The Coronavirus will not defeat our gastronomic culture.
The Mediterranean diet should be analyzed not only from a cultural perspective, but also from a historical and anthropological one. Our bread, wine and oil form the identity of our towns and cities, and this has been the case for thousands and thousands of years.
It is not trivial to consider our Mediterranean diet as a philosophy of life because these foods are also accompanied by a series of customs such as: sharing with our loved ones, enjoying long after-dinner meals and even allowing those who can to combine a good meal with a long nap.
But, beyond the Mediterranean diet or the customs inherent to it, eating -in itself- has become much more than a simple necessity as dictated by the Royal Spanish Academy. Food is not only “a set of substances that living beings eat or drink to subsist”, it is a set of sensations that you experience with the five senses and that have the ability to transport you to a place, a moment or a specific memory.
Even so, it seems that today's society sometimes neglects some unforgivable aspect, such as the act of sharing a meal with someone, eating at the table and with the family, to give way to an automatism of eating for the sake of eating, eating because it is time to eat, and/or eating at any time without giving it its deserved importance.
The problem facing the 21st century diner is inherent in his nature as a human being. We, the people, are so used to certain things that we take for granted that they will always be part of our lives, that they will always be there and that they will never disappear. Well, history has shown us -once again- that this is not always the case. And now, living through the tragic situation of COVID-19 -which seems set to stay here for a very long time- is a clear example of how we can lose everything in one day. Everything that we didn't value before and considered “normal” in our lives is now a “I wish we could have it again”.
Of course, a coin always has two sides, so the survival of our catering sector is still afloat and recovering it is everyone's duty. It is now that we must cradle the traditional cuisine. Let's recover that smell of kneaded bread bought in the small bakeries of our towns and cities. Let's bet again for those small supermarkets that have first quality meat, or for the fresh sea products caught by our Mediterranean fishermen. Let's bet on our restaurants, those of always, let's recover sensations, tastes and textures of yesteryear. But let's also try new things - why not? - let's try to go back to that restaurant whose food we said was not our style. Let's share, again, remembering that tomorrow is uncertain.
So, to conclude, there is something we must ask you: How much do you want to re-establish those customs that are so much ours, so Mediterranean? Like enjoying again those siestas after a paella on the coast or toasting together in the sun, sitting on a terrace.
