Mediterranean nutrition: The key to a long and happy life

We can hardly name all the benefits of Mediterranean nutrition in one blog, but, on the other hand, we were always ambitious. 

This month will be ten years since Mediterranean nutrition has become part of UNESCO intangible cultural heritage. In other words, everytime you place bread in homemade olive oil or smell pašticada luring all of your senses from the kitchen around Christmas,or throw the fish caught the previous night on “gradele” or every time you visit Laganini – you’re feeding (literally and symbolically) on culture. And that’s a dish we can’t put a stop to. 

More than food

We don’t want to sound like we’re inventing something here, so we give you a full definition of Mediterranean nutrition by UNESCO:

“Mediterranean diet represents a set of skills, knowledge, practices and traditions, from the landscape to the table, including crops, harvesting, fishing and preservation, processing, preparation and especially consumption of food. The Mediterranean diet is characterized by a food model that has remained constant over time and space, and which mainly consists of olive oil, cereals, fresh or dried fruits and vegetables, a moderate amount of fish, dairy products and meat, and many spices, including wine or various herbal infusions, respecting the beliefs of each community. But the Mediterranean diet includes more than just food. It promotes social interaction, because shared meals are the basis of social customs and national celebrations. This is how a rich heritage of songs, stories and legends was created. This way of life is rooted in the territory and respects biological diversity, ensures the preservation and development of traditional activities related to fishing and animal husbandry in Mediterranean communities. Women play a particularly important role in the transmission of knowledge, as well as knowledge of rituals, traditional dances, ceremonies and the preservation of skills.”

Can’t say a word! The bureaucracy has never sounded sexier!

Nature for society

Mediterranean diet is not only food, it’s a complete lifestyle that dates all the way to the primordial times, evolving slightly throughout the years. But with respect to the basic principle: nature for society. The simplicity is the key here therefore this lifestyle doesn’t tolerate posh foppery when it comes to food. Nature gave us all and we respect it by enjoying fully the tastes of the ingredients that have been cooked only as much. In turn, nature endows us with good health and strong immunity because the ingredients we get from the diligent fisherman and peasants are packed with vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, antioxidants and all the good stuff one can imagine. After a good old Mediterranean meal, there isn’t much to do rather than sing, dance, and make dirty jokes (afterall, this nutrition excels in social interaction!) those are obvious signs of local folklore and cultural heritage.

Mediterranean on the plate

In Laganini we respect and worship the tradition as much as the gifts of nature. Therefore we extract every nutritive value by following the old, centuries tested methods that by now we have learned by heart. Nonetheless, we try to make peace with the past and the present and enjoy the best from both worlds. The octopus with olives, capers, pepper and chickpeas is the embodiment of the Mediterranean. Smoked swordfish in our story is refined by the pomegranate, orange, pistachio and all kinds of Mediterranean fruits. Our Adriatic squid with shrimp oil and pea cream is a magnificent ode to the calluses of our fishermen and hard workers, to the generations of our ancestors who passed down the tradition from generation to generation, which brought UNESCO to its knees.