TAKE TIME TO LIVE

“MEALS ARE TIMES FOR PEOPLE TO CREATE BONDS AMONG FAMILY AND FRIENDS.”

Cookbook author Meni Valle celebrates the recipes, lifestyle and wisdom of the Greek island of Ikaria.

A few years ago, Meni Valle was reading about ‘Blue Zones’, five geographical areas where people live an exceptionally long life and have significantly lower rates of chronic disease. The five zones are Ikaria in Greece, Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, Loma Linda in California and Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula.

As an Australian food teacher of Greek parents, Ikaria sparked her curiosity: “I took a leap of faith and off I went,” she says in her latest book, Ikaria: Food and life in the Blue Zone. Arriving on the Aegean island, she was delighted to discover a community of 8,500 people where a traditional way of life is still adhered to. “Ikarian cuisine has not changed with contemporary times,” she says. “Food is not processed and is still prepared and eaten as it was 60 years ago: fresh, seasonal, local produce is made into nutritious meals prepared from scratch and eaten at the dinner table with family and friends.”

She learned that the cornerstone of Ikarian cuisine is olive oil and seasonal vegetables. Breakfast is typically yoghurt or cheese with honey, fruit, horta (wild cooked greens), wholegrain breads and herbal tea or coffee. Lunch, the main meal of the day, sees the table set with bread, olives, the local cheese and dips to complement the main dishes, as well as local wines. Salads or cooked vegetables are an essential. At times, locally caught fish may be served and once or twice a week there would be some meat. Dinner is typically a light spread of bread, olives, vegetables and some local wine.

But food is only part of the story. “Mealtimes are not only a time to eat,” says Valle. “They are a time for people to spend together and to create a bond between family and friends, young and old. Food is important, but social connections are equally, if not more so. People put their family first: they invest in their children with time and love, and children care for their elders.” In Ikaria: Food and life in the Blue Zone, Valle collects traditional recipes from across the island and tells the stories that make up Ikaria, where life is all about taking time to cook, eat, nap and spend time with family and friends.

Before leaving the island to return home, Valle asked Ilias, a local, “What do you think is the secret to longevity?” He answered, “In Ikaria, we do not try to add years to our life. Instead, we add life to our years. We make the most of every day.”