Mediterranean cuisine in the context of "Portuguese cuisine"

Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of Olea europaea, a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil.

It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a condiment, or as a salad dressing. It can also be found in some cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, soaps, and fuels for traditional oil lamps. It also has additional uses in some religions. The olive is one of three core food plants in Mediterranean cuisine, with wheat and grapes. Olive trees have been cultivated around the Mediterranean since the 8th millennium BC.

Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine consisting of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed in Italy since Roman times, and later spread around the world together with waves of Italian diaspora. Significant changes occurred with the colonization of the Americas and the consequent introduction of potatoes, tomatoes, capsicums, and maize, as well as sugar beet—the latter introduced in quantity in the 18th century. Italian cuisine is one of the best-known and most widely appreciated gastronomies worldwide.

It includes deeply rooted traditions common throughout the country, as well as all the diverse regional gastronomies, different from each other, especially between the north, the centre, and the south of Italy, which are in continuous exchange. Many dishes that were once regional have proliferated with variations throughout the country. Italian cuisine offers an abundance of taste, and is one of the most popular and copied around the world. Italian cuisine has left a significant influence on several other cuisines around the world, particularly in East Africa, such as Italian Eritrean cuisine, and in the United States in the form of Italian-American cuisine.

Greek cuisine is the cuisine of Greece and the Greek diaspora. In common with many other cuisines of the Mediterranean, it is founded on the triad of wheat, olive oil, and wine. It uses vegetables, olive oil, grains, fish, and meat, including pork, poultry, veal and beef, lamb, rabbit, and goat. Other important ingredients include pasta (such as hilopites), cheeses, herbs, lemon juice, olives and olive oil, and yogurt. Bread made of wheat is ubiquitous; other grains, notably barley, are also used, especially for paximathia. Common dessert ingredients include nuts, honey, fruits, sesame, and filo pastries. It continues traditions from Ancient Greek and Byzantine cuisine, while incorporating Asian, Turkish, Balkan, and Italian influences.

The chickpea or chick pea (Cicer arietinum) is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, cultivated for its edible seeds. Its different types are variously known as gram, Bengal gram, chana dal, garbanzo, garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. It is one of the earliest cultivated legumes, the oldest archaeological evidence of which was found in Syria.

Chickpeas are high in protein. The chickpea is a key ingredient in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines, used in hummus, and, when soaked and coarsely ground with herbs and spices, then made into patties and fried, falafel. As an important part of Indian cuisine, it is used in salads, soups, stews, and curries. In 2023, India accounted for 75% of global chickpea production.

Valencian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine as cooked in the Valencian Community, Spain. Its basic ingredients are vegetables, seafood and meat. It is famous worldwide for its rices, such as paella, and its citrus fruits. The cuisine of neighbouring regions have contributed to and received important contributions from Valencian gastronomy, amongst them Balearic cuisine, Catalan cuisine, Aragonese cuisine, Manchego cuisine and Murcian cuisine.

Albanian cuisine is a representative of the cuisine of the Mediterranean. It is also an example of the Mediterranean diet based on the importance of olive oil, fruits, vegetables, and fish. The cooking traditions of the Albanian people are diverse in consequence of the environmental factors that are more importantly suitable for the cultivation of nearly every kind of herbs, vegetables, and fruits. Olive oil is the most ancient and commonly used vegetable fat in Albanian cooking, produced since antiquity throughout the country particularly along the coasts.

Hospitality is a fundamental custom of Albanian society and serving food is integral to the hosting of guests and visitors. It is not infrequent for visitors to be invited to eat and drink with locals. The medieval Albanian code of honor, called besa, resulted to look after guests and strangers as an act of recognition and gratitude.

Byzantine cuisine was the continuation of local ancient Greek cuisine, ancient Roman cuisine, and Mediterranean cuisine. Byzantine trading with foreigners brought in grains, sugar, livestock, fruits, vegetables, and spices that would otherwise be limited to specific geographical climates.

Cooks experimented with new combinations of food, creating two styles in the process. These were the eastern (Asia Minor and the eastern Aegean), consisting of Byzantine cuisine supplemented by trade items, and a leaner style primarily based on local Greek cuisine culture.

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Turkish cuisine (Turkish: Türk mutfağı) is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine (Osmanlı mutfağı), European influences, Seljuk cuisine and the Turkish diaspora. Turkish cuisine, with traditional Turkic elements such as yogurt, ayran, and kaymak, gains influences from Mediterranean, Armenian, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Eastern European cuisines.