Introduction Models of nutrition in the Mediterranean: history , territories, traditions and curiosities The Mediterranean diet has its origins in a portion of land considered unique in its kind, the Mediterranean basin, which historians call "the cradle of society", because within its geographical borders the whole history of the ancient world took place. At its banks stretched the valley of the Nile, the site of an ancient and advanced civilization, and the two great basins of the Tigris and

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... uphrates, which were the environment of the civilization of the Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Per-sians. In the Mediterranean region arose the power of the Cretans, then emerged the Phoeni-cians and the learned Greeks up to the emerging power of Rome, which allowed the territory to become the "good land" between the East and the West. From that time, the Mediterranean became the meeting place of people who, with their contacts , have from time to time modified cultures, customs, languages, religions and ways of thinking about transforming and changing lifestyle with the progress of history. The clash of these two cultures produced their partial integration so even the eating habits merged in part (1). Abstract The Mediterranean tradition offers a cousine rich in colors, aromas and memories, which support the taste and the spirit of those who live in harmony with nature. Everyone is talking about the Mediterranean diet, but few are those who do it properly, thus generating a lot of confusion in the reader. And so for some it coincides with the pizza, others identified it with the noodles with meat sauce, in a mixture of pseudo historical traditions and folklore that do not help to solve the question that is at the basis of any diet: combine and balance the food so as to satisfy the qualitative and quantitative needs of an individual and in a sense, preserves his health through the use of substances that help the body to perform normal vital functions. The purpose of our work is to demonstrate that the combination of taste and health is a goal that can be absolutely carried out by everybody, despite those who believe that only a generous caloric intake can guarantee the goodness of a dish and the satisfaction of the consumers. That should not be an absolute novelty, since the sound traditions of the Mediterranean cuisine we have used for some time in a wide variety of tasty gastronomic choices, from inviting colors and strong scents and absolutely in line with health.