The "Mediterranean diet" is a highly refined nutritional model that pairs healthful nourishment with great gustatory pleasure. This lavish book reveals the much coveted secrets of this life-affirming cuisine, sharing 120 recipes form antipasti to desserts, first courses to pizzas and focaccias, and second course dishes of meat and fish. Starting with the triad of grains/ vegetables/ oil, constant throughout, each culture of the Mediterranean basin has distilled its own distinctive palate. Italy with its rich, flavour absorbing heritage, arguably embraces the best in each. Sampling these salubrious delicacies thus enables readers to savour the culminating ambrosia of the region's exquisite fare. Salute! AUTHOR: Academia Barilla, launched in 2004 in Parma by the world's largest pasta producer, is devoted to the preservation and promotion of the Italian gastronomic tradition through courses taught by renowned chefs, the hosting of meetings and culinary laboratories with noted specialists, gastronomic tours, and the publication of books like this. Colour photographs