LOJUPAMMI

There is no doubt, that nowadays a fast change of eating habits is taking place in Catalonia and it is caused by several reasons.

In the first place, we are living the rupture of the family transmission of eating habits of traditional food caused by the incorporation of women (who traditionally have had the role of cook) to the labour world.

On the other hand, we must talk about the influence of other cultures (mainly the Spanish gastronomy and other as American, Italian gastronomy and so on) in the Catalan one. Little by little, this influence has substituted some Catalan products or dishes for other ones, for example: in a supermarket it is easier to find Burgos cheese rather than a kind of Catalan fresh cheese (called “mató”), custard rather than Catalan cream or pizza rather than “coca de recapte” and so on.

In addition, the rhythm of our daily life with a long length of our working timetable without time for buying food and cooking causes that most people cook simple dishes.

It is obvious, that the younger generations are changing our eating habits unlike our parents, who eat the elaborated traditional food of Catalonia. For example, I see this change when I go to my parents’ house: my mother only cooks home cooking with natural and fresh ingredients and she spends all the morning making the lunch. I like this food very much but I cannot do it in my daily day, only at the weekend I make some elaborated dishes of traditional Catalan food. In spite of this, I cook natural and simple dishes for my everyday meals.

To sum up, I think that we are living a slow process of substitution of the Catalan gastronomy so, it is fundamental to keep our own eating habits because it is a vital part of our own cultural heritage.

ODOCSIULL

The importance of leisure time in the present society has promoted that the consumers change his lifestyle, and the restaurant sector have developed a wide gastronomy offer. In the market, we find many different restaurants and food concepts (fast food, Asian food, Italian food, etc). The globalization facilitates the development of big chains as McDonald, Burger King, or Hard Rock Cafe, that promote a new concept, not all is food, atmosphere, music or light is, in some cases, as important as food. However, there is an aspect that always persists: food must be delicious in all restaurants.

The mix of different types of products, spices, etc enrichment the gastronomy and offer new ways of understand the gastronomy as a social event

In our Mediterranean culture always appreciated the quality of products and the concept of Mediterranean diet. At present, people take care of quality and ecological food, and this situation supposes a recovery of the traditional cooking in many restaurants. Obviously McDonalds and other fast-food concepts always keeping, because there are a people that love that gastronomy, but finally, a good olive oil, bread tender or a cured ham always will be appreciated in the most part of the world.

OÑATSACSROLODAIRAM

Food is very important for my family and me. When I was a child, families had lunch at home, both children and adults together. Nowadays, many people eat out of home because usually they do not have enough time to go have lunch at home.

In the past, people consumed fresh vegetables, fish and meat from his own country. Now, at the market people can find a great variety of exotics products from abroad. For example, you can buy rice from China, meat from Argentina, salmon from Norway or pineapples from Brazil. When my grandmother was young, neither freezers nor fridges existed. Then you had to consume local food. She has cooked the typical dishes of Baix Ebre (an area of the Catalonia’s south): “cabbage, rice and kidney bean”, “aubergines, tomatoes and pimento with grilled sardines” always with olive oil. Watermelon, orange, pomegranate are fruits of the different seasons. She can go to the kitchen garden, pick the fruit and cook them. Fresher impossible!

Changes in local “cuisine” have been made possible with the availability of these new products and also with the migratory currents. There are more and more foreign cultures in our country. These days, with the globalization it is possible to eat spaghetti in Sweden, Chinese rice in New Zealand, and paella in Tokyo.

We must save our culture because future people know who are.

OGALSIULESOJ

In Galicia, where I reside, the traditional food lives with firmness on the people and the restaurants.

In the Galician country, the main gastronomy has too much grease: excessive pig, beef meat and sausage. In the coast, boiled octopus with potatoes, olive oil and cayenne pepper, is the most typical plate: "octopus by Galicia". This is the inheritance past in country, where men and women needed hard eat for working at agriculture. Now, the prevailing Galicia people do not need so many calories, because the jobs are less heavy.

In positive for the health of the people, the Mediterranean diet are changed a little the traditional Galicia food, excessive in bacon. It has to increase in the general menus: salad, rice, blue fish, cereals, and others vegetables cultivate far from Galicia.

A foreign fish arrives and sell at fish markets. Remember that Galicia is the most important place of sea fishing in Spain and the south of Europe.

A new generation of young and modern professionals cooks make an innovators foods recipes, worked with traditional foodstuffs of Galicia.

Although the typical Galicia restaurants are the main, an others food cultures opened cooks in big city: Chinese, Turk, marroc or Brazilian. Very slowly, the Galician food is less important in the restaurants, but his attractive are strong: the Galicia people love his traditional way of live.

However, in negative, the greats American fast food restaurants opened in the last time in the principal Galician cities. Moreover, pizzas, sugar drinks, fried potatoes, ice cream... the American live arrived watching television, and aggressive TV food spots, and are making a great number of obese children in the last years in my community.

Many woman who works out don’t had time to cook the traditional Galicia food, because this plates it’s needed a long time to prepared. The families has a quickly solution with elaborated food, very unhealthy. Not a past time, most of Galicia woman was a housekeeper and do traditional dinner at home.

ACRABAANNA

In my opinion social habits had changed, we have nice homes and fast cars but still we have to work all day and we are too tired to worry about our diet and healthy.

Parents do not have time to go to buy fresh meat or fresh fish. They only buy fresh products once a week! From Monday to Friday, parents are tired and the fridge is empty. Then, most of the weekly suppers consist in a pizza. 5 minutes in the oven and ready to eat!

If we have finished the pizza, and we have no time to go to the supermarket, we have other products in the fridge: frozen food and some Frankfurter sausage.

Parents work all day, they are tired and they cannot spend 1 or 2 hours cooking. Children eat pizzas and sausages and parents think, “They have already had a healthy meal for lunch at the school, so there is no need to get worry about the supper".

I think this is a wrong idea, because kids need to eat many fresh products, vegetables and fruits, and with this kind of behaviour, they do not have a good education about diet and healthy.

I think parents are to blame for that but at the same time they are not directly guilty, because the main reason, in my opinion, is the way we live actually. This is a problem, and it is not easy to resolve.

ZENITRAMANEROL

We are reasonably influenced by people from other cultures that visit or come to live to our country. And although sometimes we are not aware of it, that influence makes us change our behaviour; and eating, even though is one of the most important needs of animals, when it’s done according to the society’s rules, it becomes a custom strongly attached to our way of life.

Nevertheless, from my point of view, the most important circumstance that has succeeded in changing our eating habits is the lack of time that rules our society. Due to the little time, we have to do everything we are supposed to, we have changed the way we feed ourselves.

We cannot waste one hour to buy the ingredients, another to prepare the meal and two hours to have lunch, so we buy ready-made food, heat it in the Owen or the microwave oven and swallow as soon as possible. We just do all that when we do not have to work.

The lack of time has changed our eating habits. It is not a question of American, African o Asian influence. There is no difference in eating a bruschetta, kesar pulao, jellyfish with chicken or sashimi, for we do not chew food properly to nourish ourselves as we should: we simply just swallow.

ZEPOLATRAM

I suppose that the difference between the first ingredients brought by the ancient conquerors and the new ones added in the last years is that now we are importing cooking styles.

With the migration waves, we know new ingredients like yucca, curcuma or jengibre but the most interesting thing is that we are learning how to cook them.

Now, we are not only adding this food to our traditional recipes but also learning how to prepare sushi, curry or fajitas.

I think that cooking is an easy way to share cultures and learn about people that comes from other countries.

I am very lucky because some of my friends come from Italy, Colombia, Uruguay, Egypt, and France… and they are teaching me new recipes like hummus, falafel or bandeja paisa.

I love cooking and I like to visit any sort of shops where I can find kome (sushi rice) or Arabian and Indian groceries. I usually ask the owner for recipes and now I am able to prepare cuscus, Arabian tea, curry among others.

In fact, you can check it out visiting my cooking website: here

I hope you enjoy it, and of course, I expect that some of you contribute adding your own recipes!

REGINASLORAC

It is well known that nowadays our feeding habits are changing in some many ways. I would like to remark two of them.

First of all, it is noticeable that when we go to buy some food into a supermarket, we can feel almost as if we were at a Chemist's. We can find prebiotic and probiotic food, complementary feeding such as vitamin sticks and w-3 or w-6-rich milk, oils that are found in blue fish (so, is that mean that when we have some of those milk we are just drinking something similar to a sardine-milk shake?). All those chemical modified foods are advised in a deceitful way, that makes us feel psychologically healthier when we eat or drink them.

In second and last term, I would like to notice that everyday is more common to follow what I would like to call a “globalized diet”. It is not necessary to go out visiting other countries just because of their different diet. There is no need to go to Mexico just to taste a taco, or neither go to Japan to taste their famous sushi. You just have to go down the street and it is sure you will find any exotic restaurant, ten minutes far from home. Some years ago, you used to go to eat some tapas in a bar, but now you are just asked to go eating a shawarma, a piece of pizza or a frankfurt (by the way, it's necessary to remember that these sausages, which have been accepted since so many years ago as a part of our fast-food habits, come from Germany!).

The well-known and hardly advised Mediterranean diet is starting to introduce these new products, chemical ingredients and globalized food, and is still starting to become a mixture of taste, textures and flavours that do not let us know where it is being evolutionating at least. Maybe, one of the results is going to be something like a “calcium-and-vitamin-enriched sushi-pizza”...

YNEVANIRETAC

Over the last 30 years, Majorcan society has changed their eating habits due to the fact that we have replaced an economy based on agriculture with a one that relies mainly on tourism.

First of all, during the 60s, in Majorca there was a change in the way of subsistence. Before the arrival of tourism, Majorcan people lived on what they collected from land. Families lived and worked in the countryside where they seeded their own vegetables and fruit and where they also grew cows, pigs and hens that were eaten by the family or even sold in markets.

When tourism appeared in Majorca, our traditional diet suffered the influence from France, Germany and United Kingdom. In order to satisfy that growing demand, Majorca had to open up and welcome new influences, that is to say, a new eating style based on fast and cheap food and a new range of foreign products that began entering our kitchens.

Secondly, the incorporation of women to work has been an aspect that has favoured this change. Elaborated recipes that demanded patience and time have been substituted by "open&serve" food.

Finally, mass media has also had a main role. Advertisements are a powerful tool to make others dream, this works especially well with children! I am thinking of the fierce marketing adopted by some powerful fast food chains that catches their victims using toys as call.

In my opinion, despite all this, most people have kept traditional dishes as the basis of Majorcan diet, which, fortunately, has not been so much affected by this globalisation. We still can enjoy a good "tumbet" a good "trampó" or a better"pa amb oli".

ZEDNANREFOIRAM

Since several years ago, we have been looking at a globalized world. This globalization has also affected the gastronomy. The Spanish food is very well known in the World, especially because of his variety. One of our main ingredients is the olive oil; it is used in all the country. If we travel to the north of Spain, we can eat Asturian fabada or the Galician fish. In the south, we can taste the Andalusian gazpacho. In the Balearic Islands, it is possible to savour Majorcan ensaimada or sobrasada. In the Canary Islands, the banana in its multiple gastronomical presentations. In the centre of the Peninsula, we can eat migas, or the Madrilenian Spanish stew.

For several years, we have been accustomed in Spain to the food of other cultures very different from ours. The massive arrival of immigrants has caused that the Ecuadorian restaurants, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Turkish have been multiplied.

I like too much the Italian food, because it is very similar to ours: pizzas, and pasta in its multiple presentations.

On the other hand, I do not like plates of the Mexican kitchen because they are very spicy. Although I have had the opportunity to eat the “tacos” and they seem to me very flavourful.

I remember that years ago, I saw a film the film “Delicious Marta” about the food, and I liked much. I recommend it.

SECURCAVE

We live in a changing world. In a few years, maybe, we will not able to say what belongs to a country and what is original from another one. Everyday one culture influences another one. The exchange between cultures happens in many different ways. Nowadays we can fortunately choose among a great range of offers either to eat or to buy clothes.

In the 'cool' and urbane city where I live, these changes happen faster than in other places. I have a Chinese supermarket at the corner in front of my building. I can buy South American products if I just walk ten minutes from my home's entrance. The grocery has food, which I have never seen. When I have not time enough I can go to a Donner Kebab to eat something in a hurry. I am sure that you can imagine what I say.

This great variety is not exempt from faults. We could go so far as to forget our own cuisine. We have also an old culture with its characteristics. We have many typical Catalan dishes that should not fall into oblivion. 

In my opinion, we have to open our minds to the news but never forget what we already had.

LAUCSAPOINOTNAESOJ

My proposal on healthy food is to make publicity of the book written by my wife. The title of this book is “Cuinar tot jugant” (“Playing in the kitchen”), and it is published by house “Rosa Sensat”. It is a book of different cooking. The book has 50 recipes easy of kitchen to work with children and young people in the schools.

The book has orientations to work with children and it has information on the nutrients, their history and its relation with the society. In this book, you will find first and second plates, desserts, appetizer, sauces, drinks and canned foods worldwide. If you are teacher this book it is a good aid to introduce habits of healthy food in your students. If you are parents, you will teach to cook to your children and to enjoy with very well. In addition, if you like healthy kitchen you will find simple and effective recipes for your diet.

My personal opinion is…. that you must buy the book! I underwent a lot with this book….My woman wrote it during 5 years. During that time I ate almost 150 different recipes worldwide….several times! My woman is a teacher and psychologist and occasionally does courses of kitchen for children. Now she only cooks for our son of 2 months. He eats the best food of the world: the milk of his mother.

ANATNIUQLEUQIMSIULL

I think the influence of the other cultures on the food in my country always is a positive and wealth-producing contribution. In fact, all the cultures are the result of the influence of many cultures.

Really in all our cities there are establishments of fast food where we can take delight with a frankfurt, burger or a pizza but these establishments suppose often a fast resource for an unexpected situation.

It is true that fast food is the favourite dish for the children, and the young generations always goes to this type of establishment because there are a less expensive that others restaurants. However, I think in the adult age we return to consume the food and the traditional dishes. food children all this type of food ràpida, I in the adolescence són the most frequented establecimiento, owed partly by his(her,your) low prices, in the adult age we tend to return to consume the food i domestic plates.

The change in the diet habits does not justify only for the influence of other cultures.

I believe the change in the diet habits is because the families have just a short time to elaborate the traditional dishes, which have a longer elaboration. For this reason we replace our traditional habit for another type of food of more easy preparation (a piece of pizza, for example), and we are losing the food tradition of our country.

Every time we cooked less meat and vegetable stew, or noodles in fish stock, for this reason our children grow in a culinary different tradition, and if we lose our tradition, we lose a part of our cultural wealth.

AREBIRAIRAMASOR

We eat to live, that is right, but in our culture, we eat for pleasure too. I mean, in our country the moments we are eating have different sense in our minds depending on the relationship and the organization of each family, the traditions they have and also the educational behaviour of their components.

Don’t you remember when dinnertime was the best moment to meet all together, to discuss parents and children?

However we all know that now, many times we must adapt our way life to our job and we usually cannot do what would like to do, but sometimes that is our reality and instead of our preferences, we do not have another chance.

This long introduction is trying to be a complaint and, at the same time, perhaps an excuse to justify our bad habits about not eating healthy food. Unfortunately, the society is moving on more and more to worse ones because of our lack of time; usually that is what we hear, but the truth could be different: actually, that is faster and more convenient.

The traditional cooking, that our mothers or grandmothers used to do, takes time and dedication. Nowadays it is not a well-paid task, so therefore it is not a priority for the majority of the people, especially for some parents, those who think that it belongs to the school the roll to teach their children to eat healthy food. We should try to find the way to recuperate it, but it is not easy.

I want to apologize for being a little hard with my ideas but I am a teacher, and that is what I see day by day. I thought that maybe it was an option to demand attention. I am not going to change the world but I am conscious that we have to improve it.

ONEMIGEUQIRNE

We can say that USA is over the world, the fast food is in our life, the Mediterranean diet is the best and fitness for the health and the traditional fresh food are the new values we must go to the future, but the handicap isn’t the meal, the problem is the comfort we want, and the lowest price we search.

The last three months I stay studding in Atlanta, and I saw that in America is cheapest go to a restaurant than go to the shop, and if you go to the shop, there are thousands of meals frozen and prepared for put in the microwave or the oven. The girls do not know cook custom dishes, and if they know, they make good business in a restaurant; the key word to define the American is vague.

In America aren’t only burger king and Mac Donald’s, there are other fast food restaurants like subway, quizno´s, Popeye’s, Wendy’s, Fridays’, waffle house, and my favourite from all of the is the ihop where you can get other type of food for good price, and al with the same philosophy, food for babies, take and eat, don’t chew if they can do for you.

Everybody says in Spain nobody gives five cents for four, but if we want pay less for our food, what we want? Good, nice and cheap good business, it is only for us? America is not only burgers, you have money, and you have good food ready for swallow.

I am so vague, and only can say I love America!

ODAGLOHACINOREV

The macrobiotic diet is an extreme form of the vegetarianism combined with ideas derived from the Zen philosophy Buddhist who has found great acceptance between the believers in the natural nourishment and the "biological" food, as well as among much dissatisfaction with the social established order and the modern food industry. Your supporters cross ten levels of dietetic restriction until they feed only of cereals.

The macrobiotic diet it classifies to the food in two categories: ying (passive food) and yang (active food). A balance must exist between food ying and yang to achieve the health and the physical and mental well-being. For them, some food ying is: the clams, the watermelon, the potatoes, the plums, the sugar, the honey or the garlic. The meat of horse, the eggs of hen and of duck, the pork and the caviar are yang. The cereals, vegetables and vegetables offer the best balance between the ying and the yang.

Problems of dehydration East system advises a limitation in the water of drink, which it can lead to serious problems of dehydration. In Spain, every time they are more the followers of this nourishing trend, and already there begin to exist enough restaurants and centres that continue this philosophy.

ZENITRAMANEROL

When I was a little girl, I lived in a small town by the Mediterranean Sea in the North of Africa called Ceuta. That was a very important influence in my diet, because in my hometown there was an interesting crossing of cultures: Spanish, Arabs, Jews and Indian people.

My family normally ate Mediterranean food: fish, vegetables, rice, legumes and a small quantity of meat (usually twice a week). In addition, we sometimes ate the “other food”, couscous, harira (Arab soup) or Jew dishes like blintzes or pampishkes.

Now, that I do not live in Ceuta anymore, my life has changed. The globalization changed our eating habits. We can eat global food at home easily. Moreover, for me, that is a way of getting back home.

On the other hand, we should not forget our habits when we eat. In the authentic Mediterranean culture, the caloric average we get every day is normally correct. We do not have to eat more than we need to do our normal activity. Nevertheless, in modern life, the influence of advertisement in television, the hidden messages we get on films, and the easy way we can get food, are handicaps for us to carry a healthy way of life.

ARISTADASORAIRAM

Last September I went on holidays to Croatia. I have a hiatus hernia so choosing the food in restaurants is a problem for me. I am only able to eat a few specialties of the country I am visiting; I do not drink alcohol either. The last hotel I stayed at gave me a bottle of wine as a present; Croatian wines are very famous.

I read in my guidebook that Croatian cuisine has different influences. Where as in Istria, the cuisine has an Italian influence, but Dalmatia has different dishes. The fish and seafood specialties are cod Dalmatian style, oysters,… the list of wines is great... but throughout Croatia, the restaurants serve international Mediterranean food for convenience.

My boyfriend eats Croatian speciality dishes and he told me which food was good. I could only generally eat Croatian specialty deserts.

Mass tourism began to arrive in Croatia only a few years ago and they visit only a few places. For example, in Dubrovnik, Split and the most famous islands there is fast food but in the rest of Croatia the food is more traditional. Mass tourism is transforming life in Croatia, the restaurants open from midday to midnight, which is a very long time. The Croatian currency is the “Kuna” but sometimes I had to pay in Euros.

OREUQSACAIRUN

I would like to digress from the theme and I would like to create another one that has to do with food. Its name is Anorexia.

From my point of view, a continent like Europe, where the most part of population can easily eat and find healthy foods, we notice that every time are more nutritional problems as Anorexia or Bulimia.

In fact, nutritional problems are one of the ills of contemporary society. Long time ago, after the school, we used to eat at home. Nowadays, we ought to leave our children at school, without knowing if they are going to receive an appropriate feeding.

In spite of this, our children arrive to the adolescence, clearly defined of being more independents and with own ideas. However, these ideas use to come from TV, which use to show us how the beauties rules are. These prototypes are putting pressure on young people until some of them fall into a reversible disease.

In this world there are people fat or slim, so we have to accept the where we are. As conclusion, we can reaffirm about the need of a healthy feed. This will be the way to carry an equilibrate life.

SEYERAIRAMANA

I was very young when I decided leaving my parents' to join my partner. We were few older than twenty. We both came from families where "mum" cooked and made up meals for everybody at home. Therefore, neither my husband nor me had never cooked (nor made full the fridge… and so on). Nevertheless, we had to manage to have four or five meals every day.

However, it was not the only trouble. There were some differences between us: I ate to live but he lived to eat; I had ever eaten Andalusian cooking, while my partner had been having Catalan one. Nevertheless, we both preferred eating in than out (then good restaurants were too expensive for us!).

After months having some more meals at parents' and the in-laws', where we were learning different ways of cooking, our first child arrived. Then we decided it was just the moment to really cook. I went to a course about healthy food, which let me know many truths and myths about healthy diets. At the time, my husband became a fan from Arguiñano, who just was starting in TV. It was the beginning of enjoying eating at home.

With all these "ingredients”, we've made up our own "cuisine": a Mediterranean diet that is over all very varied. All kind of food, variety of cooking (boiled, baked, grilled and fewer times fried, mixing Andalusian and Catalan habits) and an important bit of creativity (a wide range of salads with assorted dressing, some drops of honey over fried cod, meat coupled with cherries, or prawns with peaches or figs with Spanish ham and so on). Moreover, when we go eating out (now we can blow the expense), we often taste new dishes and have typical food in foreign countries. We have discovered loving the culture of food and how enjoy eating healthy.