Food Culture in the Mediterranean

Food that originated from the Mediterranean area is incredibly popular. Pasta, pizza, gyros, kebab, and falafel can be found just about everywhere. Many people throughout the world have a good idea of what Mediterranean cuisine and diet are all about, but they know less about the entire food culture of the region. This one-stop source provides the broadest possible understanding of food culture throughout the region, giving a variety of examples and evidence from the southern Mediterranean or North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt), the Western Mediterranean or European side of the Mediterranean (Spain, France, Italy, and the French and Italian islands), to the eastern Mediterranean or Levant (Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel).

Considering the territory from Portugal and Morocco east to Iraq and Turkey as a wildly diverse but single region, Helstory (history, U. of Denver) explores such matters as whether people eat out or at home, how religious rituals differ regarding food preparation, what people of the three desert religions eat on religious holidays, why the same few ingredients are prepared in so many different ways even in the same country, why demonstrating hospitality and good will with food is so important, and whether people still eat locally produced food or American fast-food and prepared food. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)