Clifford A. Wright - Maestro Food Writer
Author: Arthur George
As a one-time cook it’s always a pleasure to sit down and share a few tall tales and a glass or two of something tasty in the good company and camaraderie of kitchen veterans. This sub cultural population have seen all of life’s rich tapestry through the kitchen door or from behind sheets of leaping flames of burning oils and alcohol. Once in a while this knife-wielding rabble, bent on feeding anyone who’ll sit long enough to order, sends forth a special envoy; someone who has taken the time to carefully consider what the contents of the pantry really mean, where did they originate, their history, how they were prepared in the past, a guardian and distiller of essential cultural knowledge about one of the basic needs in life – food.
Clifford A. Wright is one such sentinel, an internationally celebrated chef, acclaimed food writer, prize winning author of some of the very finest cook books to be found anywhere, an educator, a master of philosophy and learned historian of the foods and rise of what is now described as the Mediterranean Diet.
While travelling in Spain recently, our paths crossed at a dinner party of a mutual friend I’d been invited to cook for. After the dinner, which thankfully went very well, I asked Cliff if he’d care to sample one of Barcelona’s finest Italian restaurants a few days later. Also I was hoping to invite him to write for Tomato+Health. He kindly accepted and during a fine lunch of spicy, rich tomato putanesca and risotto parmigiano, we got around to talking about life in the kitchens, great food and his own passion for the cooking and cuisine from the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. I had to ask were it all started for him:
>> “It probably started with the sea itself. My father was stationed in France with the US Air Force in the mid -1950s. So when I was between the ages of 3 and 8 we vacationed on the French Riviera and from that time on this place was for me. Subsequently, I went back many, many times and my connection to the Mediterranean was sealed”.
As one of the World’s foremost experts on the history surrounding foods common to Mediterranean cooking - obviously a huge subject as it is simultaneously the history of the movements of peoples, the history of agriculture, politics, trade and economics - I asked him to cite perhaps just a few of the most significant historical issues that have influenced or helped to shape the diet in the past that still reverberate today?
>> “Life is not static, everything changes, but when we look at historical phenomena we can identify seminal moments in how Mediterranean life has changed. We must look for broad trends and the slow progression of ineffable movements, which brush a wide swath through the life of the Mediterranean. Arguably, I would say the four most important historical phenomena that created the Mediterranean world of today are the Arab agricultural revolution of the eighth to twelfth centuries, the transition from feudalism to capitalism, the Age of Discovery which resulted in the opening of a New World and the introduction of a host of plants to the Old – including the humble tomato, and the Renaissance which provided the wealth and incentive for humankind to live better”.
We then moved onto the current focus on healthy aspects of the so called “Med’ Diet” which seem almost to overshadow the great flavours, textures, culinary traditions and feasting occasions from these sea bordering countries – I asked him to describe the appeal to the senses of the cooking from this region.
>> “No matter how complex a recipe might be from our Mediterranean cuisines, cooks often answer—and I do too—that it’s the simplicity of the food and its raw freshness that so many find appealing. In the Mediterranean, food is not fuel but is a part of not only diet but material culture as well and the connection Mediterranean peoples have to “their” food is deep and abiding. It’s culturally rooted and deeply familial. I remember once in Sardinia watching a cook make the little pasta called malloreddus which I quickly recognized as being identical to the Sicilian cavatieddi, a cowry shell-shaped pasta. When I mentioned this to the Sardinian cook, she couldn’t care less: their own food was the only food that mattered. I did not find this lack of curiosity off-putting but rather an indicator of how personal was their cuisine”.
I told him that in Spain I’ve heard it said “if olive oil is the Queen of ingredients, then tomato is the King”– I wanted his top 3 recipes/or favourite cooked dishes that include tomato.
>> “If olive oil is Queen and tomato is King then cooking the two together becomes simply the Crown itself, creating a foundation to the greatest of tastes simply by harmonising; the tomato cooked over high heat in olive oil; the crowning glory on millions of plates every day”.
>> “No hesitation here: give me a pizza margherita, spaghetti with tomato sauce, and gazpacho any day. Well, a Capri salad with ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil, I guess shouldn’t be overlooked”.
For more information about Clifford A. Wright please visit his website
You can find a few of Clifford’s favourite tomato recipes on the recipe pages of this site
Martha Rose Shulman
Author: Clifford A. Wright
Her reputation proceeded her when I first met Martha Rose in—of all places—Tunisia about fifteen years ago. We were both there for a moveable feast conference sponsored by the International Olive Oil Council and Oldways Preservation Trust. This award-winning cookbook author had written two books that I admired very much, Mediterranean Light and Provençal Light because she was able to transform traditional cooking into a language and cookery that would appeal to the increasingly overweight and diet-conscious American audience. This is no easy feat when you consider that there is a class of dishes in Greece and Turkey called “olive oil foods.” What Martha Rose realized is that the American public didn’t live the Mediterranean lifestyle on a daily basis, so they needed lower calorie dishes that still did not forsake the authentic tastes of the Middle Sea.
But Martha has written over twenty-five cookbooks and she is a wealth of information and experience. Over the years we’ve become fast friends and will often cook together, each cooking their own recipe test for whatever book we happen to be writing. If anyone can make cooking seem easy, it’s Martha and that’s why she’s such a popular cooking teacher as well. Recently, while working on our new cooking school I had a chance to ask Martha how it all began.
I asked Martha when she started cooking and what appealed to her.
You’ve written several books on the Mediterranean. What was it about the Mediterranean that drew you to it?
>>“Those big flavors appealed to me. When I was a vegetarian in the early ‘70s, the few decent cookbooks I used were full of recipes from the Middle East and Italian food was easy to adapt to a vegetarian diet. These cuisines appealed to me because they were produce-centered”.
You’ve been able to combine two seemingly contradictory phenomena, namely, a light, low calorie style of cooking from a tradition that is not shy about using its olive oil? How are you able to do that and stay true to the original tradition?
>>“Some would say my recipes are not authentic, because I do use less olive oil than a Greek cook, say, would use. I always ask myself: How much oil do I need to cook this dish properly, and to bring out the maximum flavor? I’ve never been a teaspoon-of-oil kind of healthy cook; it’s usually a couple of tablespoons. And if I’m making a dish that requires more (like pesto, for example, or aioli), then I use more. It’s also a question of choosing what dishes to cook, to include in my repertoire.
The choice in the Mediterranean is so wide; I can skip the dishes that are too heavy for my taste”.
The Mediterranean Diet has recently been taken as a paradigm for a healthful diet. What is appealing about this region for you in terms of food and cooking?
>>“I think that the Mediterranean Diet makes it very easy to eat a healthful diet, because the food tastes so good; it’s inherently flavorful, because of the basic ingredients”.
So if we think of the basic ingredients such, as say “tomatoes” and “olive oil” what pops into your mind in terms of cooked foods?
>>“Obviously, I think of marinara sauce and all of its variations, and all the Italian dishes that rely on it. But even before I said that, I had a vision of olive oil bathed, slow-cooked tomatoes in a gratin dish. I can see that dish in a display in a Greek taverna or Italian trattoria”.
Apart from being the author of some of the finest recipes books available on Mediterranean cuisine, Martha Rose Shulman also writes for the Health and Fitness recipe section of the New York Times or you can visit her personal website.
Please visit the recipe pages of this site for some of her tomato based favourites.
Star Fire Burning - Tomato Sun Block
Author: New Science
Exposing our skin to the bright burning light of our nearest star – the sun - is most desirable for many reasons. But remember, if you are trying to improve or keep the last vestige of that summer tan or naturally increase your vitamin D levels or simply wish to feel the warmth from that distant blazing fire, it's always a good idea to protect against the potentially harmful effects of too much UV (ultra violet) radiance.
While using a sun block cream can be very effective, researchers are now discovering that certain foods in our diet can positively affect the skin’s natural protective capacity. Human trials have shown that lycopene absorbed from cooked or processed tomatoes can build up a photo protective barrier in the skin that shields against the harmful effects of ultra violet radiation from the sun. This is perhaps not so surprising, as the very same effect is the mother nature’s purpose of lycopene in the tomato skin itself, to protect the fruit against the sun. What lycopene does for the fruit, it can do for you.
So exactly how does it work?
The Science
Our skin is the largest organ of the body and an important barrier protecting against pathogenic organisms and toxic agents. It mediates exchanges with the surroundings (like temperature regulation and sensation) but also plays a major role in insulation. Skin represents a storage center for lipids and water and is the location of UV-dependent vitamin D synthesis.
Light penetrates the skin and interacts with biological structures at the different layers. The penetration depth of light depends on structural features and pigmentation, which influence absorption, reflection, and scattering; the longer the wavelength, the deeper the light penetration. Upon light exposure, a cascade of photo-induced chemical and biological reactions takes place in the target tissue. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) (free radicals) are generated in photooxidative processes and damage molecules and cellular structures.
UV-irradiation of human skin leads to photo-oxidative damage associated with adverse effects on skin health and appearance. Endogenous supply of the skin with micronutrients may contribute to photo-protection. Carotenoids are important components of the light-protecting system in plants and prevent UV damage in humans. The protective properties have been attributed to the pronounced antioxidant effects of these compounds. Lycopene is the major carotenoid of the tomato and a very efficient antioxidant. Human intervention studies provide evidence that skin can be protected against UV-dependent lesions by supplying lycopene or a lycopene-rich diet.
Text extracts from “Tomatoes, Lycopene & Human Health, Preventing Chronic Diseases” © 2007 chapter title: Lycopene in Photo-protection and Skin Care by
Prof. Dr. W. Stahl Heinrich-Heine-University Dusseldorf, Germany.
Hot Tomato - Calming the Heart
Author: New Science
Whether you say tomato, tom-ah-tay or to-mah-to, make sure you are eating them. A regular daily intake can lower blood pressure, according to a study reported in the American Heart Journal. Researchers gave a small amount of a natural tomato extract (equal to about 4 tomatoes) every day to a group of 31 men and women (ages 30 to 70) with mild hypertension and found that their blood pressure dropped an average of 5 to 10 points after 8 weeks. Researchers attribute the reduction to the strong antioxidant activity of the tomato extract and an increase in nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels, explains study author Dr. Esther Paran.
The Science: Hypertension is considered the most common risk factor for cardio and cerebrovascular target organ damage and renal disease. Normalization of blood pressure with antihypertensive therapy has beneficial effect; stroke incidence reduced by 40 to 50 percent, MI by 20 percent and congestive heart failure by more than 50 percent.
Lifestyle modification by dietary changes can reduce BP (blood pressure). Therefore according to guidelines, all patients should undergo appropriate lifestyle modification as the first step of their treatment. Dietary supplementation of fruits and vegetables has been linked to a rise in plasma vitamin antioxidant levels and to reduction in blood pressure values.
In the NHANES III study, a one-SD higher level in β-carotene was associated with an 11% lower risk of hypertension, and the serum β–carotene level was inversely related to systolic blood pressure (SBP) Tomato extract contains carotenoids such as lycopene, β-carotene and vitamin E which are known as effective antioxidants, can inactivate free radicals, and have been shown to slow progression of atherosclerosis.
The oxidation-protecting effect of lycopene and tomatoes has been shown in both human and animal studies. A reduced oxidative modification of LDL may be one of the mechanisms by which lycopene reduces the risk of CAD and atherosclerotic progression.
Interest in lycopene continues to grow in the recent years, following the publication of epidemiologic and clinical studies about the association of high levels of lycopene and lower incidence of cardiovascular disease.
A short-term treatment with antioxidant-rich tomato extract (or dietary equivalent such as tomato juice or sauce made of cooked fresh or canned tomatoes) can reduce blood pressure in mild to moderate hypertensives. The positive results of these trials are encouraging.
Text extracts from “Tomatoes, Lycopene & Human Health, Preventing Chronic Diseases” © 2007 chapter title “Reducing Hypertension with Tomato Lycopene” by Dr Esther Paran, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheba, Israel
LYCOCARD - Introduction part 1
Author: Volker Böhm
Cardiovascular diseases and cancer are the main mortality causes in Europe and all developed territories. Lycopene is a plant pigment found, amongst other things, in tomatoes, Europe’s second-most important agricultural crop. Strong supportive data from several epidemiological studies suggest that lycopene may provide important protection against cardiovascular diseases and cancer. However, lycopene content of tomatoes and processed tomato products and lycopene’s beneficial effects have not been sufficiently linked so far.
LYCOCARD is an EU-funded Integrated Project (6th Research Framework Programme) that started in April 2006, is investigating the role of lycopene in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, adopting a “total food chain” approach by addressing each link in a “farm to fork” procedure for future projects to increase the understanding of diet and health.
Specifically, LYCOCARD’s multidisciplinary, intersectorial consortium (15 partners from 6 countries) of scientists, technologists, and patient organisations will clarify the following points: Effects of technological processing on lycopene, interactions between different food ingredients, molecular aspects of absorption and metabolism of lycopene, biological effects of lycopene isomers and lycopene metabolites.
This information will lead to improved nutritional guidelines and healthy new foods based on tomatoes and other dietary sources containing lycopene. These novel dietary guidelines will help consumers to select specific diets, which protect them against disease risk.
LYCOCARD will therefore improve the health of European consumers and reduce the costs of health systems, while also significantly advancing the state-of-the-art.
In addition, increasing the demand for newly developed health-related tomato products will strengthen the position of the European food industry. Research activities in the previous three years, within a good working atmosphere, have had a promising start.
Future articles will describe the results and progress of the project
