All of this time, the water and bright sun have produced a bounty of fish, crops, spices, and herbs. Caravans of spice migrated from the middle east and the Sudan to the kitchens of Morocco and from there into Spain. From the north, influences from the kitchens of Versailles were distilled through Napoleon's armies. The idea of couscous drifted back up into Spain and France. In Paris there are now couscous restaurants. The Mediterranean diet consists of plenty of fish, fruit and vegetables and a small amount of meat which is grilled. Grilling sheds fat from meat, as opposed to frying, (which adds fat) or baking, in which the meat cooks in its own fat. The unifying factor in any Mediterranean kitchen is the use of olive oil in great abundance.

The Mediterranean lifestyle is a simple, stress-free lifestyle, emphasising good food and sporting activities or physical work. The idea of getting ahead, or climbing the corporate ladder, or becoming a rock star, or making a lot of money are not seriously considered in the Mediterranean lifestyle.

"...the fresh aromas of wild herbs, the tang of lemons and orange, the soft textures of olives and dates, the striking and often unexpected combinations of garlic and oil, honey and nuts. Eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers, chick-peas, lentils, and beans, yogurt and cheese, pasta, couscous and figs-these are the things that Mediterranean food is all about. The Mediterranean Sea has always been a medium of cultural interaction, and its culinary glories a great result. In a long history of occupations and conquests, food ideas have crossed national boundaries and stuck when they were good. A good half of the region, from Yugoslavia in the east to Algiers in the west, shows the strong culinary influence of the Turks. Moorish cooking impacts upon the food of southern Spain; Catalonia interacts with Languedoc and Provence; and there is Italy, not unified until the time of Cavour, a land of regions, each with its own style of cooking, showing traces of Turkey (in Venice), North Africa (in Sicily), Spain (in Sardinia), France (in Naples), and nearly everything else. --Paula Wolfert, "Mediterranean Cooking"