemons, herbs, and spices. For wherever those seafaring cooks landed, they found similar growing conditions. Long hot summers and dry winters mean that, despite its apparent lushness in spring, this has always been a harsh region for farmers. As a result, the Mediterranean diet, lacking rich butter, cream, and meat-based dishes, is often described as austere, even sober. To me it is anything but that. Looking at the riot of color in the markets, the bunches of glossy green herbs, the vibrant shades of the fruit, I am instead struck by the abundance of the region. Even in the middle of the arid summer, away from the crowded tourist beaches, the air is heavy with the scent of the herbs growing wild on the hillsides. The life of the Mediterranean lies in the mountains that rise above the pine groves, in the small hilltop villages and particularly in the busy cities that ring its shore. It is here that you will still find the