Claim: The core trio of Mediterranean cuisine is oil, bread, and wine

Mediterranean cuisine represents the foods and methods of preparation by people of the Mediterranean Basin region , primarily as it pertains to Southern Europe . The region 's food came to be seen as a more or less unified cuisine following the cookery writer Elizabeth David 's book , A Book of Mediterranean Food -LRB- 1950 -RRB- . Other writers , such as the Tunisian historian Mohamed Yassine Essid , have agreed with David , defining the three core elements of the cuisine as the olive , wheat , and the grape , yielding olive oil , bread and pasta , and wine , respectively . The geographical area covered broadly follows the distribution of the olive tree , as noted by David and Essid .   The region spans a wide variety of cultures with distinct cuisines , in particular -LRB- going anticlockwise around the region -RRB- the Maghrebi , Levantine , Ottoman -LRB- Turkish -RRB- , Greek , Italian , Provençal -LRB- French -RRB- , and Spanish . However , the historical connections of the region , as well as the impact of the Mediterranean Sea on the region 's climate and economy , mean that these cuisines share dishes beyond the core trio of oil , bread , and wine , such as roast lamb or mutton , meat stews with vegetables and tomato -LRB- for example , Spanish andrajos and Italian ciambotta -RRB- , and the salted cured fish roe , bottarga , found across the region .   The cooking of the area is not to be confused with the Mediterranean diet , made popular because of the apparent health benefits of a diet rich in olive oil , wheat and other grains , fruits , vegetables , and a certain amount of seafood , but low in meat and dairy products . Mediterranean cuisine encompasses the ways that these and other ingredients , including meat , are dealt with in the kitchen , whether they are health-giving or not .