Tomatoes and garlic are regnant. Other distinctive flavors include saffron , mustard, anise, capers, olives, anchovies, and pine nuts. Food is savory, not sweet, and, unlike North African cooking to the south, fruits are rarely used when cooking a main course. Unlike the Muslims and Jews to the east, the Christians of southern Europe eat pork.
Breads are another feature of the region, and with breads come ovens, and with ovens, roasting.
This distinguishes Europe from the tendency to stove-top cooking that marks much eastern Mediterranean and North African cuisine. Fowl of all kinds grace the table. The Mediterranean is a great migration spot for northern European birds heading to warmer Africa for the winter, so domesticated chicken and geese are seasonally supplemented by pheasant, grouse, partridge, and duck. As in the Middle East , appetizers are popular and multifarious. Legumes are widely eaten, especially white cannelloni beans, but also peas, fava beans and string beans.