.png)
INTERVIEW
The Mediterranean Sea hosts 21 countries, meaning it's brimming with various cultures and countless recipes. Sitting in between Asia, Africa and Europe, cuisines utilise ingredients like olive, goat and sheep milk, to regional herbs like oregano, marjoram, parsley, dill.
Croatian chef Grgur Baksic works with Purple Summer's luxurious St Tropez properties, and is known as a master of modern Mediterranean cooking. With his 25+ years of hospitality experience, Grgur shares with us his top five tips for the perfect Mediterranean meal.
1) Have A Starting Point
Mediterranean cuisine is rich with thousands of influences, styles and different components, making it incredibly vast. The geographical differences between regional, continental and maritime areas are also extremely fascinating. Therefore, the first thing to do is to decide the specific location that you want to experience, and give yourself a little time to search for the best products that you can buy. Then, you can research particular techniques that are used.
2) Never Stop Exploring
Mediterranean cuisine is a combination of smaller national and regional cuisines, but also those cuisines found outside of the Mediterranean. This mixture can be shown through various behaviours; usage of spice, production techniques, or the impact of religion and beliefs on a certain cuisine. It is essential to continue to explore and research.
3) Time To Go Shopping!
Finding groceries to produce a dish isn't always easy. Some products are produced in small, local areas with no possibility for mass production, thank god! Nevertheless, there are plenty of possibilities to find products today online and the majority of products should be straightforward to find.
4) Feel Free And Cook Free
Once you have everything you need, your adventure can begin. What is so enjoyable about Mediterranean cuisine is that dishes are fast and easy to make, and light and healthy to eat. When preparing a dish, if you can not find an original ingredient, do not hesitate to use an alternative, similar ingredient. Experimenting is allowed and sometimes required in cuisine.
5) Now, You Can Start to Live
The most important ingredient in all Mediterranean dishes and at all cultures' tables which can be seen across all nations, beliefs and religions is that we have company. In the end, it is about human interaction. To be accompanied, by as many people and often as possible – this is the vital ingredient. Mixing generations of family and friends, sharing and enjoying life, all facilitated by the landscape of food and the beauty of life. As we say, let's find something to do, so that we can cook some food while we are doing it!
Imageries provided by Charlotte Rous Communications.
Website: purplesummer.com | Phone: +44 (0)1885 488799 | Instagram: @purpleski | Facebook: @Purple Ski - Purple Summer | Twitter: @purpleski