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Flavours of the Mediterranean
By
Olivier Baussan and Jean-Marie Meulien
The
food pyramid, for decades a pillar of American nutrition,
has been shoved aside in favor of the Mediterranean diet,
by many dietitians and physicians celebrated to be the healthiest
diet in the world. It's all about the olive oil, about whole
grains, some dairy (think Greek yogurt) and drinking a glass
of wine with your meal.
Olive
oil can actually lower harmful LDL cholesterol and in Mediterranean
countries there are much fewer deaths of heart disease;
but even if you don't care about the healthful aspects of
food and simply want to indulge, Mediterranean flavors,
from Nice and Barcelona to Athens and Naples, are deliciously
inventive. Olive oil specialist Olivier Baussan and chef
Jean-Marie Meulien have written a gorgeously illustrated
book with recipes using olive oil to create meze, tapas,
antipasti and tasty main courses like confit of rabbit thighs
with fennel and garlic. Try the baked fennel with saffron,
gratin of Swiss chard on a chestnut cake or the sweet tomato
pie. For dessert there's figs in orange wine with Verbena
granita; or apple and red currant crumble with lavender
flowers.
Some
of the ingredients might be a little hard to come by such
as quail eggs, putargue, Ligurian asparagus or chestnut
flour. But we trust that as a true foodie you're pretty
inventive. Also, as a consolation, at least you do not have
to figure out what wine to pair with these rustic flavors.
Each dish has a fine suggestion at them bottom of the page.
(Updated: 12/04/08 SB) |
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