Located on a small island off the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, in the first 24 hours of our trip we are already engulfed in the rich culture of Mediterranean living. Although 20 hours of travelling was a little arduous, using the simple technique of slight sleep deprivation and circadian adjustment with cappuccino and melatonin, my wife and I woke up after a 9 hour sleep completely adjusted to the 9 hour time difference of our new surroundings.
We were up at 7 and at the local outdoor market this morning at 7:30 am buying fresh produce and fish for our lunch. This is a daily ritual here that is apparently split between men and women evenly. Women typically buy the produce and men select the meat or fish for the day.
Many of us might think of the mediterranean diet as a lot of refined grains in the form of breads, pizzas and pasta but in truth the mediterranean diet that people from Dalmatia conform to consist mostly of freshly caught fish, right from the local fishermen, or recently butchered lamb, beef, pork or chicken, along with beautiful produce grown from surrounding gardens or farms. The people here do not take the quality of their food lightly and have little tolerance for substandard produce, meats, poultry and fish that is not fresh and of excellent quality.
Although bread is a staple here and subsidized by the government, it is beautiful and often from ancient varieties of wheat, unlike the modified versions of the grains we have in North America. Bread is also not the foundation of the diet but typically used, as it was today, as a means of eating the large amount of olive oil that accompanied our fish. This adheres to the important “starch with fat” unwritten rule of the traditional mediterranean diet.
Because the local culture is not completely without the western influence of refined sugar, in the form of sweets, soda, and many pre-made cookies and pastries, it is important to note that the mediterranean diet I wish to refer to is one of tradition, followed by people of this region for many thousands of years before the last century.
As a means of preventative medicine, the mediterranean diet is the most researched diet strategy on the planet and is thought to protect against cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. The traditional mediterranean diet offers a diverse, nutrient dense diet consisting mainly of fresh veggies, lean meats and healthy fats as the mainstay of each meal.
The picture is of the fish we had for lunch. Its called Mol and was prepared poached and topped with olive oil, sea salt, pepper and lemon!