What products are distinctive to Mediterranean
agriculture?
Answers:
chestnuts, almonds, walnuts; wine, citrus fruits
(oranges and lemons),
wheat (used for breads, pastas, etc), cork,
goats, and sheep
Portugal and Spain are the world's principle
cork producers; Portugal accounts for 55 percent alone. About 25
billion corks are used each year! The Mediterranean climate is ideal
for cork trees. The thick bark takes 40 years to develop, so the
wine in almost all wine bottles is much younger than the cork!
What we think of as Mediterranean food has complex
geographical origins:
olives and garlic were brought by the Romans;
saffron, black pepper, nutmeg, lemons, cane sugar, and bitter oranges came
from Arab conquerors; sweet oranges were introduced through Portugal from
China; chick peas came with Carthaginians; and only with the Europeanization
of the Western Hemisphere did Spain first enjoy potatoes, tomatoes, pimentos,
and chocolate.
Source: S. Delamont, Appetites and Identities.
London: Routledge, 1995.
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