Exploring Mediterranean Cuisine

CONCEPTS

Exploring Mediterranean Cuisine

By Nancy Backas
Contributing Editor

Some of the worlds healthiest, best-tasting and most-popular foods originated along the Mediterranean shores. If we take a journey through the areas cuisines, we see the inspiration these cuisines have offered, and will continue to offer, to Americas everevolving palate. Innumerable food and beverage products, both traditional and cutting-edge, have been inspired by Mediterranean foods and styles of cooking.

Mediterranean foods have been part of American diets since the first immigrants from that region landed on U.S. shores; but, every year we add more flavors of those cuisines to our repertoire. How do these foods figure into our panoply of foods?

A journey of flavors

The Mediterraneans long history of imperial colonization and international trade has most likely given the area its shared culture and agriculture. The climate and terrain are roughly the same throughout the region: dry, hot summers and cool, breezy winters. The area can be divided into three culinary regions: North African (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia in the West, Libya and Egypt in the East), eastern Mediterranean (Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey) and southern European (Italy, France and Spain).

Similar among these regions is a basic way of eating (which spawned the Mediterranean food pyramid) and the ingredients. All of these cuisines include an abundance of foods from plant sources, including fruits and vegetables, plus breads and grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. Olive oil is the principal fat, and the total fat consumption in the average diet ranges from 25% to 35% of calories (only 7% to 8% saturated fat). People in the region eat cheese and yogurt daily, have low to moderate weekly consumption of fish and poultry, consume zero to four eggs per week, and only eat red meat a few times per month. Fresh fruit is the dessert of choice, and sweets are eaten only a few times per week.

Basic foods in northern Africa include rice and wheat, with wheat used as bread flour and as semolina in couscous. The common meats are chicken and lamb, with some fish along the coast. Common vegetables include peppers, eggplant, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. The style of cooking is characterized by long-cooking stews called tajins or tagines, cooked in clay pots. The culinary aspect that most distinguishes this areas cuisine is the spice mixtures of cinnamon, cumin, coriander, ginger and turmeric cooked with onions and/or tomatoes, olives and salted lemons. Those in the eastern part of the region use garlic more, as well as more mint and parsley. There, elaborate spice mixtures are not as prevalent, although cumin is used widely.

The eastern Mediterranean region, which includes the area known as the Middle East, is where wheat and barley cultivation originated, along with chickpeas and fava beans. Goat and lamb are staples here. It is also the ancestral home of the olive-oil industry.

Some of these countries use sesame seed in the form of a tahini, a thick paste, and yogurt is prominent. Common preparation techniques include baking and slow cooking in ovens, as well as slow cooking in liquid. The flavors include fresh parsley, dill, mint and cinnamonthe most-used spice. Cooks use lemon juice liberally, as well as the tomato. Two flavor principles are common: the combination of tomato sauce and cinnamon (modified with lemon and dill), and a mix of lemon and parsley (augmented with garlic and mint).

Southern Mediterranean cuisines are the most recognized and most acceptable to American palates. The olive is at the center of the regions cuisine, and olive oil, from light in color, flavor and aroma to intense and fully flavored, is ubiquitous. Classic flavorings of the region include onions, garlic, parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, anchovies and a variety of nuts, including pine nuts, almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts.

In Italy, the marriage of olive oil and tomato is central, and the basic grain is wheat in the form of pasta and bread. Italians consume more beef, veal and pork than people from other countries in the region, and foods commonly contain a combination of olive oil, garlic and parsley, often with anchovy added.

In southern France, cooks use garlic liberally. The regions unique, signature flavor, a combination of thyme, rosemary, marjoram and sage,called herbes de Provence, is used primarily for grilling meats and fish.

Spain sits just across the Straits of Gibraltar from Morocco, so its cuisine shows that influence. Spain differs from the rest of the region in its frequent use of nuts (almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts) and fruits (especially orange and pomegranate). The Spanish brought both the tomato and the bell pepper from the New World to the Mediterranean, where the ingredients have become central.

The Mediterranean diet

Part of the evolution of any cultures way of eating is modifying dishes as new ingredients and styles of cooking emerge. Mediterranean cuisine continues to evolve, given the influx of foods from the United States and parts of Europe. Yet the movement, albeit mostly an American movement, to encourage people to eat more healthfully via the classic Mediterranean way, a style of eating that is really an ancient way of eating, is strong today.

I noticed a trend toward what Ill call technofoods in the early 80s when low fat was the big deal. That was before we discovered that olive oil was a good fat. Even the government made that error, says Dun Gifford, founder, Oldways Preservation Trust, Boston. We cooked up the idea of the Mediterranean diet, a more-traditional way of eating. It was a wonderful coming together of a number of threads, and it was a huge success.

Gifford and Oldways are credited with developing the Mediterranean diet pyramid. The pyramid is based on the dietary traditions of Crete, much of the rest of Greece and southern Italy circa 1960. Variations have traditionally existed in other parts of Italy, parts of Spain and Portugal, southern France, parts of North Africa (especially Tunisia and Morocco), parts of Turkey and parts of the Middle East.

Gifford credits Oldways for helping change the way Americans think about food. When the low-carb craze seized the nation in 2004, the organization took the approach of hitting the low-carb proponents where they concentrated their effort: the glycemic index. We showed that pasta has the same glycemic index as a pear, and then we went and looked at what happens when you put tomato sauce on pasta, then when you add wine, cheese and meat or fish on top.

What we showed was that a pasta meal with all those elements is the perfect meal, a nutritionists dream. The Washington Post then did a story touting exactly what Oldways found, calling it Pasta Fights Back.

Claudia K. Probart, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Nutritional Science, Penn State University, University Park, PA, thinks the Mediterranean diet sends people on the right road. Americans will never stop looking for a magic pill or diet that lets them eat anything they want, skip exercise and still be fit, and live forever. But the Mediterranean diet is, I think, the closest to that magic we have. It is a peasant diet filled with vegetables and grains, with some fish and poultry. And the benefits of olive oil continue to be found, she says. It could fit into the American way of eating, but we have to search carefully to find the high-quality ingredients that are plentiful in the Mediterranean.

Expanding concepts

Italian, still the best-known Mediterranean cuisine, has evolved since it was first introduced to this country. John Malloy, executive chef, Olive Garden, Orlando, FL, watched this evolution of Italian food since his childhood in New Jersey. When I was growing up, there was first just Italian, then it was Northern Italian, then it was Tuscan. In Italy, food doesnt just change from region to region, it changes from town to town.

Olive Garden was perhaps one of the first restaurants to bring relatively authentic Italian flavors to the masses. Ingredients such as balsamic vinegar and portobello mushrooms were all but unknown two decades ago. And the restaurant chain is still introducing new flavors. We are careful not to introduce too many new items in one dish. If we are going to introduce something new, well pair it with something common, Malloy says. If we want to introduce saffron, well do a saffron risotto with just a small amount of saffron.

Italian is not the only Mediterranean cuisine finding a niche in the United States. Greek food has branched out of the corner ethnic restaurant into college campus cafeterias, quick-service concepts and fast casual. Kronos Foods, Inc., Chicago, has a branded dining concept, the Greek Odyssey Café and Suddenly Greek, that includes plug-in programs with promotion materials, along with built-in menus.

Eastern Mediterranean foods are finding a place in American dining as well, with concepts like the Pita Inn, Chicago; Pika Pita, Alexandria, VA; and Neyla, Washington, D.C. These establishments serve hummus, tabbouleh, falafel and chicken shawarma, and introduce flavors such as sumac and ras el hanout to a new crowd. All of these cuisines add new vitality to American eating.

Oil of choice

At the center of all Mediterranean food is olive oil. Its one of the hottest foods today, praised both for its culinary properties and for its health profile. Originally, olive oil, historically considered a Mediterranean peasant food, was not part of refined cuisine. It is now known by average consumers as a healthy oil. In 2004, it even won FDAs approval with the qualified health claim, Limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about 2 tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the monounsaturated fat in olive oil.

Virgin olive oils, including extra-virgin and virgin types, are obtained from the fruit of the olive tree by only mechanical or physical methods that do not alter the resulting oil. The olives are only washed and pressed, and the oil is decanted, centrifuged and filtered. Olive oil has three distinctions. Extra-virgin olive oil, the so-called cold-pressed olive oil, results from the first pressing of the olives and has an acidity (due to free fatty acids and measured as oleic acid) of not more than 0.8 per 100 grams. It is the fruitiest of the olive oils, and most expensive, and can range in color from greenish gold to bright green, depending on the chlorophyll and carotenoid content. The next designation, virgin olive oil, also a first-press oil, has a higher acidity of not more than 2 grams per 100 grams. Fino, or fine, olive oil is a blend of extra-virgin and virgin oils.

Ordinary olive oil, labeled simply olive oil, contains a combination of refined olive oil and virgin or extra-virgin olive oils. The newest product, light olive oil, has the same amount of beneficial monounsaturated fats as any other olive oil and the same number of calories, but because of a fine filtration, has little of the flavor. It works well for baking and cooking where the flavor of olive oil is less desirable. The International Olive Oil Council, Madrid, Spain, recommends using the light olive oil for frying since the flavors of the more-expensive oils break down with high heat. Regular olive oils are best for salads and light to medium heating.

Infused olive oils have just begun to show up on shelves and let consumers add flavor to dishes without having to understand or obtain more-unusual ingredients. Olive oil can be found infused with basil, walnuts, garlic, rosemary, Meyer lemons and blood oranges.

Malloy says using infused oils as ingredients in his restaurants helps him cut costs while keeping the flavors authentic. While not yet on the menu, he envisions being able to introduce the flavor of white truffles to Olive Garden patrons by using infused white-truffle oil in his dishes. The ingredient is still expensive, but its less expensive than white truffles.

A richness of cheeses

The distinct cheeses from the Mediterranean derive from cow, sheep and goat milk, and from buffalo milk in Italy. The more-common cheeses from the Mediterranean are the Italian types: mozzarella, Parmesan, Asiago, fontina, provolone and Romano. Feta cheese from Greece has also become very much a part of American dishes. Less common are cheeses from Spain and the Middle East, and the hard cheeses from Greece.

Much controversy in Europe has surrounded feta cheese, since the Greeks want to maintain proprietary status for the cheese and some countries in the European Union, such as France and Bulgaria, produce a feta-like cheese. In 2002, Greece won the right to own the name feta. Its not really an issue in the United States where American feta is also produced.

Feta cheese, categorized as a soft cheese, is made with sheeps milk or a combination of sheeps and goats milk in Greece and in other countries. Some countries, including the United States, produce a feta that is made with cows milk, but it does not have the same distinct, earthy flavor. Newer feta products include feta flavored with herbs, crumbled or cubed, sometimes packaged in olive oil. Often for American tastes, feta cheese is rinsed in water to remove the brine, resulting in a much-blander flavor. Feta cheese often appears in frozen spinach pies, phyllo cheese triangles and on Greek-style pizza products.

While Americans are familiar with Italian cheeses, authentic Italian-style cheeses are relatively recent. Real Parmigiano-Reggiano is aged a minimum of 24 months, and cheese-makers traditionally use milk from cows that have grazed only on hay or grass. This authentic cheese shows up in prepared pasta dishes, atop pizzas and in artisan breads. The Parmesan cheese that most Americans know is a much-different product and flavor. Buffalo mozzarella, derived from buffalo milk, is a fresh, stringy-textured cheese with a porcelain-white color. When cut, it releases a white, watery milk. It is produced in large, round shapes, but also in small, bite-sized shapes and in braids. Buffalo mozzarella has made its way onto American restaurant menus in simple layered salads of sliced Roma tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil, all drizzled with olive oil.

Italian cheeses that are less common, but showing up more on American menus, especially in restaurants and specialty cheese stores, include pepato (semihard cheese with whole black peppercorns often eaten by itself with crackers as an appetizer), Gorgonzola (blueveined cheese with a full, earthy flavor sometimes seen in pasta dishes and salads), fontina (semisoft cheese with a sweet, buttery flavor; it melts well and has been appearing on some pizza products) and mascarpone (naturally light and sweet soft cheese, most familiar to Americans because of the popularity of tiramisu).

Some American cheese companies have begun to produce cheeses that fairly match their Mediterranean counterparts, even inventing new cheeses. For example, Roth Käse, Monroe,WI, came up with a new cheese, a combination of Asiago, known for its tangy sharpness, and fontina, a mellow cheese with good meltability, called Fontiago. Fontiago is not made by anyone else. It took us four years to develop it and we went through a lot of trials to make sure we could get both the flavor and the meltability, says Stephen McKeon, president, Roth Käse. There is a real interest in all Italian cheeses now.

McKeon says they introduced Fontiago into the foodservice market first, an unusual move. But his company believes that if chefs accept the product, its easier to sell to a retail audience who already like the cheese theyve tasted in restaurants. A case in point is the Italian smoked mozzarella cheese Olive Garden restaurants introduced in a promotion in December 2005 for its Smoked Mozzarella Fonduta, an appetizer of baked cheesesincluding smoked mozzarella listed firstserved with Tuscan bread. Roth Käse also supplies other Italian-style cheeses including fontina and Rofumo, a naturally smoked melting and snacking cheese. McKeon says his products are good representatives of Italian cheeses, but often in a format that is easier to handle in the U.S. market, such as Gorgonzola crumbles or Fontiago shreds.

Other cheeses that might find their way into American diets include Greek kasseri and kefalotiri. Kasseri, a semi-hard and slightly crumbly ewes and goats milk cheese, has a tart flavor and underlying hint of olive and sweetness. It is used to make saganaki, or flaming cheese. Kefalotiri, made from ewes or goats milk cheese, has a salty, piquant taste and rich aroma. Spain has a vast array of goats and ewes milk cheeses, not yet well known in the states, with the exception of Manchego, an aged semi-cured ewes milk cheese with a slightly piquant and nutty, rather intense, flavor and crumbly texture. Most Americans havent discovered Middle Eastern cheeses, except in Arab-American markets. They include ackawi (a soft, white cows milk cheese native to Lebanon and Syria primarily used as a table cheese), jibneh arabieh (a simple cheese with an open texture and milk flavor popular in Egypt), and kenafa, (an unsalted, very fresh, soft cheese that melts easily and finds use in a popular cheesecake-type dessert of the same name and could work in other dessert applications).

New products to watch

The biggest challenge for food manufacturers is to try to develop Mediterranean products that are both acceptable to the American public and as close to authentic as possible. Sometimes, those two goals are at cross purposes. On the one hand, the appeal and healthful properties depend on freshness and authenticity. On the other hand, Americans dont always want what is authentically flavored and are looking for convenience, which doesnt always translate into fresh.

Malloy thinks products like white balsamic vinegar and infused oils are great examples of products that work. He also emphasizes the simplicity of Italian food, that fewer ingredients are better. Olive oil, he says, is one ingredient that used to be unacceptable in any quantity. Now its so popular that it will drive costs up, he says.

Gifford thinks that food manufacturers of packaged foods should start with better ingredients to mimic the Mediterranean. If a food producer is going to do a frozen packaged lasagna, then they need to start with a good-quality pasta, he says. The difference in cost is low, but the quality difference is great. He also touts the idea of combining packaged foods with fresh, what has been called speed scratch. Real pizza, he suggests, presents a terrific option for this concept by packaging ingredients separately in one package to make it more authentic and healthful.

One collection of innovative products recently introduced by Barilla America, Bannockburn, IL, is a concept of two jars packaged together to make one authentic sauce. The sauces come packed in unique hourglassshaped dual jars that contain two sauces, each prepared separately to allow the fresh ingredients to maintain their integrity, quality and flavor. The bottom jar contains the base sauce made from a blend of tomatoes and olive oil. The top jar holds the chefs recipe sauce, which might be pesto or red wine and Pecorino Romano, ricotta or Parmesan cheeses. When consumers mix the two jars together in a saucepan and heat the mixture, the only cooking necessary, they create a fresh sauce.

Flavor technologists are often plied with the task of coming up with products that have this fresh appeal, and often walk the fine line between authenticity and acceptability. Emily Slusher, Technochef, Firmenich, Inc., Plainsboro, NJ, often comes up with a number of flavor combinations for clients who arent quite sure what they want. They start with the most authentic, and then often modify for marketability. She sees lemon, olive oil, parsley and rosemary, along with oregano and basil, as popular Mediterranean flavors today. Companies might be looking at Lebanese combinations of coriander, cumin and paprika and Moroccan spice blends like ras al hanout, but most are not yet ready to commit to using those flavors in products. We might start with five or six different combinations and then make revisions to conform to the American palate, she notes. We usually come to some middle point.

Some ingredients help communicate the fresh concept better then others. As far as freshness goes, we have a lot of citrus technology in our company and a line of nature products called Natureprint that uses a SPME (solid phase microextraction) patented technology that can accurately capture, identify and reconstitute natures aromatic secrets, says Slusher.

Another new technology that helps preserve freshness is freezing vegetables with a reduced water content so that when brought back up to temperature, the products lose less water and thus have a stronger, fresher taste and intense color. Gilroy Foods, Gilroy, CA, offers a line of controlled-moisture vegetables that includes red, green and yellow bell peppers; Roma tomatoes; green and yellow zucchini; and onions. Company testing shows that the controlled-moisture, fire-roasted red bell peppers, for example, have a thaw loss of 20% versus 40% for a comparable individually quick-frozen (IQF) item.

Sometimes, the newest products are the simplest. One of the mostpopular and well-accepted new products on the American market is Greek yogurt. It is made from cows or sheeps milk, in full-fat, 2% and nonfat versions. Some products have added honey and fruit. But what makes this yogurt unique is its thickness and rich flavor. The yogurt is strained, draining much of its whey, resulting in a yogurt that is easy to cook with and mix with ingredients, in addition to eating on its own.

Tomorrows products

Mediterranean foods are, and will continue to be, popular both for the fresh, full-bodied flavors and for reasons of health. Products that are well-known todaybalsamic vinegar, olive oil, portobello mushrooms, feta cheese, cured olives, capers and sundried tomatoeswere relatively unknown not long ago.

Food manufacturers are given the task of coming up with new concepts that make good use of Mediterranean products, without losing integrity. Its now common knowledge to cook pasta al dente, that fresh basil tastes much different than dried, and that real pizza doesnt have to drown in melted cheese. Americans might want convenience, but they also want good, fresh flavor.

Product designers have numerous ways to create products that illustrate the healthy aspects of the Mediterranean diet while also preserving a certain degree of freshness. For example, speed-scratch concepts are perfect for Mediterranean foods. The refrigerated pastas and sauces that have been on the market for over a decade are a perfect example. Also, Barillas new products that combine flavors at the last minute make a fresh impression.

Product extensions that add new flavor to traditional applications is another approach to developing new products. Hummus line extensions in the refrigerated section, for example, extend the product beyond basic hummus by adding nontraditional ingredients like roasted garlic, tomato and basil, or roasted red pepper.

In another translation of Mediterranean concepts to a new audience, A.C. LaRocco, Spokane, WA, recently introduced a line of heart-healthy, high-fiber frozen pizzas made with organic whole-wheat and honey crusts. The product line includes three Mediterranean varieties: cheese and garlic, Greek sesame, and tomato and feta.

Many products from Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey and Greece are poised for introduction into the American consciousness. As American palates become more sophisticated, authentic products will be more in demand. Food designers who create Mediterranean products with authenticity and freshness in mind will very likely stand to profit from the popularity of Mediterranean food. Its hard to argue with centuries of good and healthful eating.

Nancy Backas is a chef and journalist with a degree in Foods and Nutrition from the University of Illinois. She lives in Chicago and has been writing about food and the restaurant industry for more than 20 years. She can be reached at

[email protected].

New Mediterranean Food Components Poised for Introduction

Aleppo pepper: A dark-red, mildly spicy, ground red pepper from Syria; sometimes called Near East pepper.

Baharat: The word means mixed spices in Arabic, and different cooks have their own blends. In Lebanon and Syria, it typically includes black peppercorns, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg. In Tunisia, it might include pepper, rose petals and cinnamon.

Butifarra: Spicy pork sausage from Catalonia, Spain, typically seasoned with cinnamon and fennel seed.

Farro: This ancient relative of wheat resembles barley or brown rice. Italians use it in soups, often paired with beans.

Harissa: Spicy red-pepper paste used in Tunisia and, to a lesser extent, in Morocco. It might be flavored with cumin, garlic, caraway and sometimes other spices, and typically is preserved under oil. Harissa is also the name of the condiment made by thinning the paste with lemon juice and broth for couscous.

Harous: A Southern Tunisian condiment made of lightly fermented onions puréed with dried red peppers and spices.

Horta: The Greek word for cooked wild greens, often used in savory pies or simply boiled and dressed with olive oil and lemon.

Mahleb: A spice favored in the Near East made by pulverizing the kernels inside the pits of a type of sour cherry (Prunus mahaleb).

It has a sweet fragrance and is used in Turkish sweet breads and rolls.

Manouri: A fresh, smooth, rindless sheeps milk cheese from Greece; similar to cream cheese.

Maras pepper: A prized ground, mildly hot red pepper from Turkey; sometimes called Near East pepper.

Melokhia: A leafy green in the mallow family, much loved in Egypt; typically chopped fine, cooked briefly in meat broth and served as soup, with the meat from the broth served separately.

Merguez: Spicy fresh lamb sausage from North Africa, often coiled and then skewered and grilled.

Mizithra: Fresh or aged whey cheese made with sheeps or goats milk, or a combination of the two.

Morcilla: Spanish blood sausage, classically made with rice, seasoned with cinnamon and clove, and added to stews or sliced and fried.

Pomegranate syrup or molasses: The concentrated juice of sour pomegranates is thick and dark, with a sweet-sour taste; widely used in the Middle East in marinades, beverages, dips, sauces, grain salads and stews.

Preserved lemons: Essential in Moroccan cooking, preserved lemons impart a salty, lemony, pickled taste to vegetables, salads, tagines and braised chicken. Quartered lemons are cured in salt and their own juice for several weeks, then rinsed before using. For most recipes, the pulp is discarded and only the rind is used.

Sumac: A ground brick-red spice from the dried berries of a nonpoisonous variety of the sumac bush (Rhus coriaria). It has a pleasantly sour, lemony taste and is widely used in the Middle East sprinkled on grilled kebabs or rice pilafs and used in most zaatar blends. Some dishes call for the tart liquid obtained from steeping the whole berries.

Tabil: This Tunisian spice mixture typically includes caraway, garlic, red pepper, fennel seed, aniseed, cumin, turmeric and black pepper;

used in salads, stews and couscous.

Tarama: The salted roe of carp or mullet. Greeks purée it with olive oil, bread, garlic and lemon to make taramosalata, a creamy dip.

Trahana: A hard, coarse, pebblelike pasta made with wheat (either flour or cracked wheat) mixed with buttermilk, milk or yogurt, then sun-dried. Trahana is rehydrated by cooking in soups or stews.

Zaatar: A seasoning blend that typically includes dried thyme, roasted sesame seed and sumac, although components may vary.

Mixed with olive oil, it makes a dip for bread.

Source: CIA Greystone Worlds of Flavor Conference, 2003