Mediterranean diet

[Anonymous No.18959927]

Anons who live around the Mediterranean, what do you eat and drink on a regular basis, what are your staples? What do your parents and grandparents eat and are they in good health? I want some real info to counter the "med diet" memes that have been going around for decades in the US and try to pin it on specific things like "they're totally healthy because they eat a lot of olive oil and drink red wine lol"

[Anonymous No.18960323]

>>18959927
I'm from the South Balkans.
Basically, because balkans are majority agricultural, we have a lot of seasonal foods available. In winter, most people in my family prepare preserves of vegetables and fruit from the season. Smoked meats is common, freshwater fish.

For snacking, we eat a lot of natural or minimally processed seasonal food like cheeses, fruit, nuts, olives. Cheese is not something you add to cooking regularly like in the West. It's eaten more separately as a special occasion snack, or just with bread and tomato. "Bad snacking" is things like cold cuts and processed meats, overly sugary desserts. There is a lot of shit food now that is terribly processed because westernization brought in a lot of that fad crap...but it is what it is.

Basically anon, we eat a lot of vegetables with every meal and people cook a lot of their own food. Eating out is more rare than in the West and, you get served a lot of kebab and grilled meat which tastes good but isn't healthy all the time. Stewed meats is common at home. People also take religious fast seriously so we also exercise restraint in that way.

Almost all of my relatives have homemade wine with dinner. They have a barrel in the cold storage area either garage or cellar with locally sourced grape slurry (because wine country). The wine is typically much weaker than what you would buy in the store, but can be had by all members of the family, even children.

But there is a lot of alcoholism also because when you're poor it happens too. Also a lot of people smoke a lot, and because its agricultural many people can be easily exposed to pesticides if they are irresponsible so cancer is very common.

There is also much more culture of walking to places, as our towns are cities are designed so that even elderly people can get around fairly easily on their own. Diet + lifestyle.

[Anonymous No.18960337]

McDonald's and Fanta

[Anonymous No.18960433]

Lots of legumes, fish and seafood, greens, fruits, vegetables, high quality dairy and meat. Olives and olive oil in varying degrees in most dishes.
Drink water faggot.

[Anonymous No.18960452]

>>18960323
Based bucolic Balkan. Sorry for the high tobacco use and alcohol use disorders.

American foods that are inexpensive and universally available are mostly highly processed products. I get it; cheap calories and proteins make economic sense, but shorten average life expectancy. Not everyone has the time or makes the time to cook for themselves or their families.

[Anonymous No.18960543]

>>18959927
>tfw doctor put me on Mediterranean diet but i'm too much of a fatty and rarely follow it
>t.ngmi

[Anonymous No.18960574]

>>18959927
Northern Italy eats lots of corn (polenta), lots of rice (risotto), lots of meat, especially pig (cured ham), horse and wild meat which we shoot ourselves. We collect our own mushrooms as well as collared greens in the wild. We drink lots of alcohol every day, starting at 11 AM.

[Anonymous No.18960766]

Zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil
Fresh bread and cheese, pasta
Cured pork, beef sauce
Chickpeas, eggplant, beans, onions
Basil, oregano, salt, pepper
Coffee, chocolate, cream
Lemon, lemon sorbet, iced tea
Rice, butter, mushrooms
Wine

Personally I eat a lot of chicken but it's not a usual food, but roasted chicken in potatoes is popular here I don't think people eat as much as cured meats, meatballs, or meat sauces

[Anonymous No.18960773]

>>18960766
Celery, carrots*
Gelato*
Cookies, sweets

[Anonymous No.18960928]

>>18960452
I think it has to do a lot with the fact that homes are multi generational so you have a matriarch/patriarch or someone else who is just retired living at home and makes food for everybody.

[Anonymous No.18960944]

>>18959927
North of Spain:

I skip breakfast just drinking coffee until about 1pm. Then I have a main meal and again around 8-9pm, I have a smaller meal.

Pulses 2-3 times a week; usually a lentil or bean stew with vegetables, very moderate amounts of cured meats, onion & garlic
When I eat fresh meat it's usually either lean trimmed pork loin (lomo) or thinly sliced turkey or chicken breast. Meat in the grocery shops here is sold in thin slices so 2 slices is like half a chicken breast. Have that with rice, in fresh bread or roast potatoes.
Pan fried green peppers
Cod

I'm an anomaly because I don't eat out very often. Spanish people will often eat out maybe 3 days a week or even more, either sharing plates of deep fried food that are awful for you (croquettas, rabas, torreznos etc) or eating 3 course set meals. Sometimes I have a snack or 2 at the bar when I'm having coffee or a drink but I don't like wasting my money in restaurants when I can generally cook better at home. Besides more recent chain/ethnic restaurants, there isn't really a distinction between bars, restaurants and cafes.

In terms of drinking, people drink more frequently in terms of days per week, but the amount drank is very low compared to Anglo countries. It's common to have alcohol in the afternoon but typically it's a glass of wine, a glass of vermouth or a small (330ml) glass of beer. Maybe two, even three on the weekends. And of course this is with friends over the course of several hours, maybe an entire afternoon. It's a bit rare for people to get "drunk" if they're out having drinks.

[Anonymous No.18960976]

>>18960944
I also often eat cabbage fried in olive oil with a tiny bit of diced chorizo and quite often, my dinner is just a broth soup with some noodles thrown in.

Spanish people in general do not like cooking like other Mediterranean peoples and prefer to eat out or throwing something that takes like 2 seconds to fry up in the pan. Their recipes are often incredibly simple and many will just eat an omelette, a sliced tomato or a couple pieces of toast for dinner.

Of course everything is cooked with olive oil, it's hard to get a hold of real butter here that isn't some kind of margarine.