Modern Mediterranean cuisine: traditionally, Mediterranean foods have been defined by world-renowned French, Italian, Spanish and Greek cuisines. Today, the foods of some North African and Middle Eastern countries are attracting more attention, as chefs have expanded to use their ingredients in modern Mediterranean fare

Prepared Foods, July, 2008 by Tom Zind

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With an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, American consumers are a conflicted lot, when it comes to food. They say they want more healthful foods, but the tug of rich, flavorful fare often proves overwhelming. While most diners feel the choice is often one or the other, Mediterranean cuisine has developed an aura of a silver bullet of sorts that can satisfy both cravings.

Incorporating healthful oils, grains, vegetables, fruit, lean meats and a veritable library of spices, it has at least the patina of health. Add in preparation techniques that can work to turbocharge ingredient combinations to create unique flavors, and it is easy to see why Mediterranean fare is firing on all cylinders.

Although the jury may still be out on the true healthfulness of the Mediterranean diet, and the evidence anecdotal, perception, as they say, is reality. No more so than from the perspectives of the food formulator, ever eager to find foods that connect on multiple levels with the consumer. The emerging reality for food marketers is that Mediterranean foods and flavors, with their bold and complex features and healthy halo, are ripe for the picking.

A Diversity of Culture

To its good fortune, world geography and the consumer quest for more culinary adventure is allowing the food industry to more aggressively tap into Mediterranean's allure. Cradled by southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, the Mediterranean region incorporates a broad swath of established food cultures that are different, yet complementary.

French, Italian, Spanish and Greek cuisine used to be Mediterranean cuisine's standard bearers. Now, foods that have flown under the international radar--those from places like Morocco, Turkey and Syria to Algeria, Tunisia and Libya--are being brought into the fold. At the same time, micro-cuisines of the traditional southern European regions that have long defined Mediterranean foods are drawing more attention for their nuance. Where possible, all are being embraced for the unique twist they can bring to a cuisine that, while popular, is not immune from going stale.

Mediterranean cuisine's expanding interpretation is evident at restaurants like Dussini Mediterranean Bistro, in San Diego. There, executive chef Walter Manikowski is taking a wider geographic view of the cuisine. His aim is to meld different Mediterranean themes into dishes that offer new flavors and, where possible, a healthier profile. New sous and pastry chefs from Morocco evidence his commitment to an expanding view of the cuisine.

"I'm taking an anthropologic outlook on the region and studying how to incorporate the food cultures of countries like Lebanon, Turkey and Morocco into those of France, Italy and Greece," he says. "We're seeing how ingredients are used in different cultures and then working to come up with a different interpretation."

His work is resulting in Moroccan tajine dishes, meals built around couscous, olives, pungent cheeses and high-grade olive oils; fruit and vegetable purees and pestos; more entrees that use meat-flavored pastas and those made from healthier whole wheat and alternative grains like rice.

Mediterranean's evolution is also in evidence on the industry trade show circuit. The headline presenter at a recent foodservice industry trends show demonstrates just how broadly Mediterranean is now being defined. In a Mediterranean cuisine trends presentation, Chet Holden, owner of Creative Culinary Services, Dallas, did not put a fresh spin on French, Greek or Italian dishes. Instead, he dissected foods from the North African nations of Morocco, Algeria and Egypt. It was, he says, a nod to the emergence of new Mediterranean subsets that are drawing the attention of more chefs and prepared foods companies.

"If you look at the Mediterranean region, you get an appreciation for the array of what's out there in terms of cuisines," says Holden, who also consults for Allen's Inc., the Springdale, Ark., food company. "The region's northern coast--Spain, Greece and Sicily--is what you normally think of when you hear the word. But, there just happens to be this little island called Africa, whose north coast is on the Mediterranean Sea. I focused on North Africa, because that seems to be the hot new strain of Mediterranean cooking. Some of the areas there, especially Morocco, are getting as much focus as any area of the Mediterranean right now."

A New Focus

North African and Middle Eastern cuisine offers intense and unusual flavors that can be loosely characterized by complex and exotic spice blends and condiments with names like harissa, ras el hanout and chermoula; braised meats and vegetables; and flavors of preserved lemon and other fruits. Preparation is central to the cuisine, as evidenced by the tajine, which refers both to a special, two-piece slow cooking pot and the dishes they yield, such as Moroccan vegetable stews.

Although typical dishes are hardly mainstream fare, the foods utilize many familiar and popular ingredients. Cooking techniques and the flavors produced by the marriage of multiple ingredients with different characteristics define the foods' personalities and help explain their growing allure.